Ravi, A Capitalist

About 5 years ago, flying for me was a luxury. But still I managed to get on board a few Air Deccan flights to Bombay from Chennai for a total fare of Rs 500 + 740, which was then the fuel surcharge for a ticket. You dont get tickets easily as the moment the low price ticket offer opens, they all get sold out.

Now with quite a lot of operators on the skies, a return ticket to Delhi costs only Rs 4450, when booked a little in advance, and they take you to Delhi in about 3 hours, while a 2 tier AC ticket on the Rajdhani express costs nearly Rs 5000 to and fro. I still save about Rs 550 bucks and about 33 hours of travel time.

Well, I am still a poor man, and I can still afford to fly only an economy air line, and I have never set foot aboard a King Fisher airline in the past 2 years since it was launched. I have just been once onboard a Jet Airways flight, thanks to my reward points in my Citibank-Jet Airways credit card. Paid only the airport taxes.

Whats the difference between the low cost airlines and the high class ones? Jet Airways is ranked next to Singapore Airlines in terms of In Flight hospitality. Beautiful girls with smiling faces and some good food is all that you get. Why pay 1000s extra for that? You can watch plenty of them anyways when you wait at the airport.

These airlines will have a video screen before you ofcourse, and that way you never get bored. Well, in the cheaper ones, just remember to buy a magazine or 2 for Rs 10 or 20, and you still wont get bored. The expensive ones dont ask you for money for food, and the cheap ones charge you Rs 50 for a sandwich. Well, you wont find a restaurant or an eatery up there at 41000 ft, so it is worth the money. Or just make your own sandwich from home and carry it along. Thye won’t mind.

Jet Airways is smooth while the cheaper ones sway left and right and make you get the feeling that you are on a bus. Well, you can just imagine that you are on a bus that takes you from Chennai to Delhi in 3 hours, and the fare is as good as bus fare isn’t it? Less than a rupee for a Kilo Meter. Suitable for people taking medical coding training courses.

For International flights, Jet Airways is the cheapest from India. Costs only Rs 45000 for a return trip to New York, Everyone else charge more, even the pathetic Air India.

Air India’s spoilers in the wing vibrates like hell when they are lifted, their thrust reversal sounds like engines stalling, and it makes you feel like riding on a bullock cart with an iron rimmed wheel. No Shock Absorption. Food is free, but you will spill it all over them. And the Air Hostesses are Antiques. Well seasoned to perfection and they pour the coffee or tea perfectly into the cup no matter how violently the plane shakes.

I have seen planes with broken arm rests and push back that doesnt work, or always stays pushed back. I don’t see how that company still stays in business and who are flying on it. Or maybe the route that I chose wasn’t that important and they put a battered plane on it. Just make sure that you carry enough insurance before you get on these planes.

First, you need to be a citizen of India. You needto have a vaild government provided identity proof, and a bank statement which has got a good number of transactions, just to show that you have been using the account well. Nothing much, just about 10 transactions would do.

Then you might want to check who is the best provider. In my opinion, Religare is the best for start up investors. If you think you cant do it alone from your home in your spare time, go for UTI Securities, where they give you a table to sit, and give you coffee and, if you trade well, lunch as well, and you can sit there, trade and come back with cash. Karvey is not for beginners. When you take delivery of shares, you could transfer to any demat account that you have got anywhere. Almost all banks offer demat accounts these days. It is the trading account that you need to choose well.

The demat account costs you anything from Rs 500 to Rs 750 per annum, and they dont charge you anything except that. The Trading Account charges you upto 2 % excluding service taxes for any trading that you do. Intra day charges are quite low, but it is not an easy win in intraday transactions.

If you research well, and know what you are doing, share trading in India is a very good thing to be doing.