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Is domestic traveling becoming costlier than overseas travel ?

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HumorSimpson

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Stumbled across the following post on linkedin

Some of the replies are interesting

Foreign Tourist Arrivals in Goa
2014 - 6 Million
2023 - 1.5 Million

Foreigners are Choosing Other Countries Uber and Ola Still Don’t Operate in GoaTaxi Mafias, Poor Public Transport and Bad Civic Sense Damaging Tourism in India
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My recent trip to Varanasi surprisingly cost almost as much as my Dubai trip! With rising prices in domestic travel, flights, and accommodations, exploring within India is becoming quite pricey. Domestic getaways now need international trip-level planning! Don't know what is the agenda behind... Indians should do less domestic trips etc ...

You're absolutely right! The cost disparity between domestic and international travel is surprising. Recently, I'm curating a group trip to Vietnam, covering all major attractions like a city tour of Hanoi, a Ha Long Bay day cruise, and the stunning Three Caves in Sampan. Including a 4-night stay in a 3-star hotel, Indian meals, and even a scenic 100 km coach ride through picturesque sites etc. , it’s costing just ₹35,000 per person—excluding airfare and visa. In comparison, similar domestic packages often end up being pricier for less.


Would like to hear the frequent travelers insights on this.
@BVC @TechnoFino
 
My dad went to Vietnam for 10D in may-june 2024 and he mostly stayed in 3* hotels as well, and his overall cost including flights (economy) costed him less than 1L. Ever since then when we look at vacations, we always compare costs to that of a foreign travel. He went purely on a photography trip which is totally different than how a tourist travels. Even then the costs incurred to costs planned were significantly low.

But then again, you also have to look at demand v/s supply.
 
Never went abroad. But agree that domestic travel has become costlier alot.
I guess, I have to pay nearly 3 times than I used to pay for return tickets compared to past.

One news also covered this topic. They compared the last minute flight prices between prominent cities of abroad counties. Surprisingly the prices were very cheap abroad.
 
i was booking a domestic flight last month it showed me for 8k but then the server goes down after hardly 2 mins the same flight showed for 21k, these price hikes are seriously unaffordable for many, and i see that after announcement of merging of vistara and air india, prices are somewhat increased as per last few weeks, could also be because of festive season but these hikes are way more as compared to last year as per my experience!!
 
I also think domestic travel is becoming more expensive day by day, but comparing it with international trips feels like a stretch. There are many great international destinations you can visit on a low budget, but only a few domestic destinations where you might end up spending more than on an international trip.

Honestly, because of air miles and hotel points, we often boast about saving 10L on this trip, 20L on that trip... but if we were to pay cash for flights and hotels, only some Southeast Asian countries during select seasons would be cheaper than domestic travel, and even then, not year-round.
 
Is domestic travel more expensive pre-covid? Hell yes! Mostly thanks to the unreasonably high flight prices(essentially a duopoly now). 😏
Is it cheaper to travel to an overseas destination? Not necessarily as it is only the case for a few SEA destinations. The rest of the world is expensive to fly to and/or to travel. Having been to over 40 countries, I can safely say that India is the most economical country. But for some reason, luxury/ultra-luxury in India is annoyingly expensive(as most luxury properties are priced in line with Europe).

There's been an exemplary boom in travel post covid. Domestic travel will be expensive unless you plan and book everything well in advance. Otherwise, you'll need to travel outside of the holidays. Demand-supply and people are ready to pay these days 🤷‍♀️
 
Another reason is that most of us here consider flights primarily for travelling which is not the case with most people. If we take trains, that itself is usually a huge cost saver in domestic trips.
 
Another reason is that most of us here consider flights primarily for travelling which is not the case with most people. If we take trains, that itself is usually a huge cost saver in domestic trips.
Connectivity and time for travel is major pain point. Assuming travelling from Chennai to Goa, it takes almost 27 hours by train.

Update: There is no direct train from Chennai to Goa. This is approximate time frame.

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whereas in flight it takes around 1.5 hours. For double the cost assuming travelling by 2AC we are saving almost a day. So that matters the most.

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Money and time, depends on what we are giving priority.
 
Never went abroad. But agree that domestic travel has become costlier alot.
I guess, I have to pay nearly 3 times than I used to pay for return tickets compared to past.

One news also covered this topic. They compared the last minute flight prices between prominent cities of abroad counties. Surprisingly the prices were very cheap abroad.
In Summer, I have been to Kashmir. Before planning surprised to see the to and fro from Hyderabad to Srinagar is higher than to and fro from Hyderabad to Srilanka/Malaysia/Bankok
 
Connectivity and time for travel is major pain point. Assuming travelling from Chennai to Goa, it takes almost 27 hours by train.

View attachment 74673

whereas in flight it takes around 1.5 hours. For double the cost assuming travelling by 2AC we are saving almost a day. So that matters the most.

View attachment 74674

Money and time, depends on what we are giving priority.
Spot on. Availability of berth is also a major concern in 🚆 trains.
 
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Another reason is that most of us here consider flights primarily for travelling which is not the case with most people. If we take trains, that itself is usually a huge cost saver in domestic trips.
But one thing is definite, even on my personal experience.

Goa hotels/resorts and some hot destination places in India have become more costlier than hotels/resorts in Phuket, Bali, Some hotels in Dubai, Vietnam, Sri Lanka.
 
Spot on. Availability of berth is also a major concern in 🚆 trains.
That's why even Indian Railways are taking some changes like 60 days advance reservation system for trains.

And now convenience matters the most. Earlier we used to live for 80-90 years as the span of life decreases the time we have decreased so saving time is crucial at least on vacation and experiences.
 
In Summer, I have been to Kashmir. Before planning surprised to see the to and fro from Hyderabad to Srinagar is higher than to and fro from Hyderabad to Srilanka/Malaysia/Bankok
No surprise there. One, it is summer. Two, demand-supply. More flights+more demand for the mentioned international destinations means more competition and less price. Kashmir has fewer flights+more people interested in flying to that destination. As simple as that. Unless the competition adds more flights, prices will remain high. Anyways, Kashmir is no less than any other international destination.
 
Money and time, depends on what we are giving priority.
Thats the point. Alot of us here would value time and convenience over money saved via train.
But there are alot of people who always choose railways because its cheaper. They wont even check flight prices. Travelling once in a flight is still a dream for many Indians let alone using them primarily over other means. Even if we are travelling by train we would prefer 2ac or above but people are even travelling in sleeper and passenger coaches. They even travel in RAC seats.
We here are fortunate enough to afford it so for us domestic and international travel becomes comparable. Eg - blr to leh one way usually costs around 10k. Around that price we can get blr to bkk as well.
 
But one thing is definite, even on my personal experience.

Goa hotels/resorts and some hot destination places in India have become more costlier than hotels/resorts in Phuket, Bali, Some hotels in Dubai, Vietnam, Sri Lanka.
Yeah I would agree. Its probably because of lesser number of good properties in those places. Ig living standards also affects this.
 
Connectivity and time for travel is major pain point. Assuming travelling from Chennai to Goa, it takes almost 27 hours by train.

View attachment 74673

whereas in flight it takes around 1.5 hours. For double the cost assuming travelling by 2AC we are saving almost a day. So that matters the most.

View attachment 74674

Money and time, depends on what we are giving priority.
Coromandel goes from Chennai to Kolkata and not Goa... There's no direct train from Chennai to Goa. But yeah your point stands.
 
Let us look at it this way. For the price of a return flight ticket from Kochi to Jaipur for a family of four, the same family can travel unlimited in Europe by train and bus (plus free entry to numerous tourist attractions, museums, etc.) for 5 days using the eurail pass.
 
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