A friend of mine searched for a Bangalore to Mumbai flight last month and told me every fare looked about the same. When I looked over her shoulder, a few of the cheapest results were landing at an airport she had never heard of. She had assumed all the flights went to the same place, and she had been comparing only half of what was available.
Mumbai Now Has Two Airports
Bangalore to Mumbai is a busy route with roughly fifteen to nineteen daily nonstop flights, depending on which tracker you trust. Air India Express, Akasa Air, IndiGo and SpiceJet fly it, and the flight takes around an hour and forty to fifty minutes. What has changed is where you can land. Along with the main Mumbai airport, Navi Mumbai International Airport now receives nonstop flights from Bangalore on IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air.
Check Both Before You Choose
Search tools often show the two airports as separate results, and the fare can differ between them for similar timings. The cheaper one is not always the better one. Navi Mumbai sits on the other side of the bay, so the saving on the ticket can disappear in extra travel time or cab fare if your destination is far from it. Check how far each airport is from where you are actually going before you decide on price alone.
Pick Your Day Carefully
The day you fly matters more than most people expect. Fare data from the Airlines Reporting Corporation, as reported by Expedia, points to Thursday as the cheapest day on this corridor and Sunday as the most expensive. When I looked at one live fare calendar for a fortnight, a Friday fare was more than double the fare on a Tuesday. Fares move often, so treat that as a snapshot and not a rule. The pattern is the useful part. Fridays and Sundays cost the most and the middle of the week costs the least.
Book Inside The Right Window
For most domestic routes, three to eight weeks before departure tends to work best. One large tracker's data for this route suggests about forty days ahead is the cheapest point. Booking inside the last week is almost always the costliest way to fly, so if your dates are fixed, book early enough to avoid it.
Use The Fare Calendar And Compare The Final Price
Before fixing a date, I open the fare calendar on MakeMyTrip and look at the days around it. Then I compare the final price on the payment page, since fees and offers change the total. In my experience MakeMyTrip has more often had the stronger bank offers, and Goibibo is worth a quick comparison because the active offers differ week to week.
A Word On The Cheapest Month
Sources do not agree on this one. Some point to September, others to January, March or July. I would not plan around any single month. Use the calendar for your own dates and avoid festival weeks where you can.
The Short Version
Check both Mumbai airports and think about where you are headed before choosing by fare. Fly midweek over a Friday or Sunday, book three to eight weeks out and compare the final price with offers included. It takes a few minutes and it catches what a quick search misses.
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