Discounts being announced on tickets prices by airlines are nothing short of a gimmick, many consumers as well as industry experts believe.

While airlines have been frequently boasting heavy cuts in prices of their tickets, a huge number of consumers have been complaining that they failed to get discounted tickets despite making repeated online attempts.

Bajaj Travelers' Mohinder Bajaj said, "Airlines don't open all the seats for sale as it is not beyond 5-10 seats per sector per day, which in any case are lapped by several agents' within hours of opening of these tickets. Moreover, one hardly gets the ticket."

Kamaljit Cheema of Grand Travel Planners pointed out that the overall discount on a ticket isn't beyond Rs 1,000-1,500. More over, the discounts come with a lot of risk as the airlines are not offering refunds in case of cancellation of a ticket.

He also pointed out that the discounts are being offered only on basic fare, which don't account for more than 30-35 per cent of the total price of the ticket. Consumers have to pay for fuel charges, passenger service fee, user development fee, and service tax etc. even on the discounted tickets.

SpiceJet as well as it rival carriers IndiGo and Go Air have announced huge fare cuts to attract more and more customers. On February 24, SpiceJet launched 'Super Summer Sale,' which offered 75 per cent discount on tickets booked for travel between April 1 and June 30.