Summer is over, and if you’re a college student, then you’re probably back at school. While some students stay close to home for school, others end up going hundreds or thousands of miles away. These tips are for the others.
Photo by caribb
With the school year just starting, the holiday season may seem like an eternity away, but from past experience, it’ll be here before you know it. So take a little break from your lectures, labs, parties, and shindigs to check out these tips for traveling this holiday season.
Start looking early.
By early, I mean right now. It’s never too early to start looking, especially with tools like Farecast, a one of a kind site that offers predictions on the best time to purchase airline tickets. Just enter your dates and destination, and it provides you with the best time to purchase your tickets and a comparison of prices from the different airlines and travel sites.
You can even see a graph of the lowest prices over a period of time. This makes it easy to identify trends like the big price drop right after the Thanksgiving weekend.
Purchase tickets directly from the airline.
While travel sites like Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity are great for comparing ticket prices, it’s almost always cheaper to buy your ticket directly from the airline’s website. That’s because these travel sites usually tack on a booking fee.
Check other dates.
If your schedule is flexible, you may be able to save some money by staying/leaving a little earlier/later. Of course, you’ll have to decide whether the money you’ll save is worth the hassle. I could save some money by flying back after Thanksgiving on Tuesday, December 2, but it’s not worth it for me because I’d miss an entire extra day of work.
Check alternate airports.
Surrounding airports may have lower airfares, so it doesn’t hurt to check. Once again, you’ll have to decide whether the money you’ll save is worth the extra hassle.
Look into low-cost carriers
Depending on where you’re at and where you need to go, you may be able to fly on a low-cost carrier. Southwest, JetBlue, and Virgin America are three of the most popular ones in the United States. Don’t let the term “low-cost carrier” fool you though. Sometimes low-cost carriers still cost more than major airlines, so be sure to check prices for both before purchasing a ticket.
Pack lightly to avoid checking luggage.
In case you haven’t heard, the major airlines have started charging for checked baggage to offset fuel costs. The policies and fees vary by carrier, so check the airline’s site before buying your ticket. Some charge for every bag while others only charge for the second bag. If you can’t pack lightly enough to avoid checking luggage, then you can expect to pay at least $30 per bag for a round-trip flight.
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Another good site to check out is http://www.kayak.com. It compares prices of multiple airlines and offers you the best rates.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
Check student sites: studentuniverse.com and statravel.com. Very hit or miss, but I’ve gotten a few good deals
I definitely agree with the advice to start looking as early as possible and book now if you can — I just took care of my holiday travel for the rest of the year.
Some other thoughts:
- I agree with @SP to check out StudentUniverse.com. I have had very good luck lately with them, and I like their interface. Checking STA Travel has always been a painful experience for me — maybe they offer good deals, but it seems every time I try a domestic itinerary with them, the website gives some sort of error during the process.
- Its worth noting that Southwest does not charge any fees for checking bags and what not.
- Priceline.com does not charge a book fee on its normal airline bookings (thats not to be confused with their “name your own price” service) — which is nice, since Priceline offers cashback through sites like FatWallet.com.
- Most importantly, I think its important to just be flexible.
I’ve written some about this on my blog in the past.
I’ve only booked through Priceline’s Name Your Own Price service once, but I got an amazing deal when I did–42% off the rate I was getting from the airline itself. Of course, since you don’t know when your exact flight times will be until after you’ve paid, flexibility is crucial.