Star Alliance member Air India has issued a discounted business class fare for flights from Paris to Sydney, selling tickets for as little as €2,421.
While this is a decent price for the pretty direct route to Australia, it comes at the cost of two lengthy layovers at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Airport. A six-hour-daytime layover is necessary on the way to Australia; while an overnight layover is required on the way back to Europe. According to Air India’s transit rules, you need an Indian e-visa to exit the airport and spend the night in a hotel.
You can also add a couple of nights in Delhi to make the visa worthwhile without increasing the ticket price when booking through Air India’s website.
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to Skyscanner with your selected flight dates. From there, you can proceed to Air India and can also check what OTAs have to offer.
Booking with a stopover
Since the overnight layover on the inbound is necessary to get the cheapest fare, it makes sense to split up the last leg into two parts. You can use our Go2 tool and book tickets via Skyscanner or enter them manually on Air India’s website.
Air India operates Boeing 787-8 aircraft on all flights involved in this deal. These planes feature 18 lie-flat-seats in business class, configured in a 2-2-2 pattern. You can find a review of the product here.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, these tickets are sold without a travel or sales period. A minimum stay of two days applies. As previously mentioned, stopovers can be added without increasing the ticket price.
Google Flights is the most convenient way to find additional flight dates for flights without stopovers. For stopover flights, there are no preview calendars available, so you have to resort to trial and error. You can do this on Google Flights as well, or use Air India’s own stopover search.
While online travel agencies offer cheaper tickets, we recommend booking directly with Air India. According to the comment section on our German website, Air India even offered free transit visas on its own website in the past.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
Air India issues tickets for all flight segments in booking class Z. Star Alliance frequent flyers can earn the following mileage with these tickets:
- 42,256 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 42,256 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 42,256 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 42,256 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 31,692 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 31,692 Award Miles + 800 Points on Miles&More
- 26,410 Miles on Asiana Club
- 26,410 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 26,410 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 26,410 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 26,410 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 26,410 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 26,410 Award Miles + 21,128 Tier Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 26,410 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 21,128 Award Miles + 3,362 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 21,128 Miles on Egyptair Plus
Destination
Information & Tips for Australia
Australia, also know as ‘Down Under’, is an absolute dream destination because of its distance to Europe and its beautiful countryside. But because it’s so far away, the flights are costly. Nevertheless, there is always Dealz for less than 1.000€.
Best Time to Visit
Australia is a vast country with different climate zones. Summers (November to February) are hot and mostly dry, winters (June to September) are relatively mild.
Entry & Visa
Most European citizens require an eVisa which has to be issued before your arrival. You can apply online, and the process will be free of charge.
Finding the Best eSIM Plan
We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as RedteaGO and Airalo. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:
The Best eSIM Plans for Australia 🇦🇺 Compared
→ All Dealz for Australia
Information & Tips for Sydney
Sydney is Australia’s most populous city and offers a lot to see for tourists. The metropolis on the east coast of the country is also Australia’s largest transport and trade center and therefore relatively easy to reach.
Flights to Australia usually start at around €1,000 for Economy Class tickets. However, we regularly show you deals with prices far below € 1,000.
From the airport to the city
The airport is 9km from the city center and easily accessible by train, bus, taxi, and ferry. A ride by train costs about 10€, a taxi ride about 25€.
→ All Dealz for Sydney
Cover Picture: © jovannig - stock.adobe.com