Buying Indian air tickets (for an Indian resident) from the USA?

On Jan 28, 1:50 am, Alex wrote:
Don't bother with India. The place is pre-historic, so is their way of
dealing with others.

A few months ago my girlfriend and I decided to give it a try. Indians
had been telling us that there are lots of new airlines and getting
around is easier than my last nightmare with Indian Airlines.

Turned out, we couldn't even buy any tickets for domestic travel we
wanted to do there.

All airlines and travel agencies I tried only take credit cards issued
in India.

What our Indian friends had neglected to mention is that their
relatives buy tickets for their travels within India!

I thanked God from the bottom of my heart for this early sign, decided
to leave India to the more rustic, and visit Thailand and Singapore
instead. Best decision ever!


I use my American credit cards at shops whenever I visit India.
I never had any problem, I never knew of anyone facing the problem you
wrote, This surprises me.

RPS wrote:

: I have this situation. I want to pay for air tickets for an elderly
: relative who lives in India and thus qualifies for rupee fares.
:
: However, the sites I am familiar with (in particular Cleartrip) won't
: let me charge it to my US-issued credit card...

Mohd Kaffir wrote:

: I use my American credit cards at shops whenever I visit India.
: I never had any problem, I never knew of anyone facing the problem you
: wrote, This surprises me.

To clarify, I am trying to buy online or via phone. I have never
encountered any problem paying in person; at most they ask you to show
an ID but that can happen in the US too.

On 30 Jan 2007 17:38:36 -0800, "Mohd Kaffir"
wrote:

I use my American credit cards at shops whenever I visit India.
I never had any problem, I never knew of anyone facing the problem you
wrote, This surprises me.

Buying something with a credit card when you are there using the card
in person is quite different from purchasing something online from a
different country. The credit card companies have stricter rules for
transactions where the cardholder is not present.

Chris


RPS wrote:

: I have this situation. I want to pay for air tickets for an elderly
: relative who lives in India and thus qualifies for rupee fares.
:
: However, the sites I am familiar with (in particular Cleartrip) won't
: let me charge it to my US-issued credit card...

On Feb 7, 12:35 am, Craig Welch wrote:
ant wrote:
chuckle. Reminds me of... the USA! Many sites will not accept your card if
you are from outside the USA. I end up using Travelocity as they do accept
foreign cards, although you have to sign a disclaimer that you are actually
american.

Huh? I've been using Travelocity, and its predecessor, EasySabre, for
about 15 years. I've neither seen nor 'signed' such a disclaimer.

--
Craig

Well... they don't put on the disclaimer, but when you attempt to fill
your credit card information this will happen it doesn't matter its
India or USA...

In the credit card filling form all the us websites will have an
option to select the state (without the option for other) which will
be only US states... hehe.. which means you are bounded and the AVS
will always fail so your transaction will not succeed.

Then.. you can use the american credit or debit card in the normal
stores in India (Make sure the stores accepts credit cards), but note
there will be service charge (around 3%) from your bank since you used
in the foreign land.

Use the travel agents in US to book your tickets for domestic flights
in India, but it will be little costlier than you buy in India
directly from the airlines since they may have some deals which is
applicable to locals.

I tried more than 3 times even 4 years back and succeeded. So it must
be better now.

==
GN - http://www.vtrip.info - Travel guide for the destination you
wish.

On Jan 27, 3:58 am, RPS wrote:
I have this situation. I want to pay for air tickets for an elderly
relative who lives in India and thus qualifies for rupee fares.

However, the sites I am familiar with (in particular Cleartrip) won't
let me charge it to my US-issued credit card.

I realize that specific airlines (eg, Spicejet) will let me buy such
tickets. However, this trip has segments on several airlines, and I'd
rather do this via one agent/portal.

Does anybody know of orbitz/travelocity like portals in India where you
can actully pay for and buy tickets? They can be etickets, or paper
tickets couriered to an Indian address.

All help appreciated.

Read this FAQ as well:

http://cheiron.tzo.com/

==
GN - http://www.vtrip.info - Travel guide for the destination you
wish.

Craig Welch wrote:

ant wrote:

chuckle. Reminds me of... the USA! Many sites will not accept your card
if
you are from outside the USA. I end up using Travelocity as they do accept
foreign cards, although you have to sign a disclaimer that you are actually
american.

Huh? I've been using Travelocity, and its predecessor, EasySabre, for
about 15 years. I've neither seen nor 'signed' such a disclaimer.

Something funny is going on. Lately many people have complained of not
being able to buy tickets from their previously regular sources.