Men tend to do it more than women. A lot of newly weds do it a lot, with loads of excitement. Some even do it with families. Some hold hands, some pray and some close their eyes while doing

it! Some do it with partners, some with business mates, some do it in groups, whereas some like to or are forced to do it themselves! Some are scared doing it, some stretch their legs, some like to eat well before, some during and invariably, everyone likes it best when not vertical!
Now, I am sure most of you have had only one guess at IT so far!

Anyway, Wrong Guess, dirty minds!

I am talking here of Plain, Simple Flying! In simpler terms, travelling by air! Gotcha there, yeah? So now, please read on!!
I recently had to book a family ticket from Mumbai to Cochin, and since personal pocket was involved, I was of course, looking for the lowest fare! I had heard of and previously used auction sites (rediff, ebay and indiatimes) as well as flicked through other ’lowest fare’ sites like travelguru, makemytrip, rediff fare search etc. But the latter was always when I was wiling away time, with nothing much else to do. This time, things were serious!

Discovery : I checked Makemytrip, Travelguru and a couple of other sites first, in order of what I had reckoned as popularity ratings. The underlying sentiment at all those sites was "Why is this so bloody slow?"!! Some offered multiple airline choices, some were fast, some hung after a few repeats, some offered dates only one by one....much more of that kind.

Enters rediff.com. Page loads in a jiffy. A prominent icon right on top, with an airplane too (for those weak in the eye department, but nevertheless wanting to fly, as passenger) offered immediate visibility. Again, the link loads before you can say "Kingfisher Airlines", literally! (Timed at 2.5 seconds, on a broadband connection of BSNL)
The menu is simple, and as detailed as it needs to be. Commence by selecting your nature of travel , ie, One way or Return. Then your origin and destination. No, no, not getting personal there, just your travel thingy, folks!
Select the day and you are all set. Fasten your seat belts for the rediff experience-with-a-difference! 3 seconds is all it takes! Quickies don’t come faster, yeah?

The Players: The search covers Air Deccan, Air India, Air India Express, Air Sahara, Go Air, Indian Airlines, IndiGo, Jet Airways, KingFisher, Paramount and Spice Jet , and gets you a chart with the listing in order of cost. Mind you, don’t be deceived by the figures you see. An additional Rs. 975/ gets charged on most arlines, towards taxes, surcharge etc. So, when you see a low figure, add a round 1000Rs to it before you take out your credit card!

The Presentation: The layout, again, is simple and need-based. No clutter all around. Advertisements pertaining to the subject appear neatly on the right margin. 90% of the page is dedicated to simple statement of basic data on your search results. It covers Airline (with Flight No.), Departure and Arrival Timings, Price and another link to Yatra, where you can further search for any additional deals missed (generally, none!). You have hyperlinks provided, from where you can open separate windows to further check regarding the particluar flight, airline or the best dates for that airline. You are then taken to the site of the particular airline selected, for bookings by credit card.

USP: What I liked best about this particular site is that it offers the unique option where you can make money dictate your travel, quite literally! You can fix your route, and then search over a span of the next 3 months for the best deals! What’s more, the search results page for this option also gives a graph, which is quite catchy for techies like me, where you can either pick or leave, just seeing the path of the graph.

So, how much is Rediff Paying Me for This?!!: Well, to be modest, and truthful, the answer is ’Nothing’.I am absolutely delighted with having found this ’best-seller’  and at having used it to get myself a lovely deal. It took me to GoAir, and believe me, I was done with my bookings and ticket printed out in 4 minutes flat!

Now, if that isn’t fast and sure, I don’t know what is!

My Recommendation: Ladies and Gentlemen, before you book your next air ticket, check this site out once. I assure you, you won’t regret it, and you won’t go anywhere else, ever again, to get your deals in the air!

And, when you feel yourself in that interesting position that I spoke of in the first paragraph, sit back, do IT in style, and Thank Me (for the ’sasta tikao’ angle, of course!)!!

Bon Voyage!