Group and family travel on US and Canada to India routes prices differently from single tickets. Airlines negotiate group inventory that does not appear in any search box, usually for parties of around ten or more. Farearc quotes it by hand, with names added later and terms shown up front. Message us on WhatsApp or call 1-833-330-0574, answered 24/7, whatever your time zone.
The clock, stated plainly
The clock is the wedding date, the reunion weekend, the school holiday everyone has already booked around. Your family set it, not us. What is genuinely time sensitive is that group inventory on peak dates, the Diwali and wedding run and the December holidays, is finite and gets committed early. Once a block is gone the party ends up split across flights. We will tell you where your dates actually sit rather than telling you to hurry.
The reason to ask early with a group is not price movement, it is seat blocks. A group contract holds a price and a set of seats before every name is confirmed, and blocks are allocated first come on each flight. On peak dates they go months ahead. Asking now, with an approximate headcount and no names, is what keeps the party on one aircraft rather than spread across three departures.
What a group contract gives you
Two things an ordinary ticket does not. A held price with names added later, so you can commit to seats before every cousin has confirmed. And a deposit instead of paying for everyone at once. Deposit amounts, name change deadlines and cancellation terms differ by airline and by season, so we put the actual terms in front of you rather than describing them in the abstract. Read the name deadline carefully. It is the term that most often catches people out.
Below the group threshold
Under about ten travellers you are on ordinary fares, and the work moves from pricing to logistics. Seats together are not automatic on most fare tiers and are worth arranging at booking rather than hoping for at the airport. Infants under two normally travel on a lap at a reduced fare, and bassinet positions are limited, vary by aircraft, and have to be requested early. Children over two need their own seat. If a grandparent is coming, the special assistance request goes in at booking, at least 48 hours before departure and with every airline on the ticket. None of this is difficult. All of it has to happen at booking, and a search engine will not ask you any of it.
Weddings and family events
Most of our group work is weddings, and the pattern is consistent: the date is fixed long before the guest list is. That is exactly what a group contract is built for. Give us the date and an approximate number early, even if real names are months away. Peak wedding season overlaps with the Diwali run in October and November and with the December holidays on US and Canada to India routes, and those are the periods where blocks are committed first.
When the group is not travelling together
Guests flying out of different cities is normal and does not break a group booking, though pricing works out per origin. It is usually cleaner to run separate quotes for each departure city and coordinate arrival times than to force everyone through a single gateway. Where part of the family is heading to Punjab, it is worth comparing flying through to Amritsar against landing at Delhi and driving up: roughly six to nine hours by road, against about an hour in the air on a domestic connection.
How to reach us
WhatsApp is easiest for a group, because everything stays in one thread and you can forward it to whoever else is organising. The toll free line is 1-833-330-0574 and covers both the US and Canada, answered 24/7, whatever your time zone.
Questions people actually ask
How many people counts as a group?
Airlines generally treat parties of around ten or more travelling together as a group, though the threshold and the terms vary by carrier and by route. Below that you are on ordinary fares, and the work shifts to seating and logistics rather than pricing. It costs nothing to ask either way. Tell us the headcount and we will tell you which side of the line you are on.
Why can I not find group fares by searching?
Because they are not published. Group inventory is negotiated between the airline and the agency for a specific flight and date, and it does not appear in a search box at any price. This is the one category where the gap between what you can find yourself and what an agency can obtain is large. A search result showing a high price for ten passengers is not evidence of what the trip costs.
Can I book before I have everyone's names?
Usually yes, and it is the main practical benefit of a group contract. Seats are held at an agreed price with names added by a deadline set in the contract, so you can commit before every relative has confirmed. Deposit amounts, name change deadlines and cancellation terms differ by airline and by season. We put the actual terms in front of you.
Do we have to pay for everyone at once?
Not usually. Group contracts work on a deposit at booking with the balance due by a set date before departure. The specific structure is set by the airline and varies by season and route. We show you the payment schedule, the name deadline and the cancellation terms together, so you see the whole shape of the commitment before agreeing to any part of it.
We are only five people. Is it still worth asking?
Yes, for a different reason. Below the group threshold the value is in getting the itinerary right rather than in negotiated pricing: seats together, a connection long enough for children or an older relative, bassinet positions where an infant is travelling, assistance requests filed at least 48 hours ahead. Those are handled at booking, not at the airport, and they are much harder to fix later.
