How to find cheap nonstop flights to India

A cheaper flight to India should reduce what you spend on the whole trip, not just look good in a search result. If you want to fly nonstop from the UK or Europe, the useful comparisons are dates, departure airports, fare inclusions and the exact long-haul flight. Skip-leg pricing is another comparison to understand once you have that baseline.

Five steps to find a lower fare

1. 01
   Set your trip requirements

   Choose the Indian city you need to reach, the dates you can actually travel, passenger count, cabin and baggage. Decide whether you need a return ticket or genuinely only one way. Use the same requirements in every search.

2. 02
   Price a conventional nonstop ticket

   Search your exact airports on Google Flights with the nonstop filter. Note the airline, flight number, departure time and final payable price. A nonstop has no scheduled intermediate stop; a flight described as direct may still stop.

3. 03
   Compare the dates you can change

   Use the date grid or price graph to check nearby departures. For a return journey, vary the return date too. Do not assume Tuesday is always cheapest: compare the actual dates available for your route.

4. 04
   Try a practical alternative airport

   Compare Heathrow with Birmingham if either is reachable and has a suitable service on your date. From mainland Europe, price departures you can realistically reach. Add trains, parking, hotel nights and the cost of a positioning flight before calling an option cheaper.

5. 05
   Compare the total and request a current quote

   Include required bags, seat fees, payment currency and booking charges. If exitfare shows a skip-leg option, compare its final quoted total with the conventional fare for the same first flight and review the complete itinerary before paying.

How skip-leg pricing can lower the fare

A ticket from London to Lucknow via Delhi can sometimes cost less than a London–Delhi ticket, even when both use the same flight to Delhi. Airlines price journeys for different markets; the longer ticket is not necessarily the more expensive one. If a traveller buys the Lucknow itinerary intending to finish in Delhi and miss the final leg, that is skip-leg, or hidden-city, ticketing.

• Read the skip-leg explanation and worked example

Calculate savings after the extras

Illustrative example, not a current offer: a conventional ticket costs £620 including the bags you need. An alternative is £490, but adds £65 in airport travel and £40 in required fees. Its comparable total is £595, so the saving is £25, not £130. Decide whether the extra journey or ticket restrictions are worth that £25.

For a skip-leg comparison, use the total price of the whole longer ticket, not a price assigned only to its first segment. Keep the same currency, passenger count and travel date. If you must take checked luggage or protect a return on the same booking, a conventional ticket may be the better choice even at a higher fare.

When to book and when to track prices

If your dates are flexible, set a Google Flights price alert and a budget you are comfortable paying. Google’s historical price insights can help put a quote in context, but they do not predict every future price. If you have fixed dates and a suitable fare fits your budget, waiting for a mythical lowest price can mean losing that option.

Your booking is confirmed only after your airline PNR and e-ticket have been issued.

Questions about cheap flights to India