Here&rsquos something we thought we wouldn&rsquot say&mdashat least not yet. Flying with the airline Vistara has now become affordable. How&rsquos that We'll thank its newly introduced &lsquolite&rsquo prices for that. The commercial airline, which launched in 2015, recently announced a new fare model called the &lsquoVistara Freedom Fares&rsquo with reduced fares for customers.
Freedom fares is a new price-point base system introduced which empowers customers to choose the lowest possible option from a set of pre-bundled fares. The different fare prices under this model include the Lite fares, value fares, flexi fares and standard fares.
One of the key features of the Vistara so far has been the consistent quality in service and of course, those really delicious complimentary meals your ticket comes equipped with. With the new &lsquolite&rsquo fares, passengers can pay a lower price for the ticket without the complimentary meals. Customers will have the option to purchase on-board snacks and drinks, similar to other airlines such as Indigo and Spicejet. These fares are at least @INR 500-1000 cheaper than the regular economy class tickets, however the fares cannot be upgraded, changed or refunded, as per the website&rsquos FAQ section. In addition, passengers with an Economy Lite ticket can carry only one carry-on bag with a limit of 15kg.
Customers who choose a &lsquolite&rsquo ticket won&rsquot be left hungry. They can buy an item from the on-board menu &ldquoCafé Aubergine&rdquo and purchase munchies, light snacks such as makhana, nachos, etc. as well as more filling meals such as cup noodles, pre-packaged rajma chawal and biryani , for example. Payments for these can be made by debit and credit card only.
It doesn&rsquot come as a surprise since many airlines have been cutting costs off late including Air India and Jet Airways. The airline representatives assure people, however, that this isn&rsquot becoming a low-economic airline, but is simply giving a new consumer base a chance.
In an article on CNBCTV18, Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer at Vistara says, &ldquoLite&rdquo fares do not mean Vistara is now an LCC &ndash these fares are designed to address the most price sensitive segment more effectively than we have in the past and aligns our cost of serving that segment with the product attributes that are valued by that segment.
He also adds, &ldquoUnlike at LCCs, Lite fares are optional, not the default - we expect the majority of our customers will be on Standard or Flexi fares. Lite fares they still also include 15 kg free checked luggage allowance, and customers on these fares still get the great service on the ground and in the air that Vistara is famous for.&rdquo