Desicow.com blog

Although I run DesiCow.com, I am trying to share here unbiased ideas.

DesiAirTickets.com does something similar to what Desicow.com is in to. However there certain crucial differences between how desicow.com and DesiAirTickets.com works.

1) DesiAirTickets.com doesnt charge anything to travel agents; Desicow.com charges 10 cents every time Travel agents submits a quote.

2) DesiAirTickets.com shares your email, contact details with all agents who have registered with them;
Desicow.com shares contact details only if some agent offers to submit quote for your ticket.

3) Desiairtickets.com is full of sponsors banner and advertisement;
DesiCow.com is free of any advertisement.

4) Its very easy to register as spam travel agent with DesiAirTickets.com (I know one travel agent who uses DesiAirTickets.com just to gather emails & phone numbers of users); DesiCow.com at this point of time has comparatively lesser number of member travel agentsbut it has very high quality with respect to User privacy.

If I was buying ticket and had to use DesiAirTickets.com, I would simply create a dummy secondary email address for this purpose and would never give out my phone number.

Are you going to fly US - India with a kid ?
How do you keep a kid entertained on board an airplane?
What about Onboard snacks for your kid?

There are many such questions which come to mind. Here are some quick tips which can make your next family travel more convenient.

1  planning the date :
Less crowds means less stress! If you have the option, book your flights for non-peak travel times: Mondays - Wednesdays, at midday, or in the evening.

2   Packing :
Pack plenty of entertainment for the flight, including snacks, drinks, and activities. Bring far more than you think you’ll need–you never know if you’ll be delayed.
* What to bring? Pack activities such as books, activity/coloring books, travel-sized board games, playing cards, and CD players. If your child has a portable video game system or LeapPad®, you will never appreciate it more. (Be sure to charge it the night before!)

3  Prepare your child:
Prepare your child for the trip. Tell him what to expect at the airport and on the plane, and give him tips for how to behave. (When checking or screening baggage, reassure your child he will get his belongings back — something many kids worry about.)
* Remind your child that it’s illegal to make any kind of jokes about bombs. According to the FAA, even a child’s jest can result in fines and delays.

4  Time to board
Take-offs and landings can be painful for little ears. Bring along ear filters, which buffer eardrums against rapidly changing air pressure. Encourage your child to swallow by offering beverages, gum, or hard candy.
* For maximum entertainment valve, bring toys out one at a time, and put one away before introducing the next.

5  Use of restrooms
Make your kids use the toilets before boarding the aircraft as they are spacious and much cleaner compared to the aircraft ones! Carry baby wipes as you will need them a lot in-flight for a  quick wipe up. Be sure to put them in a place easily accessible to you throughout the flight.

6  Seat choice
Only choose bulkhead seats if your baby needs a baby bassinet. If not get any other seats in preference. My reason for this is that at the bulkhead seats the armrest cannot be moved, while in normal seats the armrests can go up. This is far better if your baby wants to lie down on the seat with her head on your lap.

Federal Aviation Administration strongly recommends that smaller children be seated in Child Restraint Systems (”CRS”) — in other words, your child’s car seat or booster.

Here are the FAA’s weight guidelines regarding child safety seats:

* For babies less than 20 lbs., use a rear-facing car seat

* For children 20 - 40 lbs., use a forward-facing car seat or booster

* For kids weighing more than 40 lbs., use the airplane seat belt

7  Ear pressure
If your baby is on a bottle or breastfeeding, give them the bottle or the breast for take-off & landing. It’s the best things for their ears and they will also be relaxed.

If your child is big, then carry cotton or ask for earplugs as soon as you board the aircraft. Make use of them for take-off then save them for landing as the crew may not have any fresh ones left by then. This helps the kids tremendously if they don’t know how to pop their ears.

8  Health

If your child has a cold please ensure you have seen a doctor before the flight to check if the child is fit to fly. Even if the doctor says it’s OK, please use your judgment. I see kids flying a cold and they really are in a  bad state for take-off & landing. It is extremely painful for them if they are all congested & blocked up and they cannot pop their ears. It is very dangerous to their eardrums too!

9  Bottle heating

If you ask the crew to heat up the baby bottle, please check the temperature of the liquid yourself periodically and don’t depend on the crew. They are extremely busy and no-one is free even for 5 minutes to stand by the bottle. Crew can unfortunately forget about your bottle for a long time and most crew in Ecomony Class are not mothers themselves (as they are very young) so they do not necessarily know the right temperature for a child’s feed.

Crew are most willing to help you but please remember, they are extremely busy.

10  Rubbish

Get a carrier / plastic bag from the crew, to put your garbage in and keep your area clean. Carry fragranced bags to dispose of daipers and put them in the toilet bins.

Bonus tip: Clothes

Carry a change of clothes for your child ALWAYS and it is advisable to carry a change of top / t-shirt for yourself too. You NEVER know when you will need it…

Recently my mom was scheduled to travel to Mumbai from San Francisco on Lufthansa flight. I was looking for some companion on same flight. Someone to stop by her seat a couple of times during the flight and make sure that she is being taken care of. She doesn’t speak English, which creates a big challenge for her to get to correct gate on transit.

I tried all sorts of options to find companion:

1) Asked all friends to check if someone was traveling by same Airlines.
2) Registered with Travel companion websites like:  sulekha.com, safarsaathi.com, humrahi.net.
3) As a backup I requested wheelchair option although my mom is fit & fine.
4) Posted emails on mailing list at work place and local temple community.

Nothing worked for me.

My mom was stressed out whole month before flight since she was nervous to travel alone. I was worried too, however I kept saying to my mom that “It cools! You will be OK!”

On the day of flight we went to airport early and waited close to Check in queue. As soon as we see some Desi guy or family, we would smile, go next to them and ask “Are you guys heading for Mumbai?”

Third person we spoke to turned out to be a couple with a 3 year old kid who were there to fly Mumbai. We explained our situation and requested if they would help us by making sure that Mom gets some company. They were more than happy to help my Mom.

This couple was of big help, next day I spoke to Mom after she reached Mumbai and she told me about how helpful that couple was.

I promised myself next time when I am traveling to India, I will look around for Parents, smile and just check with them if they needed any help.

Last blog we wrote about the Star Alliance Frequent Flyer of the month. This month we introduce you to the Frequent Flyer Program of Emirates.

In the past quarter or so Emirates has started service from major airports in US to the most of the big cities in India, if it did not have one already existing. So as traveller to India, you are more likely to choose Emirates over other airlines, given that this airline gives good deals on air tickets to India.

Emirates Frequent Flyer program is called SkyWards. Its got 3 tiers, starts with Blue, then as you accumulate miles you upgrade to Silver, and subsequently to the Gold Tier. The Skywards miles can be redeemed not only for Emirates Flights, but also partner airlines of Emirates like

- Continental Airlines,
- Japan Airlines,
- Kingfisher Airlines,
- Korean Air,
- South African Airways,
- United Airlines
- Virgin Blue.

A roundtrip flight from India to USA consists of 15,000 to 16,000 miles depending on starting and ending points, for a family of 2 adults and 1 or more children this can add up to around 40-50,000 miles. These miles can be used in India to fly local with Jet Airways or Kingfisher Airlines, or you can redeem these when you come back to US, while flying with Continental / United. So next time plan to buy tickets to India,  don’t forget to ask your travel agent about getting yourself enrolled in the Emirates SkyWards program.

In the days since you downloaded the DesiCow.com we have updated the US-India Travel kit, adding printable labels for your bags. Just print the label, write your name, address and phone numbers and stick them on to your bags. Happy Flying!!!

If a typical Desi family of 2 adults and 1 or more kids fly to India, every year, they accumulate a lot of miles. If you only spend a short time to learn about earning and consolidating frequent flyer (or buyer) miles, who knows you can earn atleast one ticket free every 2-3 year or so…

We will talk briefly about some Frequent Flyer programs… this time we start with Star Alliance. Star Alliance is the world’s first and largest airline alliance. It was founded in 1997, with 5 members; it has since grown to 21 participating airlines.

The advantage of flying through Star Alliance is that you can redeem miles that you accumulated from any Star Alliance member airline for any Star Alliance member flights. So you can redeem your Airline miles from say Singapore Airlines, in a flight operated by United Airlines, because both these airlines are part of Star Alliance.

Some of the participating airlines in Star Alliance are:

1. Singapore Airlines
2. United Airlines
3. US Airways
4. Air Canada
5. Lufthansa
6. Air India was scheduled to be a full member by mid-2009
7. Continental Airlines is scheduled to be a full member by September 2009

According to the Star Alliance Website, this is what you need to do to get your frequent flyer miles.

1. Quote your frequent flyer number every time you book with any Star Alliance member airline or travel provider. Your number appears on your membership card.
2. Show your membership card when you check in for any flight to ensure you earn your miles or points.
3. Save your passenger receipts and boarding passes. If your miles or points do not appear on your account, send your tickets and boarding passes to your frequent flyer programme service centre and have them credited to your account. Allow six to eight weeks from the date of request.

We will write more about Frequent Flyer Programs of airlines in subsequent newsletters… Till then… fly smart.

Best regards from The DesiCow.com Team.

Desicow.com was down for last 12 hours. We were trying to deploy some newer code[newer features] and things went wrong. Apology for any inconvenience caused.

I remember the warm summer days of Mumbai during May 2000 when one day my mother came up to me and asked if i wanted to see heaven on earth!! I was so surprised by that question. I then came to know that my parents were planning a trip to Jammu and Kashmir. The first thing that crawled my mind was the situation there due to increased terrorism and wars that were constantly taking place. But my parents were assured by their friends that its a safe place and can be visited as it has a very tight security for tourists. My parents had gone for their honeymoon to Kashmir back in 1979 and they had promised each other to be back to the place with their kids. It was a perfect time to fulfill the promise made and we left for KASHMIR!!!

The first thing i noticed on Srinagar airport were ice covered mountains and beautiful pine trees. It made me go WOW and i was already in love with the place and the kind of climate. Srinagar is the capital city of Jammu & Kashmir. It is at an altitude of 1, 730 m.In the heart of the Kashmir valley, Srinagar spreads out on both sides of the Jhelum river. Srinagar offers the spectacular sights of the lovely lakes and the houseboats on them. The dry fruits and the traditional Kashmiri handicrafts are the other major attractions of the hill resort. Dal Lake, Nagin Lake, Mughal Gardens, Hazaratbal Mosque, Shankaracharya Hill, Hari Parbat Fort, Adi Shankaracharya Temple, River Jhelum, Hazratbal Shrine and Jama Masjid were the places we visited during our stay at Srinagar. We even stayed in one of the houseboats named Hollywood palace and what an amazing experience it was!! My parents reminisced the days of their honeymoon and told me the stories about their stay in 1979. They noticed that Srinagar had changed a lot in these many years but we all concluded that if there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here in Srinagar!!

Travel Information:

• By Air: Civil airport Humhama is 15 km from the city centre. Flights connects Srinagar with Jammu, Delhi, and Leh.

• By Rail: The nearest rail head is Jammu Tawi.

• By Road: Srinagar is situated on National Highway-1A, which connects to all parts of the country. Buses of Jammu & Kashmir Road State Road Transport Corporation (J&KSRTC) and STRCs of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh run to Jammu from major northern cities like Delhi, Chandigarh and Amritsar. Some continue to Srinagar, while there are many connections from Jammu.

Best time to visit: Between May and September.

Beaches, Coconut trees, golden sand, churches, flee markets, kokani food, boat rides, dolphins and so much more!! Oh yeah you guessed it right, it is GOA. Want to travel to Goa

Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. The main attraction of Goa is its beaches. Its a place for lovers. An ideal destination for honeymooners and for people intrested in water sports.

Some of the most famous beaches of Goa are Anjuna Beach, Candolim Beach, Baga Beach, Dona Paula Beach, Benaulim Beach, Miramar Beach, Bogmalo Beach, Colva Beach. Apart from beaches there are many churches in Goa. These churches are a witness to the Portuguese invasion,in Goa. Built between the 16th and 17th century AD, these churches present a unique blend of the Renaissance and Baroque styles. These Goan churches are famous for their outstanding and exemplary Christian architecture.

And not to forget about the Goa carnival, a three-day fest that had its birth in Goa during the era of King Momo.One can find a lot of excitement bubbling across Goa,in the month of February,as Goa is dressing up for the carnival festivities. This carnival is celebrated just before the Lent season. Few other tourist attractions in Goa are an array of popular recreational activities and water sports, such as scuba diving, snorkelling, jet-skiing, water-skiing and even parasailing. Goa is also a great place for boat trips and many tourist enjoy pleasure cruises, where you are often able to view dolphins swimming and jumping, and also swim in the warm, deep sea.

To conclude Goa is a place ,where fun & frolic never ends,whether it is break of the dawn or dusk, midnight or noon.A magical destination!!

Fast Facts about Goa

• Main languages: Konkani, Marathi, English and Hindi
• Area: 3701 sq km
• Population: 1.34 million
• Capital: Panaji (Panjim)
• When to go: October to March

I recently got married and went to a place called Coorg, for my honeymoon. We purchased our air tickets to India, packed our bags and were off to Coorg. It is a beautiful option for the India Traveler who wishes to go to a hill station on the Western Ghats (the mountain range on the western part India). It is located between dense green valleys, high mountains and lush teak wood forests. It lies on the southwestern end of the state of Karnataka, in southern part of India.

Getting Here:

• Closest Airport: For international tourists, the closest international airport is at Bangalore has(260 km), Mangalore has a domestic airport (135 km). The ride from Bangalore is 5 and a half hours by air conditioned taxi.
  
• Closest Railway Station: Mysore (146 km)
• Road: The Mysore - Mangalore highway (NH48) passes through Kodagu. The district headquarters Madikeri (Mercara), is 260 km from Bangalore and 120 km from Mysore. The distance from Mangalore is 136 km and from Cannanore and Tellicherry, it is about 115 km. There are regular buses plying from these places to Madikeri.

Best Time To Visit: April to November

Activities: There are a lot of activities that Coorg offers for the traveller.

• Trekking: Coorg has many verdant trekking routes in the midst of forests and hills, and it’s best to go in the months from October to February

• Golf: For avid golfers there is a 9-hole course at Virajpet.

• Angling: Valanoor is the backwater of the river Cauvery. It attracts fishing lovers from all over India. The best season is from October to May.

• White Water Rafting: There are a few good camps around Coorg that offer rafting down the Cauvery river. For some fast paced action, visit the Upper Barapole River to the south of Coorg in Brahmagiri. The best time for rafting is from mid-June to mid-September.

• Food: Coorgi food is famous and unique, especially for non-vegetarians as it is based on game meats, pork and other delicious ingredients. Popular dishes are pandhi (pork), koli (chicken) and yarchi (lamb) spiced with pepper, kokum, bamboo shoot, red chilly, bembla curry, kadumbuttu, noolputu, voti and excellent coffee.

• Shopping: Some of the popular items to buy are coffee, honey, spices, cardamom, pepper, pineapple papads and oranges ( season). Coorgi silk saree are also very famous and they have a different style of wearing them.

• Fairs & Festivals: Schedule your visit to coincide with one of the colorful festivals of the region. The festivals of the Kodava community are largely around agriculture military activities.
  
• The ‘Festival of Arms - Keilpoldu’ is held in the months of June to September. During this festival the weapons are polished and worshipped before resuse.
• Cauvery Shankaramana is based around the river Cauver is held in October.
• The harvest festival ‘Puthar’ is celebrated in November or December. The festival is accompanied by folks songs and dances, performed by the different villagers at their temples.

For travellers who love nature, Har-Ki-Doon valley (the hanging valley of gods) is a treat. It is a moderate trek and takes the India traveller to one of the least explored regions of Garhwal, (a part of the State of Uttaranchal in India). Har-Ki-Doon is situated in the Western part of the Garhwal Himalayas, at an elevation of 3,556 metres. Its a cradle shaped Valley which is surrounded by dense forests of pines and glittering mountain peaks.

The destination is not very well known, and hence less crowded, and less commercialized. Thereby giving the tourist, a taste of pristine Himalayas, in India.

The trek starts from Netwar to Osla. Its through dense forests of chestnuts, walnuts, willows and chinars. The trek from Osla to Har-ki-doon is through terraced mountain fields, lush green grassy land and conifer forests.

Har-Ki-Doon Valley is a base for Swargarohini ht. 21000 ft. It is mentioned in the hindu holy books that the Pandavas went to Heaven through this mountain.

Nearest International airport: Delhi, India

Nearest railway station:Dehradun, India.