Why the Ticket Price Is the Wrong Number to Compare
A Delhi-Mumbai flight listed at ₹3,500 sounds like a clear win over a Vande Bharat fare of ₹1,600. It isn't, once you do the full accounting. The flight fare excludes the cab to IGI Terminal 2 from central Delhi (₹600 to 900), airport parking if you drive (₹150 to 300 for three hours), a meal or coffee airside because you arrived the mandatory 75 minutes early (₹300 to 500), and the cab from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or the airport on the Mumbai side (₹500 to 800 depending on traffic and destination). Add checked baggage fees if you packed more than a carry-on. The Vande Bharat fare, meanwhile, includes 25 kg of luggage, and New Delhi Railway Station sits inside the city. So does Mumbai Central. The gap between ₹3,500 and ₹1,600 collapses to something far smaller, and on several corridors it inverts entirely.
