As I was planning this trip, you may remember that I researched flight options to make sure it was possible to get from Bangkok to Bagdogra in one day. The schedules of the airlines made the choice of which airline to take very simple: only one could do that, Jet Airways.
So it is time to buy those tickets. I went to the Jet Airways web site and input the flight information. This required a multi-city itinerary, as we need to fly from Bangkok to Kolkata, change planes and fly onto Bagdogra where ground transport will take us to Gangtok. Ten days later, we fly from Bagdogra to Kolkata, and three days later. We fly from Kolkata back to Bangkok.
I found the Jet Airways website easy to navigate. I always wonder whether I will be able to buy intra-Asia tickets online, as sometimes there are issues with credit cards. I do have a back-up plan if my credit card is not accepted, I have a travel agent in Bangkok who I have used for purchasing tickets when needed. But this time, it all went smoothly, I booked and purchased our tickets, and the electronic ticket was delivered to my email in pdf format. Jet Airways requires a printed copy of the e-ticket to enter the airport.
Technorati Tags: Bangkok to Bagdora, Bangkok to Kolkata, buying intra Asia airline tickets, Jet Airways, Kolkata to Bangkok
Glenburn requires an international wire transfer to make a deposit. Other properties I research in Sikkim and Darjeeling also required wire transfers. We are accustomed to make deposits by credit card, so I needed to do some research.
I planned to make the wire transfer out of the bank at my brokerage (E*Trade). I conduct virtually all of my business with the brokerage and bank online. I found the web page about wire transfers, international transfers cost $25, which seemed quite reasonable. It looked like I could make the arrangements online. For security purposes, I had to request an authorization code they emailed to me. As I moved through the process, I suddenly realized they wanted to transfer money out of my brokerage account rather than my bank account.
I went back and couldn’t find a link to make the transfer from my bank account. I could always transfer money from my bank account into my brokerage account, if necessary. So it was time to talk to someone. I had a very helpful conversation with a service rep. He said I couldn’t make that transfer online from my bank account, but he could do it for me. As I started to give him the details, he stopped me and said, I can only make this transfer if this transfer is into a foreign bank account with your name on it. Oops – this wasn’t going to work. In order to make an international wire transfer to an account I did not own, I would have to create a signed set of instructions, have my signature notarized and mail it to them. I decided to talk with my local bank.
My local bank (US Bank) said, sure, they could do it. Their price was higher, $50. But I just needed to bring in the instructions and they would do it. I asked about a premium on foreign exchange and they said there would be none. Mentally, I was comparing the cost of putting a transaction like this on a credit card, vs. the wire transfer. The amount of the transfer was about $1600. My Visa card would charge 3% ($48) or my American Express card would charge 2.5% ($40) so the cost of the wire transfer ($50) was fairly comparable. However, when I received the statement from my bank on the actual cost of the wire transfer, the exchange rate I received was 1.65% ($27) over the listed exchange rate on the day it was made.
Also, once I got the confirmation from Glenburn on the amount received, some bank that it passed through added an additional charge of $7. So all told, it cost $84 for the wire transfer, which works out to 5.25% of the amount transferred. The cost of the wire transfer worked out to be about twice the cost of putting it on my credit card.
When I make the final payment in October, I think I’ll do it through E*Trade so I have a direct comparison of costs.
Technorati Tags: hotel reservation issues, international wire transfers, making hotel reservations
Travisa emailed us once they had received our passports and visa applications. Their website also allows you to track your passport through the process. They emailed us when they sent our packets to the Indian Consulate and when they received our completed visas from the consulate. They notified us the same day they received our passports that they had mailed them back to us via Fed Ex. Fed Ex, of course, also has tracking information. Thus, we could follow our passports on their journey every step of the way.
We received 10 year visas. When I get a new passport in two years, I will send off both my new and old passports to Travisa and have my 10 year India visa transferred into my new passport for a $25 fee.
Because we are going to Sikkim, we also need Sikkim permits. I asked them about this in an email and discovered that we could have arranged to get our Sikkim permits at the same time. We did not do this, so we plan to get our permits at Rangpo on our drive to Gangtok, but I hope this is useful information for other travelers.
Technorati Tags: india visa, Sikkim, travisa
