Travel Routes and Itineraries

[Atriya Sen]

Please discuss travel routes and schedules in this thread.

Thanks for replying, Suvrajit and Purba.

@Purba: Don't you think 15th August will be a bit too late to start? I believe there's TA orientation on the 15th itself?

[Jayeeta Sen]

@ Purba : Check your I-20. Mine mentions that i need to report on or
before 14th Aug. We'll need to plan the travel a few days before that..

[Suvrajit Banerjee]

@Atriya Sen
My I-20 says the deadline for reporting is 21st August. Also, they sent me an itinerary details form with which a letter is attached. It is mentioned in this letter that the following things:
1) ISSS office will be open from aug 13-23 to assist with check ins
2) All students must check in by aug 23
3) mandatory meeting for international students on aug 24

I don't see any TA orientation mentioned on 15th august. Where did you see this info?

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 10:53 PM, Jayeeta Sen <jaye...@gmail.com> wrote:

@ Purba : Check your I-20. Mine mentions that i need to report on or
before 14th Aug. We'll need to plan the travel a few days before that..

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Suvrajit Banerjee
Graduate Student
Department of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
India

[Atriya Sen]

@Suvrajit and everyone else: Please see the attached file.

[Suvrajit Banerjee]

@Atriya Sen
Thanks a lot :)

[Purba Chatterjee]

Hie!!!

My I20 says 21st Aug is the reporting date. Are reporting dates different for different departments?

@Atriya Sen, thanks for the pdf.  

[Atriya Sen]

@Purba: Will you be a TA? If not, that explains why your reporting date is on the 21st. If you will be a TA, you should probably call them up and clarify.

[Purba Chatterjee]

@Atriya Thanks!!! I'll clarify with the graduate office...

[Atriya Sen]

Dear Everyone,

I have posted two flights as separate threads (emails from Kayak).

• One is a Lufthansa flight on the 10th for 51k
• The other is a Lufthansa-Air Canada composite flight on the 8th (it's also available on the 7th and 6th) via Toronto for around 49k.

Both flight are from New Delhi directly to Albany.

I've found them to be reasonably convenient in terms of timing (apart from the fact that they leave Delhi at 2:30 AM).

Some other cheaper flights from Lufthansa (around 43k) have horrendous timings requiring overnight airport stays at Frankfurt (no hotels will be provided - I confirmed), so I'm not considering those flights.

Please let me know if any of you are interested in these flights.

Thanks,

Atriya

[Jayeeta Sen]

Hi Atriya,

Thanks for the flight details. I feel both these options are quite
reasonable, preferably the 49K one since its a 22hr flight. There is
no point even considering the other cheaper flights as we might be
needing transit visas of the places where there are overnight halts.
For the 49K flight, I dont think we will be requiring transit visas
for frankfurt/toronto since thses are connecting flights.....still, we
need to make sure. Also, the site says that only 3 seats are
available. Do u know any travel agent who can help with these queries?

I am in for either of the options. Will let you know if i get any more
details.

Jayeeta

[Atriya Sen]

Dear Jayeeta and everyone else:

1. I don't think transit visas are required for connecting flights as long as we don't leave a designated area within the airport. In fact, I don't even think it's required for overnight airport stays. However those are bound to be unpleasant and so I'd obviously like to avoid them.
2. The 'x seats remaining' thing confused me as well. It turns out that it means that there are x seats remaining at that price, not x seats remaining in general.
3. I do know a couple of travel agents and will let you know as well when I have more information.

Thanks,

Atriya

[sayan saha]

13:48 (less than a minute ago)

Hello,

Anyone planning to go via Canada may want to check this link : http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/in/nonav/local?nodeid=3116855&l=en
It seems like even if one does not leave the airport he/she will need a transit visa. Better to check with the airlines.

Regards,
Sayan

[Atriya Sen]

Dear Sayan and everyone else,

Thank for the link. It does seem quite complex, doesn't it? And yes, it appears that a Canadian visa will be required. I'll check with the airlines / a travel agent and let everyone know.

Thanks,

Atriya

On 1 June 2012 13:48, sayan saha <sssay...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

Anyone planning to go via Canada may want to check this link : http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/in/nonav/local?nodeid=3116855&l=en
It seems like even if one does not leave the airport he/she will need a transit visa. Better to check with the airlines.

Regards,
Sayan

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[Sujoy Sikdar]

Hi All,

Copy pasted from the older email thread:

I'll be travelling from Bangalore actually and I've already booked my tickets for the 5th of August. I'll be flying to Newark Intl. My itinerary is as follows:

Bengaluru (BLR) Depart 02:30

to

Frankfurt (FRA) Arrive 08:25  Terminal 1

4,596 mi (7,397 km)  Duration: 9hr 25mn

Flight: 755

Frankfurt (FRA) Depart 11:20  Terminal 1

to

Newark (EWR) Arrive 14:00  Terminal B

3,857 mi (6,207 km)  Duration: 8hr 40mn

Flight: 7603  Operated by: UNITED AIRLINES

I've actually sort of messed up on this one. This leg costs me 46K. I will be taking the train to Albany from here and this leg costs me 107 USD:

194 Northeast Regional

Departs: 4:08 PM
Sun Aug 05 2012
Newark, NJ - International Airport  (EWR) 

Arrives: 4:35 PM
Sun Aug 05 2012
New York, NY - Penn Station  (NYP) 

253 Empire Service

Departs: 5:15 PM
Sun Aug 05 2012
New York, NY - Penn Station  (NYP) 

Arrives: 7:45 PM
Sun Aug 05 2012
Albany-Rensselaer, NY  (ALB) 

Duration: 2 hr, 30 min

A very long journey for me. If any of you are going to be in Albany around the same time and if we can share a ride, do let me know. I will be trying to change this to the

BLR-Frankfurt-Philadelphia-Albany route during the next week. I'll keep you posted. Do let me know if any of you are taking the same connecting flight.

The Frankfurt-Philadelphia-Albany route is very convenient too. Good timings, short but comfortable layovers. Booked using Expedia; i found there prices to be the best among my searches, even for the same trip vs. makemytrip, cleartrip and yatra.

Thanks,

Sujoy

[sayan saha]

@ sujoy

What are the baggage allowances in luft and UA?

Regards,
Sayan

[Suvrajit Banerjee]

@Sayan Saha
23 kg for Lufthansa ... it can be converted to 46 kgs under special requests (which requires a copy of your i20 and a bit more money - you have to check with the airlines). Don't know about UA

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[Atriya Sen]

@Everyone: Cleartrip.com is discounting fares by 2500 INR for students. Requires copy of a student visa.

[Atriya Sen]

@Everyone: In light of the apparent increase in prices of Lufthansa flights, I recently came across some alternatives. Travelocity.co.in shows a Jet + US Airways combination with convenient timings, via Brussels, for approx 43k. DEL->ALB as usual.

[Jayeeta Sen]

Hey....

I just booked this ticket yesterday, for 9th Aug. Combination of jet n
US airways, via brussels and philadelphia. no issues with transit
visas as well.

Departing Flight - Thursday, Aug 09, 2012

1) Jet Airways
Flight 0230
332 AIRBUS INDUSTRIE JET Jet
Seat: 11A Airline confirmation: CRBERJ
From New Delhi IGI (DEL) 02:35am -Aug 09, Thu
To Brussels (BRU) 07:55am -Aug 09, Thu

Free baggage allowance (2 pieces) NonstopCoach Flight Duration 8 hr 50
min

2) US Airways
Flight 0751 Boeing 767 Passenger Jet
Seat: 07C Airline confirmation: C9BNVG
From Brussels (BRU) 10:45am -Aug 09, Thu
To Philadelphia (PHL) 01:20pm -Aug 09, Thu

Free baggage allowance 2 pieces Nonstop Coach Flight Duration 8 hr 35
min

3) US Airways
Flight 4192 de Havilland DHC -8 Dash 8 Turboprop
Seat: 08A Airline confirmation: C9BNVG
From Philadelphia (PHL) 03:29pm -Aug 09, Thu
To Albany (ALB) 04:48pm -Aug 09, Thu

Free baggage allowance 2 pieces Nonstop Coach Flight Duration 1 hr 19
min

Booked from onetravel.com. Total cost was abt 48K.Seats still
available...

[Atriya Sen]

@Jayeeta: On OneTravel.com I see a cheaper Lufthansa-Lufthansa-United combination on the same day (9th) - and 23hrs too. Did you find any problem with this route that led you to choose the Jet-US Airways combo?

[Jayeeta Sen]

@ Atriya : The only other cheaper option was the lufthansa flight via
frankfurt and philadelphia which had a waiting time of over 18hrs for
the connecting flight from frankfurt. the lufthansa-lufthansa-united
option that u mentioned costs abt 200$ more. which other cheaper
option are you talking about?

[Atriya Sen]

@Jayeeta: Strange... when I checked yesterday, that L-L-U flight showed up around $100 less, but now it is indeed $200 more. At any rate, it's probably good that you didn't choose that one - it reaches ALB at 11:13 PM.

[Atriya Sen]

@Jayeeta and everyone else: This slightly cheaper L-L-U option still seems to be available on the 8th.

L763 (DEL->Munich)

L414 (Munich->Washington Dulles)

UA6046 (Washington Dulles->ALB)

Around 44k in all. Still reaches ALB at 11:13 PM though.

@Souvik: If you're still looking for a flight, you could consider the above option, or the (probably better) one Jayeeta has decided on.

[Souvik Roy]

Dear All

I have booked my tickets yesterday evening.

Here are the flight details:

KOLKATA - MUMBAI : 14:00 - 16:35 (09 AUG)

                                         JET AIRWAYS: LIMI 9W 2154

[THERE ARE ALSO FLIGHTS AVAILABLE AT 16:00, 18:30 AND 20:40 FROM KOLKATA. BUT I DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANY RISK AND THUS TOOK THE FLIGHT LEAVING KOLKATA AT 14:00 SINCE MY NEXT FLIGHT IS AT 01:05 (10 AUG)]

Depart	Fri, 10 Aug	BOM to ALB – 2 stops	27h 21m
Lufthansa – Flights 765	Airbus A330-300 (Wide-body Jet)		8h 20m
Take-off	Fri 1:05		Mumbai, India
Landing	Fri 5:55		Munich, Germany
Connection TIME		Munich, Germany	5h 45m
Lufthansa – Flights 9280	Boeing 777 (Wide-body Jet)Operated by United		9h 04m
Take-off	Fri 11:40		Munich, Germany
Landing	Fri 14:44		Washington, DC, United States
Connection TIME		Washington, DC, United States	2h 33m
United – Flights 3918	Operated by Colgan Air DBA United Express  (Turbo-prop plane)		1h 39m
Take-off	Fri 17:17	IAD	Washington, DC, United States
Landing	Fri 18:56	ALB	Albany, NY, United States

 

I HAD TO BOOK THE FLIGHT TICKETS THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENCY (TASHA TRAVELS) AND THEY CHARGED ME RS 56150 FOR THE WHOLE TRIP.

Thanks & Regards
Souvik Roy
Mailto: souvi...@yahoo.com
Ph no: +91-9433720363

---

From: Atriya Sen <atr...@atriyasen.com>
To: joining-rpi-fall-2012-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Monday, June 4, 2012 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: Travel Routes and Itineraries

[Atriya Sen]

@Souvik: Could you please cross-post this information in the 'Flights Booked' thread?

[Atriya Sen]

I'm not sure if anyone on this list is yet to book tickets.

I'll be booking mine in 1-2 days. I will probably be travelling CCU->JFK (Emirates, via Dubai) and then taking a Greyhound bus to Albany.

If any of you haven't booked tickets yet, and are interested in this route (or can suggest a better one), please get in touch!

[Sujoy Sikdar]

Hi Atriya,

I've heard a few negative comments about the Greyhound bus service. Mostly people saying that they would never travel on them again if they had a choice. It's definitely a cheaper option though. Your other options are Amtrak (i think it's JFK-Penn station by Amtrak or some other service and Penn station to Albany Amtrak station by Amtrak) and Premier Limo which operates 2 daily shuttles to and from Albany using one of those 14-16 seat vans (equivalent to our tempo traveler or tata winger but much more plush). I still haven't decided how to get to Albany from Newark Intl. myself. Do make sure your flight timings adjusted for immigration at such a busy airport works with your mode of ground transport.

Regards,

Sujoy

[Atriya Sen]

Hello Sujoy,

Thanks a lot!

I'll ask around about the Greyhound service and look at alternatives. I'm not too keen on taking a train, but I'm sure there are other bus services.  Premier Limo sounds rather scary though! :P

Emirates reaches JFK at 8:15 AM, leaving me the whole day to get to Albany, no matter how long immigration takes. Let me know how you decide to go from Newark, although chances are you'll be going 4-5 days before me.

Best,

Atriya