Monarch seem to have the monopoly on direct flights from Gatwick now. Even TC are taking bookings and transferring people to Monarch flights. I have always dreaded going long haul again with Monarch, but if needs must.... I have looked on their holiday site too and some excellent packages with them, relatively speaking of course, as prices are so much higher this year.
Any news on the new 'exit' charges at the airport in Goa?
They will be pricing tourists away if they are not careful.

we have found a good flight with southall travel flying with quatar airline with a stopover in doha.does anyone know if they are a good airline to travel with?
thanks

There's loads on Qatar Airlines on this forum but it's particularly attractive to anyone in the North of England area as thery are flying from Manchester. ( see that topic)
We are trying them for the first time in November.

we normally fly from gatwick but these flights are going out of heathrow.did you book with southall,and if so did you find them reliable?this will be the first time we have gone independently so am a bit nervous.

Yes I know what you mean. If the flight is late you could miss your connection to Goa.
We have flown with Qatar though to Sri Lanka, and found them very comfy and good service onboard.

the flight is even cheaper with directflights but they dont have the accomodation we want.i asked about any problems if the flight to doha was delayed and they said it wouldnt be a problem as it was connected.also all drinks and meals are free.was this the same on your flight?

Yes. We found them to be similar to Thai Airways who are another favourite. But these days with all the cutbacks one never knows if anything has been withdrawn.
Thats good then re the flights, that means the connection waits until your flight arrives then, I presume. How long between arrival and departure do you have to hang around if your flight is on time at Dohar?

its a 2 hour wait between flights on the way out and 1hour 15 min on the way home.

Hi,

This is an interesting point - I thought that as the flights were scheduled, if you were late getting into Doha then the connecting flight to Goa would not wait! Several years ago we were returning from a trip to Dubai (with Qatar) and the stop was in Doha, however due to a sand storm we were late getting to Doha and we missed our connecting flight to London (also with Qatar) and were given the choice to either be transferred onto a British Airways flight the same day or have an overnight stop in Doha - which we opted for! We have booked for the 23rd December with Qatar and on this day there is also an overnight stopover leaving for Goa on the 24th. What I don't understand it that there are a few flights that day from UK with Qatar and other airlines all flying into Doha and landing between 6pm-7.30pm and they all connect with the Qatar flight onto Goa leaving Doha at 21.30 - how does that work? How DOES everyone get on that connecting flight??!!!

Regards
Sharon

Hi Sharon,
Not everyone who flies to Doha from the UK wants to go to Goa so although the Goa connection is offered on several routes out of the UK not everyone on the plane will be heading the same way. Just as well because it would be a bit of a squash !!!!
The minimum connection time offered by Qatar at Doha is 30 minutes and they are confident that you can make a connection in that time. Dave.

Hi Dave, thanks for info re the 30 min connection time. For the flight I guess I was just referring specifically to the flights from Gatwick and Manchester en route to Goa - we are coming from Madrid (I doubt there will be many on our plane going to Goa!) so it could just be possible that there will be a couple of plane loads booked for that connection (in theory!)

Regards
Sharon

Why am I missing all the deals? Have spent hours over yesterday and today searching internet and phoning and flights are sooo pricey, cannot find a package (single person) deal cheapish either....

Going for some retail therapy to cheer me up.....

Hi..
Dont know if this is a good deal...but i'm happy!!

Depart 20th March.......Return 16th April...

Flights..£751 FOR 2 people,Flying from Heathrow,Qatar air..30kg of baggage.
B+B in Benalium 1400R a night per room.

Sounds good to me.... I'm still looking

That deal sounds good to me 14cheeks we will be there same dates as you but we are going north ....colleen

I notice flights to Goa have risen quite fast over the last week or so Qatar are offering flights for £340 per person return to Kerala. You need to select the right day for travel otherwise the stop over is too long and would involve an expensive hotel stop. We travel out on a Friday and return on a Thursday. The stopover is 3 hours on the way out ( just enough time to have a stretch) and a very handy 35 minutes on the return.
You can get the same flight via Southall for £330 however, in this particular instance Southall can only offer 20KG's luggage plus 5 kg's hand baggage whereas Qater direct have 20 +7KG's so we have opted to pay £20 for the extra 4KG's. However, I have now joined their Q miles scheme which allows you to attain higher baggage allowance if you fly more often with them. I reckon twice a year on these routes would qualify for the extra !0KG's.
Might be of interest either as an alternative destination or for anyone who is staying longer and wants to tour. If you haven't been Kerala has a lot going for it .

Deleted my thread as it gave a cheap flight but with a not so good company

In view of the horrendeous problems Gemma33 and others are experiencing with this company, I'd think long and hard before having anything to do with them. There's lots of posts elsewhere on the site about this company, and none of them are good Alan

gramps Is that Tickets to India you are talking about ? I know Hoodkia and Benze ,not sure of spelling ,are allegedly terrible for tickets but didnt know about Tickets to India.

I always book with Southall Travel and was going to use Tickets to India prices as a bargaining tool

Just seen a long thread on here about Tickets to India,will read it later .