[jigar1791@gmail]

Fabulous trip, Amyth. Your pictures do a lot of justice to the beauty this island is blessed with! I'm sure Maldives is on every traveller's list, who is looking for a relaxed and a pocket-friendly vacation.

We did contemplate a lot to take a short gateway to Maldives to celebrate our 1st anniversary, but elders in family (both sides) were strictly against any sort of international travel

I'll be killed on the spot if I show this travelogue to my wife, hope she doesn't come across this.

Regards,
Jigar Shah

[AZT]

Fantastic write-up. Would definitely help anyone looking to visit Maldives, this place is definitely on my bucket list. Thanks for posting

[kimmig]

Lovely travelogue and super clicks!!
A quick Q for you as well as rest of Team-Bhpians, considering all the booking travails mentioned earlier in the post, does it make sense to just get a package from a travel agent?

I personally preferred to do all the bookings myself earlier, but then the sheer time and energy that goes into it makes it a mammoth task. But there was joy in detailing out as well. But many a times the nuances we get to learn only the hard way once we get on location.

Offlate, we've gravitated towards a hybrid kind of model. The larger ticket items like Airline tickets, hotels etc we try to book ourselves. And engage a Traveltriangle agent to do the iternary planning. Have observed that their experience, coming perhaps not from actually having travelled to the place but by managing multiple such iternaries, came quite handy a few times.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Just for fun !!

Some of the pics shot at Maldives Airport:

The gives a clear idea about how busy was the airport and the number of people visiting Maldives from across the world !

Great writeup with a lot of helpful details. I was also planning a trip to Maldives in December but decided to postpone since the prices are peak at this time. I am planning to go in a few weeks sometime in January. Thanks for the information about no Covid test being required on return to Bangalore, will try to get a flight from there.


Your pictures about the planes at Maldives Airport are the best post in the thread! Thats exactly what I do whenever I am at any airport .

Below are some planes I spotted at Seychelles Airport last year.

[dsnaveen21]

Thanks for sharing, beautiful pics, Can you please share the expenses incurred for entire trip.

[aroonanand]

That's a wonderful travelogue and the pics are a treat to the eyes.. My wife and I are travel-addicts too and with the whole of 2020 being a no-travel year, Maldives was the only option. After a lot of mulling over, we have booked a similar 4N 5D package for March at the Taj Coral Reef (with 2N in a water villa). We did consider Kandima along with many other options, but the steep cost of the sea-plane/domestic flight made me consider properties which are accessible thru speed-boat. I have a 3 year old daughter too, and the cost of sea plane/domestic flight itself would have set me back by USD 1200-1500.

I generally do all the travel planning on-my-own but for Maldives, i have realized that agents are able to give a much better deal. I have spent innumerable hours on booking.com, MMT, hotel websites (IHG, Hilton, Marriott) and my 2 cents, while basic room packages are cheaper when booked direct thru the hotel websites, the cost of food (which is ridiculously high in Maldives)+transfer charges makes the agent package, which includes transfers + full board, more attractive.

Your commentary on the forms to be filled, declarations are super useful and I will definitely be on this page in Feb, couple of weeks before my travel date, to read up ! thanks

[vsrivatsa]

Good Coverage on the pre-planning part as well - the processes and protocols to be followed appear to be daunting indeed. The pictures give a walkthrough of Maldives very well.

The sunset pictures captured from the D-SLR have come out very well. Lucky that you met a helpful person from KA who managed to arrange veggie food for you

[kkunal.shah]

Excellent writeup, almost felt like I was right there. The Maldives like many has been on our bucket list, maybe 2021 is when we check it off. Your post will certainly be referred to.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by jigar1791@gmail

Fabulous trip, Amyth. Your pictures do a lot of justice to the beauty this island is blessed with! I'm sure Maldives is on every traveller's list, who is looking for a relaxed and a pocket-friendly vacation.

We did contemplate a lot to take a short gateway to Maldives to celebrate our 1st anniversary, but elders in family (both sides) were strictly against any sort of international travel

I'll be killed on the spot if I show this travelogue to my wife, hope she doesn't come across this.

Regards,
Jigar Shah

I just showed this comment to my wife and we just couldn't stop laughing, especially after reading the last line.

Originally Posted by kimmig

Lovely travelogue and super clicks!!
A quick Q for you as well as rest of Team-Bhpians, considering all the booking travails mentioned earlier in the post, does it make sense to just get a package from a travel agent?

I personally preferred to do all the bookings myself earlier, but then the sheer time and energy that goes into it makes it a mammoth task. But there was joy in detailing out as well. But many a times the nuances we get to learn only the hard way once we get on location.

Offlate, we've gravitated towards a hybrid kind of model. The larger ticket items like Airline tickets, hotels etc we try to book ourselves. And engage a Traveltriangle agent to do the iternary planning. Have observed that their experience, coming perhaps not from actually having travelled to the place but by managing multiple such iternaries, came quite handy a few times.

I have been to several International destinations taking care of almost everything end to end. I agree, it is a lot of work and yes that keeps me on my toes and I love it and am always ready to take up all the challenges.

On some occasions we have also missed the flights due to improper planning, lost money to local fraudsters and tricksters and got into trouble. [ Example Taxi's and Car hiring companies charging more than expected.]

But we have learnt a lot and have come a long way since then and we have become quite seasoned and experienced with international travel now.
Therefore, we don't reply upon others and hence we make our own trips.
So it is no loner a burden for us.

The only time I would want go with these travel companies is when parents/elders/Small kids are accompanying us.
Believe me it is the best option and everything will be taken care of by them and will be extremely peaceful. However you will miss the real fun.

There are couple of reasons as to why I don't prefer to take packages from travel companies.

Maldives is a very expensive destination.
I was in fact taken aback when I directly got in touch with the resort and checked the prices with them. The prices quoted were sky high for a full-board plan and the accommodation types that we wanted despite festive discounts.

1. The whole travel industry is in dire-straits due to pandemic [even otherwise I don't prefer this route]and they are in a big need of money to either sustain themselves or get back into the game.
2. No travel agent/company can book a trip/holiday for throwaway prices without taking their share and commission.
3. I don't know of any travel agent/agency/company that can give a customized budget friendly package without the added costs of GST, service tax, extra charges on credit card payment etc.
4. Travel companies normally will have a tie up or contracts with certain resorts and they would only push tourists to those unless someone asks for customizations.
5. They definitely cannot use online platforms and make booking for tourists. They will need to contact the hotel/resort and adhere to the prices agreed upon between them as per their internal contracts and it is never disclosed to the tourists. So it is a grey area & you never know the actual costs. They might agree to do the customizations , but it all comes with a big price tag.

There are lot of advantages of taking these stuff into our control:

1. Firstly, you save a lot of money which can be utilized for other activities at the destination or can be used to upgrade your accommodation type.
2. Being a prime member, I get a lot of benefits,discounts,rewards and a lot of surprises gets unlocked along with last minute deals, especially during holiday season, which cannot be got elsewhere and this is how I got to stay at Kandima, which is a 5 star property at affordable prices. [Outside rates for the same accommodation was costing much higher and for the same dates ]
3. We will be absolutely free to spend time where ever we want and to any extent.
4. We normally hire cars and drive it around when we go to other destinations and this way we are completely in control of things.
   
5. The infrastructure of other foreign destinations are top notch and you can make use of the well connected metro and local trains/trams and other public transports like buses and save a lot.
   
6. You can also hire a car and drive which is more flexible and of course costlier than public transport.
   
7. Regarding itineraries, you can directly contact the hotel travel desk at the destination and negotiate it there for a good price and it costs lesser than booking everything in advance from a travel agent.

This is what we have been doing, and yes I agree it is different for every individual and I completely respect their views.

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Great writeup with a lot of helpful details. I was also planning a trip to Maldives in December but decided to postpone since the prices are peak at this time. I am planning to go in a few weeks sometime in January. Thanks for the information about no Covid test being required on return to Bangalore, will try to get a flight from there.

Please check the guidelines of your respective state. If you have a connecting flight from Bangalore to your state, then there is no escape. You are required to get the COVID Test done and it is mandatory. You will be exempted only if you already carry a RT-PCR negative report done 72 hrs before the flight.

If you don't have a destination address in Bangalore, you might be interrogated and stopped by the officials at airport.

Please read through this or check with the airlines that you are intending to travel with.

https://www.goindigo.in/information/...gulations.html

You will need to travel by road to escape this.

For us, Bangalore was the final destination and in fact our home town. So no questions were asked and nothing else was required to be done apart from 14-day home quarantine.

Originally Posted by dsnaveen21

Thanks for sharing, beautiful pics, Can you please share the expenses incurred for entire trip.

Like I said, Kandima Maldives is a 5 star property and the prices are a bit on the higher side. Maldives also charges green tax for tourists.

All prices were charged in dollars which I am translating it to Indian currency.
I paid it using my credit card and there were some currency conversion charges as per the dollar rates on that particular day.

Please Note: These are special and discounted prices shown on Agoda.com and Booking.com for me. [I am premium member on both]

• We stayed in the Sky studio for 2 days which costed around 45K for two days.
• We stayed in the Aqua Villa with a private pool and Jacuzzi which was around 45k per night, totaling to 90K.
• Indigo Airlines - Return tickets costed 31k for two people from Bangalore.
• Sea plane - was the most expensive of all and costed around 50k for two people for one way transfer. From Velana International Airport (MLE) to Resort. ( We saved almost 50K for not choosing Sea-plane return transfers)
• Domestic flight - costed around 25k for two from Dhaalu domestic airport (DDD) to Velana International Airport (MLE).

So it was around 250k for 4 nights 5 days stay. [inclusive of all taxes, corona tests and other Bangalore airport transfers]

You can always lower the costs by choosing a resort closer to the the Maldives airport.

Paradise Island resort, again a 5 star property, which is very popular among Indians and is close by to airport.

You can do away with additional transfer costs, if you book this well in advance, as it is just a 10 min boat transfer from airport to the resort. Everything will be included in the resort package itself with no additional costs.

We choose Kandima because, we did not get the Water villa accommodation in Paradise Island resort and also it is over crowded most of the times with a lot of Indians. We wanted to avoid crowds especially during these uncertain and unpredictable times and be really cut off and quarantined unofficially

If the resort is located far away in the ocean, then, Sea planes are the best mode of transport. Domestic flights will be scheduled sometimes in the evening/ night and you will lose that complete day and the money spent on accommodation at the resort. If a domestic flight is available, it is well and good. Otherwise it does not make sense to wait at the airport during the vacation.

However, delays are acceptable during return journey and hence we chose the Domestic plane transfer.

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Good Coverage on the pre-planning part as well - the processes and protocols to be followed appear to be daunting indeed. The pictures give a walkthrough of Maldives very well.

The sunset pictures captured from the D-SLR have come out very well. Lucky that you met a helpful person from KA who managed to arrange veggie food for you

Yes it was really a challenge to be armed with everything in a very short period of time to ensure smooth end to end travel. We were not questioned or stopped anywhere as we followed all protocols. It was kind of a VIP treatment everywhere.

I saw a couple of them who had travelled, unaware of these rules and regulations and getting into trouble at the immigration.

Yeah, it is very difficult for Vegetarians like me, and it is a BIG problem wherever we go.

God's great, and I am thankful for the god's representative [A Kannada guy in Maldives who happened to be the hotel manager], the Chef's [Though they normally don't prepare Indian cuisines on a regular basis ]and for the Vegetarian food that was prepared and served, especially on these islands where one has to mainly live on non-veg and sea food.

Yes thanks, for the comments on photos. Photography is my passion.

[OctYFAN]

Really awesome write-up and those pics were amazing. This will help anyone planning a Maldives trip. You have a really great talent for photography btw.

[thirdmainroad]

Great and detailed post!

Can I ask how much you guys spent for the trip please?

[SnS_12]

Great writeup and amazing pictures of your stay in Maldives. This is one of the places which pops up every time we discuss a holiday destination but yet to make a trip to this beautiful country.

On booking a holiday through travel agency is something we don’t prefer as well but we do always check with our travel agent on the hotels and flight tickets we plan to book if they can offer a better rate/plan. Sometimes it works and sometimes the rates offered on other online platforms work better.

The other advantage of booking through an agent is they would manage any cancellations or changes with the hotel/airline if the need arises.

On our first international trip post marriage we had planned a visit to Singapore for a week and had to cancel the trip twice.

First time my father had to undergo a bypass surgery and the second time I was down with jaundice just a few days prior to our travel dates.

The agent managed everything on both occasions including a full refund of a 2 day Cruise which we had booked. It did take time and a few emails with the medical reports to justify our travel date changes on two occasions and managed to finally go on the third attempt

Second time they came in handy was when we were heading to Europe and Air France cancelled our flight to Rome just a few days prior to our departure date due to a strike at the airline. Our agent managed to get us moved on a KLM flight though we had to leave a day earlier.

I have also used their services to book travel and stay accommodations for family/friends visiting India from abroad and they never disappointed.

P.s - Does the seaplane have a lower baggage allowance per person or its the same what the International airline (Indigo) allowed you to carry into Maldives?

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

That's a wonderful travelogue and the pics are a treat to the eyes.. My wife and I are travel-addicts too and with the whole of 2020 being a no-travel year, Maldives was the only option. After a lot of mulling over, we have booked a similar 4N 5D package for March at the Taj Coral Reef (with 2N in a water villa). We did consider Kandima along with many other options, but the steep cost of the sea-plane/domestic flight made me consider properties which are accessible thru speed-boat. I have a 3 year old daughter too, and the cost of sea plane/domestic flight itself would have set me back by USD 1200-1500.

It is an excellent choice. My cousin sister had been to that resort.

That's right. Sea planes are expensive as they are tied up with the resort and are private. They are operated on demand basis.

Originally Posted by aroonanand

I generally do all the travel planning on-my-own but for Maldives, i have realized that agents are able to give a much better deal. I have spent innumerable hours on booking.com, MMT, hotel websites (IHG, Hilton, Marriott) and my 2 cents, while basic room packages are cheaper when booked direct thru the hotel websites, the cost of food (which is ridiculously high in Maldives)+transfer charges makes the agent package, which includes transfers + full board, more attractive.

Very True, the prices at A'la carte restaurant was exorbitant and so we never tried anything other than the buffet. Also it is better to avoid staying in resorts during Christmas and New-year as most of the resorts offer gala-dinner and organize special parties along with drinks and charge hefty bills against guests, whether guests like it or not. So it is better to avoid visits during such events.

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

Great and detailed post!

Can I ask how much you guys spent for the trip please?

Please check my previous post. I have given the cost break-up.
Just mentioning the total cost again. It costed around 250K for us.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

On booking a holiday through travel agency is something we don’t prefer as well but we do always check with our travel agent on the hotels and flight tickets we plan to book if they can offer a better rate/plan. Sometimes it works and sometimes the rates offered on other online platforms work better.

Online offers work out cheaper most of the times as there will be no service taxes involved. It is self-service vs service. It is the best option if you are ready and willing to take up some extra work.

For all family trips, where elders are involved, like parents, I always go with travel agents. It is the best option. No doubt about it. We cannot take the risk of making it inconvenient for them.

But when it comes to us, we are OK with uncertainties as it keeps us always on high alert and most importantly we get to learn a lot about how to handle such up's and downs in the world which in turn makes us strong and independent individuals.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

The other advantage of booking through an agent is they would manage any cancellations or changes with the hotel/airline if the need arises.

I guess online platforms offer better flexibility when it comes to Hotel cancelation policies as you are not charged anything until one or two days before the actual date of travel. You will not lose anything immediately and it will be free to cancel until a certain date beyond which you will need to talk to the property and furnish a valid reason to them to get a full refund. Sometimes they agree and sometimes they will charge a nominal cancellation fee and refund the rest for genuine reasons.

As far as airlines are concerned, if the cancellation is done from their end, then they will normally issue a travel credit which can be used in future or you can also ask them to process for a full refund. But if the cancelation is done from our end, then they will charge the cancellation fee and refund the remaining amount or you can also carry forward and use it for a future travel date by paying the balance amount.

Last minute cancellations due to strikes are very rare. Normally the airlines will keep the passengers informed about these things if I am not wrong.
However, if it happens, yes like you said, we have to take the trouble of finding another flight.

Originally Posted by SnS_12

P.s - Does the seaplane have a lower baggage allowance per person or its the same what the International airline (Indigo) allowed you to carry into Maldives?

Very good question. I actually forgot to mention this.

Check-in Baggage allowance was same as the international flight limits which was 20 KG. But yes there was a limit on the cabin baggage which was 5 KG as opposed to 7 KG. The two check-in baggage's, we carried weighed 30KG's when put together. So we still had a 10KG buffer limit with us. But the hand baggage's we carried weighed 7 KG each and we had exceeded by 4 KG's. They did not charge anything extra for the excess baggage mainly because our check-in baggage's weighed less when put together and was within their allowed limits.

They charge USD 5$ per extra KG if I remember correctly.

[swarnava.ch]

Loved your Pics and the experiance sharing. Thanks also for the detailed writeup of the process. Adding this to my bucket list for sometime when things are a bit settled again and we can all travel normally like before. Enjoy Maadi.

[SnS_12]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Online offers work out cheaper most of the times as there will be no service taxes involved. It is self-service vs service. It is the best option if you are ready and willing to take up some extra work.

True. That is why I either take a costing from them on my travel preferences or do my research first and then ask them if they can better it. At the end of the day they want to do business too so they offer competitive pricing. Plus my father-in-law has been booking through them for over two decades and being a smaller firm our requests are attended timely and in a professional manner.

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

But when it comes to us, we are OK with uncertainties as it keeps us always on high alert and most importantly we get to learn a lot about how to handle such up's and downs in the world which in turn makes us strong and independent individuals.

One can personally handle uncertainties and difficult situations up to a certain extent but in the situation I was in it would have just added to my stress more if I had to deal with these guys directly.

We had planned our Singapore trip months in advance and with my dad’s health condition were busy running between doctors to see if we could avoid a bypass surgery. I just cannot imagine myself in such a situation speaking with Airlines, hotels and the Cruise company explaining them my predicament over emails or worst expensive international phone calls and that too two times in a row.


Also, the Air France fiasco happened just a few days prior to our travel date and I am sure if i had to deal with them directly over emails or phone calls in such a short span of time it would have costed me my two weeks trip to Europe and I would have had no choice but to book an expensive last minute flight with another airline if available for the dates I wanted.

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Very good question. I actually forgot to mention this.

Check-in Baggage allowance was same as the international flight limits which was 20 KG. But yes there was a limit on the cabin baggage which was 5 KG as opposed to 7 KG. The two check-in baggage's, we carried weighed 30KG's when put together. So we still had a 10KG buffer limit with us. But the hand baggage's we carried weighed 7 KG each and we had exceeded by 4 KG's. They did not charge anything extra for the excess baggage mainly because our check-in baggage's weighed less when put together and was within their allowed limits.

They charge USD 5$ per extra KG if I remember correctly.

Yes, that is what I thought especially looking at the size and seating capacity of the aircraft

This is another thing we should keep in mind while booking directly or through agents (as they can miss this too) to check the baggage allowance while taking connecting flights within the destination country.

Months of planning international holidays can at times make us miss out checking the smallest of details and this can cost us dearly.

a) In your case you had a buffer of 10kg in checkin baggage but even if you had carried the exact weight you need to keep a check on the shopping you might end up doing and the extra weight that gets added up.

b) Even when my company books my international trips I keep an eye out on this detail as they tend too look for cheaper flights and can goof up big time. For eg my onwards flight would allow 25 and return could be 15. Happened recently when I had to travel to Singapore for work and had a days meeting in Malaysia on my return.

c) Also, when I was changed to KLM from Air France my flight from Mumbai to Rome was via Amsterdam with a flight change to a smaller aircraft which was an Alitalia airline for the final leg. But luckily my agent had managed the baggage allowance and I didn’t have to pay extra.

That is why in some unavoidable situations which life throws at you a good travel agent could be your saviour both mentally and financially.