Student
Travel Airfare
Students are on a budget, so it's important to get the cheapest airline
tickets. We will show you how. keep reading and the secret for cheap,
and we mean dirt cheap travel will be yours to take advantage of. We
have researched the methods airlines have for inflating the cost of airline
tickets and have found out how to beat the airlines at their own game
so that you will be flying so cheap, the airlines will actually be losing
money on your purchases! That's good for you, the budget minded college
student who needs to fly but can't afford to be price-gouged by what
the airlines are charging people who are unaware of discount air rates.
Lowest Coach Fare
Lowest coach Fare
is the rate you will want to pay. Before we show you
how to snag these great rates, we are obliged to tell you what you are
in for when you purchase these tickets. While flying in first class is
great, especially if you enjoy being pampered in deluxe
settings, unless you are willing to spend several thousand dollars for
what would otherwise cost you $120 (with tax), be willing to settle for
a rock bottom service on a coach flight. While the flight attendants
aren't willfully making your flight as miserable as they can, there is
a noticeable attitude shift when flying coach. We've been told by flight
stewards from several major airlines that there are some crews that hold
coach flyers in extreme contempt for being budget conscious, and will
often resort to willful rudeness against the passengers in order to pass
the time. One crew member told me that they refer to the coach section
as the "Misery Farm" because they routinely close off one of the restrooms,
then turn on the seatbelt light on a long flight, in order to revel in
the passengers discomfort.
When flying
on a rock bottom coach fare ticket, remember that while this isn't
a
hippie
bus
ride to Tijuana,
you might
end
up wishing
it
were.
Thankfully, the experience of flying under extremely uncomfortable conditions
is the exception and not the rule. Nevertheless the seats will be smaller
and you will have little leg room. Our advice is to pick an aisle seat
for easy in-out access, but also for the ability to hang a leg or two
into the aisle. Flying coach can make you feel boxed in and inspire
hunger out of sheer boredom and the unmitigated claustrophia-inducing
quarters. So be sure to bring a bucket of chicken with you. You can roast
a chicken
yourself,
of course,
which
is even
cheaper.
But
if you splurge in a $9.99 bucket of the Colonel's finest, you'll also
get mashed potatoes with gravy plus biskets- and a handy container for
carrying it all. Especially on a long flight with multiple stopovers,
you don't want to be caught hungry in an air terminal because airport
food is generally very bad, and extremely expensive. Take our advice
and bring the bucket.
In addition to flying coach for the lowest prices, you may also be subjected
to enduring multiple layovers. I've been on flights where the
last leg was nintey miles, which is an hour and a half driving distance,
but the next flight wasn't due to arrive for five hours. Although frustrating,
we were happy flyers because we were flying coast to coast for under
$200- ROUND TRIP!
If you want rock bottom tickets, then flying coach is a given, as are
multiple layovers. But to further drop the price of the flight you wish
to take, you should look into a Flight Consolidator. A flight consolidator
is a company that is aggregating empty seats on airlines all around the
world and from the United States. Flight Consolidators are banned in
some countries who object to forces that push the price of air flight
lower than what is profitable in their expensive economies. Not so in
the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom where air traveling
consumers know the value of their money and will not settle for anything
less than below wholesale pricing. By going through a flight consolidator
you may actually be flying so cheaply, the airlines would be better off
paying you NOT to fly.
Which is why it's important to have a portable
dvd player and/or an iPod to
entertain
you
while waiting
in
an airport
terminal
for the next flight that will take you to the next leg of your student
air travel itinerary. Staying fresh faced, comfortable and peppy is
crucial on these grueling but incredibly cheap air flights. So be sure
to bring
along as many magazines, games, DVDs with you as you can.
Flight Consolidator
An airline consolidator acts like a discount wherehouse
for tickets that need to be sold at drastically reduced rates. Many
people
don't
know
about
these websites, but they are an excellent way for finding cheap
student travel opportunities. A flight consolidator will typically
receive flights to sell at rates that are cheaper than you can purchase
from the airline themselves. Because flight consolidators have lower
overhead, they are able to pass the savings on to the budget minded
students. However, if those savings weren't incentive enough to go
search for cheap travel tickets for students from an airline consolidator,
then the fact that they charge less markup than a travel agent should
send every travelling college student to their computer to purchase
these super cheap bargain basement absolutely rock bottom priced travel
tickets.
Alternate Cities
It is not uncommon to explore flying into or out of alternate airports.
For instance, many people flying into Silicon Valley will fly in through
San Jose Airport without considering that Oakland Airport (OAK)is about
an hour away or less from most destinations in Silicon Valley, as is
San Francisco's airport (SFO). It's a good idea to check out the rates
for alternate cities, you will be surprised at the significant cost
differences. Additionally there may be airlines flying in or out of
those alternate airports that will not only give you better rates but
also better flight hours and even less stopovers. Many searches allow
you to create parameters for alternate cities, and if not then visit
our hub page to see what alternate cities will serve your location.
Blackout Dates
Be mindful of blackout dates when planning your trip. Blackout dates
are restrictions placed by the airlines on the dates on which you can
fly and receive a discount. While it's nice to be able to fly on the
specific dates that are convenient for
you,
budget constraints will dictate the dates that are best to fly in
and out. For instance the Winter holidays may cause you to fly out
earlier in the month of December, and perhaps fly back some time after
New Years Day- or even on New Years Eve itself. Here's a good tip:
Flying home on New Years Eve can not only be cheaper, but on the several
flights we took the flight crew gave out free drinks all night long
on a coast to coast flight. Cheap flight and free beer, what a combination!
Promotional Fares
These are fares that come up now and then. You usually find them in the
newspaper. They come with restrictions but if you can adjust your itinerary
to the sale dates, you can score a sweet deal on airline flights. One
thing you should be doing, if you aren't already doing it, is to sign
up for a "fare watcher" alert. Most sites like Orbitz and Expedia have
the ability to set up a "fare watch" so that when airfare between certain
airports reach a certain price, the airlines will send you an email
alerting you to the promotional discount fare for students that are
available.
Unsold Seats
Most airlines typically sell 75% of their seats. The remaining 25% that
go unfilled represent a loss for them. They would rather sell those
seats at a steep discount than allow an airplane take off with less
than profitable amount of passengers on board. Sure, everybody dislikes
a crowded plane, but if you're looking for a bargain, you might be
able to snag a seat on an airplane that has many empty seats- even
cheap first class air travel.
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