How to avail student discount airfare

Most students are on a budget, and need to find a fare that suits them most. This is where the student discount airfare comes in so useful. These tickets can be bought directly from airlines, through travel sites or sites specializing in student travel.

If you are a student you should log onto sites like Student Universe. This site requires proof of identity and insists that all buyers provide their school or college e-mail so that their credentials can be verified. Once this is done the site offers students big discounts.

You can also call sites like STA or Travel Cuts. These sites not only make online bookings but also do offline bookings. However, to make use of their facilities a student needs to buy an International Student Identity Card.

A third place to check student airfares is travel sites like Orbitz. These sites not only provide discounted student airfares but also provide good deals on domestic airfare. You may end up finding a regular deal where you may save more than on a normal student ticket.

The same holds true of airline sites, which put up cheap air tickets for sale. You can buy them and save more money than you would save from a discounted student ticket.

As a student, you should plan your travel early, especially if you know your vacation dates. This gives you the advantage of buying a ticket at a lower price because most airlines and travel agencies provide discounts on tickets that are booked well in advance.

You should also be a little flexible in deciding your travel dates. Often, you will find that tickets bought during the weekdays are cheaper as compared to those bought on weekends.

You can do all this if you plan your travel early. The students, who wait till the last date to make a booking, very rarely succeed in getting big discounts.

You must always look for cheap business class airfare

The cheap business class airfare any day is better than a full economy class airfare. It brings you more privileges, and a more comfortable journey. The seats are wider, there is more elbow room and the food and liquor is superior.

Your objective should be to get a business class ticket that is heavily discounted. It was not easy earlier. Today, almost every airline is willing to offer a discount on business class fares. The luckiest are the corporate travelers whose companies have entered into an agreement with the airline. Their fare is always discounted.

However, this does not mean that you cannot find an affordable business class ticket. The best place to find cheaper fares are airline websites. Regular visits to these sites will familiarize you with the kinds of discounts that the airlines offer on your traveling routes.

You can also visit big travel sites like Travelocity or Expedia. These sites buy tickets in bulk from airlines, and very often pass a large proportion of their commission to the customers. Who knows you may be the lucky one?

You can also use the search engines on these sites or other travel sites to find the best business fares going on your route. You must also check date-wise the fares being charged. You will be surprised to find that on different days different airlines offer different discounts.

The best chances of getting a discount is to book early or to travel during the off season. You can also land a good deal if you buy a ticket on an early morning or a midday flight on weekdays.

And don’t forget to get yourself registered on sites that send fare alerts. You never know when you may find a business class fare that suits you.

A little legwork can get you cheap airfare to Paris

There are many ways to get cheap airfare to Paris but all of them require planning, and some groundwork. The most important is to plan in advance, and be flexible in your travel dates. You will find that most airlines release their cheapest tickets to Paris well in advance – sometimes as much as three months in advance. If you are an early bird then you can catch this offer.

These offers are even better during the off season, which for Paris extends from middle January to end March and November 1 to early December. You can also plan your journey during weekdays since most people prefer to fly on weekends.

However, there are many who do not have the luxury of such advance planning, and may need tickets to Paris at a much shorter notice. These travelers must visit the websites of all major airlines flying to Paris.

They should also check budget airlines like Ryanair or Easyjet. These low cost European carriers offer the best fares; their regular fares are sometimes better than the discounted fares of the regular carriers.

Another place to get a bargain is a travel site like Expedia or Orbitz. These sites list their best fares as well as the discounted fares being offered by major airlines. A similar facility is available at search-based travel sites. These sites provide the best fares to Paris listed on all travel sites.

You should also try to fly to Paris from international hubs like New York, and not from smaller airports. There are more flights going to Paris from these airports and the chances of getting a lower priced ticket are certainly higher.

And don’t forget to look at package tours. Some of these tours offer air-only deals, which may turn out to be cheaper to other deals available on the net.

Finding cheap airfare to Mexico

There are several airlines that operate a flight to Mexico. Most of these airlines also offer discounts on some of their flights. You too can find a cheap airfare to Mexico is you know where to find these discounts.

Your first destination should be an airline site. The airlines routinely post discounted fares to Mexico on their site. Since there in no fixed hour at which these fares are posted you need to visit the site several times a day to find the cheapest airfare.

If this is inconvenient, you can visit a large travel site like Expedia or Trip Advisor. These sites compare fares being offered by different airlines. They also provide their own discounted rates. You can select the fare that is cheapest.

Another place where you can find cheap fares to Mexico is travel-based search engine sites. These sites collect fares being offered on different sites, saving the traveler the trouble of visiting scores of travel sites. Most of these sites also offer booking facilities enabling the traveler to search and book a flight simultaneously.

The traveler also can use bidding sites like Priceline.com. These sites ask the traveler to give the price that is most suitable. Their staff members then search the net and speak to different airline offices. The ticket once bought cannot be refunded even if it is on a date and time that is not suitable for the traveler.

This is not all. The traveler can use the flexible fare facility available on some sites. This enables the traveler to search the fares date-wise. He can then choose the fare that is most convenient.

To get the best airfares the traveler must plan his trip in advance. Ideally, he should try to travel during the off season. If that is difficult he should use mid-week flights instead of weekend flights. Similarly, a return ticket can fetch a better discount than a one-way fare to Mexico.

Make full use of student travel airfare

There are several ways to get a good deal on student travel airfare. The best way is to plan early. This gives you the advantage to pick up the discounted tickets first. You may even get a real low price if you happen to select an off season date.

But that is not always possible because student vacations invariably are the peak travel periods. That is the time when families get a chance to travel together.

However, this is no reason to loose heart. There are several sites that specialize in student travel. The foremost of these are Student Universe, STA and Travel Cuts. You can make use of these sites to find the best rates once you fulfill the basic registration facilities.

In the case of Student Universe you are required to provide your college e-mail which the site uses for verification while in the case of STA and Travel Cuts you are required to buy an International Student Identity Card.

Travel sites like Orbitz also specialize in student travel, and offer special rates to students buying air tickets from their site. These sites also provide one more advantage. They offer general discounted fares that are open to students too. So, you have an advantage to select a fare that suits your budget more.

The discounts are even better when it comes to international travel by students. Most airlines and travel sites offer bigger discounts to students than to the general traveler. They are also more accommodating when it comes to changing dates, charge a lower cancellation fee, and allow you to hold onto your open ticket longer.

It therefore makes sense to do some legwork before buying your ticket. You must visit both student and airline sites and also travel sites that provide student tickets. If you do this early then you stand to save several hundred dollars.

You need time to locate inexpensive airfare

There are several places to find inexpensive airfare. The best, of course, is the airline counter minutes before the flight is due to take off. The airline will be willing to sell its empty seats at a bargain rate. However, this is not a good way to get a bargain.

The second is your travel agent. However, your travel agent should be one whom you can trust. Most travel agents will offload those airline tickets where they get the highest commission. So, you must be sure that your travel agent is not going to sell you a ticket that is just a little less than the airline rate.

The best place to get an inexpensive fare is the net, provided you are patient and do not mind spending some time locating the best fare. Your first destination should be the airline sites. Very often, they run discounts or offer special fares to travellers buying tickets online.

Next should be large travel sites like Expedia or Travelocity. Some of these large travel sites buy tickets in bulk and then offer them at reduced rates to travellers. You will find that sometimes the fares offered by these big travel sites differ dramatically on international flights. This is because of their individual arrangements with international carriers.

After this, you should visit the search engines that specialize in travel like Sidestep.com. On these sites, you will get to see the fares offered by both airlines as well as smaller travel sites. You can select the one that is the least expensive.

You can even subscribe to low fare alerts. These e-mails inform you of any cuts in ticket rates. Another place to get inexpensive fares is the flexible fare sections of travel sites or the package deals sections. Both these options can help you save several hundred dollars.

How to find cheap airfare to London

It is not difficult to find cheap airfare to London provided you know where to look. It also depends on how flexible are your travel dates, and what kind of facilities you want. If you are not finicky about flying Asian Airlines like Air India or Kuwait Air then these should be your first stops.

Most of these Asian airlines fly through London and sell tickets through consolidators. Often, the seats allotted on the US-London sector stay empty because most Asian passengers use airlines of their countries to book home passages. You can easily get an inexpensive seat till London on these flights.

The London seats are even cheaper during the off season. Two periods when tickets are cheaper are middle January to end March and November 1 to early December. Few people travel during these months. If possible, you should plan your journey to London during these months.

Otherwise, you should plan your trip in advance. Most airlines release their cheapest seats to travelers who book their tickets well in advance of the flight date. If you are late for these tickets then you can look for slightly less discounted tickets. These tickets are released from time to time by airlines. However, you need to be alert and visit the airline sites frequently to grab them.

You can also quote your price on Priceline.com, and hope that some airline will be willing to sell you a ticket to London at that price. The downside of this deal is that there are no refunds. You have to take the flight even if it does not suit you.

And don’t forget the sites that send low fare alerts. You must become a member of at least a couple of these sites. You never know when you may get a great offer.

Thanks to discounts, domestic airfare has become more affordable

The domestic airfare is fixed by the airlines keeping in mind their costs and the destinations to which they fly. The airfare is not very flexible but the airlines do modify it from time to time keeping in mind the rush of passengers. Most airlines lower their fares during the off season; some airlines provide a slightly lower fare in their non-peak hour flights.

All airlines now have a site where they post their fares to attract travelers to buy tickets in advance. They also post the discounts available on different flights, making it possible for a traveler to get the best possible fare.

The launch of low cost carriers has increased the competition in the market. The traveler today has a choice to take a flight that charges much lower fares as compared to the top flight airlines. The reason for this is largely the scaled down services that low cost carriers offer.

Travel sites comprise another channel to buy domestic air tickets. These sites have entered into deals with individual airlines and sell their tickets at attractive discounts. Sometimes, these discounts may be better than the ones that are being offered by the regular airlines.

A few travel sites have their own search engines that visit the databases of various travel and airline sites and display the best available fares. This has become another popular way to buy domestic air tickets online.

The choices available to travelers don’t end here. There are sites that try and get an air ticket at a price quoted by you. These sites match your price with the price offered by an airline and buy a ticket on your behalf. You also have no say regarding the date or time of the flight.

But these choices have made domestic air travel easier and more affordable. More and more travelers in the US and Europe are buying their tickets online.

Cheap airfare to Hawaii is not difficult to find

The best way to avail cheap airfare to Hawaii is to book on the net. There are scores of sites that post discounted fares every day. You can log on to these sties and check the fare that suits you most.

You also have the option to book your ticket from airline sites. Most airlines flying to Hawaii post discounts on their sites. There may be days when the discounts are higher. There may also be days when special Hawaii fares may be released by the airlines. You have to make sure that you don’t miss these offers by logging onto the net at least twice or thrice a day.

Another source of obtaining a cheap air ticket to Hawaii is the big three big travel sites – Travelocity, Orbitz and Expedia. All these three sites have struck separate deals with airlines, and offer discounts like any travel agency. Often, these discounts vary from site to site. You must therefore visit all the three sites to locate the fare that suits you most.

Those who are not net savvy can visit travel-based search engines. These sites run a program that collects details of fares being offered by travel sites across the net. These details are then displayed on the search page, making it easy for you to spot the right fare.

You have one more way to get a cheap air ticket to Hawaii. This is based on a novel program that is run by Priceline.com. On this site, you can enter your departure city, travel dates and the fare that you can pay. The site operators will then speak to different airlines, and book the seat if any airline is willing to sell it at the price given by you.

The only disadvantage is that the flight may not be of your choice. It may take off at a time that may not suit you. There are also no refunds in such cases. But the fare definitely will be the cheapest.

Getting cheap airfare to Florida

There are several ways to get cheap airfare to Florida. The easiest is to fly the low cost air carriers. These airlines are no frills airlines; their services may not be comparable to the big airlines but they offer cheap fares.

If, however, you don’t want to compromise on your comfort then you need to visit the sites of all important airlines, and check the fares. You will find that all these airlines put up discounted fares from time to time. Normally, these tickets are released about a fortnight in advance. So, that’s the best time to get cheap ticket to Florida.

You will have to monitor the airline sites carefully to get the discounted ticket. These tickets are pricked up very fast by net-savvy travelers. To make sure that you don’t miss them, you must visit these sites at least twice or thrice every day.

Your next stop should be the large travel sites. These sites work like travel agents, and offer a part of their commission to the travelers. They also compare fares offered by airline sites so that you get a sampling of fares at one point.

There are some sites that keep track of low fares, and keep mailing these fares to their members. To make use of these sites, you need to be their member. This is an easy way to learn about the cheapest fare to Mexico. There’s no harm in calling a few travel sites. Often, this ploy works because the site official also pitches in.

You also have sites that ask you to quote your price. These sites then check the net and call different airlines, to buy the ticket at the price quoted by you. However, such tickets cannot be refunded even if they are on flights that don’t suit you.

It is for you to choose an option that suits you most.

Points to keep in mind while going for student airfare

Most students lack sufficient funds to travel. Recognizing this need, the travel industry has created a new form of airfare -- student airfare. This airfare is meant to meet the needs of students who want to travel for studies abroad or to universities that are located at distant places. The airfare is also useful for students who are doing research or want to visit their homes during vacation time.

The airlines were the first to extend this facility to the students, who could show their identity card and buy a cheaper ticket. However, this fare is not always less than the discounted fares that airlines offer to the general public. It therefore makes sense for students to visit the websites of airlines and compare the student tickets with discounted tickets.

The students can also visit specialized student sites like Student Universe or STA and buy specially discounted tickets through them. Sites like STA and Travel Cuts also have offline facilities, and students can call them to get the lowest airfare. However, all these sites insist on verification.

There are some travel sites that use search engines that display the best student airfares. These are useful sites to visit because they also display the normal discounts being offered by airlines. Very often, domestic discounts are higher than student discounts.

The students also need to be flexible about their travel plans if they want to get the best deal. They must book their tickets early, ideally on those days when the traffic is low. They can find these days by using the search feature on travel sites.

Another strategy should be to fly the cheaper airlines. Students don’t need special comforts, and should not be fussy about facilities. They should also not mind using smaller airports if theses are not too far from their colleges. This will help them cut their traveling cost considerably.

It’s not difficult to find cheap airfare to Europe

Almost everyone wants to go on a holiday to Europe. And almost everyone wants to save money on tickets because every dollar that is saved can make your holiday more memorable. But how do you find cheap airfare to Europe?

There are several travel agents who offer package tours to Europe. You can use any one of them who offers an air-only deal. The chances are that this deal will work out to be cheaper than the transatlantic fares published on the websites of airlines.

If, however, you can’t find such an operator then you need to go through the fare chart, and locate an airline that is offering the lowest. Next, you need to visit the travel site leaders like Travelocity or Expedia and find out the rates being offered by them.

Your journey is still not over. You also need to visit a travel site that uses a search engine to give you the cheapest transatlantic fares Once you have got the cheapest fare, you need to call some of the offline agencies and ask them if they can give you a better deal.

You have one more option. You can go to a “name your price” site like priceline.com and
put down a fare that is at least 15 per cent less than the lowest fare you have found on the net. Who knows it may be your lucky day, and you may walk away with the cheapest possible air ticket to Europe.

You can also try your luck with east European or Asian airlines that fly through Europe on their way home. These are hopping flights, and very often fly empty on some sectors. They also sell their tickets at a discount on these the US-Europe sector. You can always make use of these seats.

Free airfare is a misleading concept

There is nothing like free airfare. It is a most misleading concept because no airline can afford to fly travelers free. The airlines, as special cases, may carry troops in a national emergency or ferry emergency personnel as a goodwill gesture but they don’t hand out tickets free of cost.

There are some travelers who have found some loopholes in airline rules which they exploit to force airlines to give them a free passage. One is overbooked flights. These travelers avoid checking in till the flight is full. They then insist that they should be booked on the next available flight, and allowed to travel free. The flights, where it happens most, are the international flights that use multiple travel agents to book tickets.

Some travelers also demand free passage in case of missed connections. But once again it is on account of an operational problem that an airline awards a free passage. A passenger cannot, as a right, demand that the airlines sell free tickets.

Another way of getting a free passage is to use your flying miles. But once again these flying miles are not free; they are bonuses that you have earned over a period of time. Such tickets can at best be described as a benefit or a perk that is used by airlines to build customer loyalty.

Interestingly, luxury cruise services bundle free air ticket as part of their fares. This is a promotional tactic used by luxury passenger liners to promote their tour packages. The value of the ticket depends on the kind of cruise package that the passenger buys.

Similarly, some hotels and tour operators are ready to absorb the cost of air ticket if you buy a holiday package from them. But once again these cannot be called free tickets.

Getting a Cheap Airfare Ticket

Today, it makes sense to look for a cheap airfare ticket, especially for frequent travellers. They can reduce their travelling cost by 30 to 40 per cent. The same applies to families planning a vacation. They need not blow up their vacation budget on airline tickets alone.

Instead, they need to plan their journey carefully. The best time to get a cheap ticket is the off season. The rush on the planes is less, and airlines are more than willing to offer big discounts.

However, this may not suit all individuals. They therefore need to plan a trip sometime during the middle of the week or select a flight that takes off during the middle of the day. They will find that these flights have low occupancy rates, and force airlines to offer bigger discounts.

The trick lies in finding the right airline and the right site. You must be willing to spend considerable time searching the net. There may be times when you are lucky and may hit the jackpot with your first few searches. At other times, you may have to spend several frustrating hours. But the search will be worth it.

Your quest for a cheap ticket should start with the airline sites, ideally a fortnight or more in advance. You must check all possible fares being offered by the airlines flying to your destination. To be on the safer side, you must conduct this search at two to three different points of the day. The airlines release the discounted tickets without announcement.

Your next destination should be the large travel sites. These sites work like online travel agencies and offer considerable part of their commissions to travellers. Once again, you can get a better deal if you apply early.

Finally, you should visit all search engine-based travel sites. These sites pick up information from several small and medium travel sites, as well as airline sites. You get to know the best rates being offered by different sites, and can select any one of them.

How to get the best discount airfare

There is a fare war out there with airlines, travel sites and travel agents offering discounted airfares. All that you need is patience and some search skills to locate the site that is offering the best discount airfare.

You can always start with the sites of airlines. Most airlines offer discounts if you buy tickets directly from their sites. Sometimes, these may be the best discounts, but not always. However, it makes sense to note down the discounted fares being offered by them before logging on to search sites.

These sites like Kayak.com or Sidestep.com search the databases of all travel sites, including airline sites that allow them, and display the best fares. They save you the trouble of visiting each site individually and searching for best fares.

However, some big travel sites like Travelocity.com have started closing their databases to these search engines because they don’t want to loose traffic or revenue to other sites. So, you need to visit the big travel sites like Expedia or Orbitz to learn their discounted airfares.

If you are not in a hurry, then you should spend a couple of days checking airfares at random hours; say 8 in the morning, 4 p.m. in the evening or 10 p.m. in the night. You may find a flight that is offering a discount of almost 50% on the rates it was quoting in the morning. However, you have to be lucky and persistent to be able to get such fares. They get sold out very quickly.

You can also try the flexible fare searches, if your dates are not final. This gives you the airfare on different possible dates. Locate the date when the fare is the lowest and make the booking.

Another way of getting discounted fares is to book two or three weeks in advance or to travel during the lean season. You will find that most airlines give you big discounts on such bookings.

There are several ways to get the best airfare

How do you get the best airfare? By talking to your travel agent? By visiting the airline office? Or by logging onto travel sites? All three can work. But the best chances are through the net.

The airlines have realized that the easiest way to communicate special fares is through the net. Almost every airline showcases its best fares on its site. Mostly, these airfares are put up either early when the bookings commence or when they are about to end, and the airline realizes that most of the flight is empty.

The airlines have no regular date or time when they put up their best fares. It’s just your luck. You may happen to be browsing at the time when you notice the cheap fares and make a booking.

You can also visit travel sites that buy tickets in bulk and sell them at a concession. Here too you can get a good deal, because these sites want to sell off as many tickets as possible – and are willing to part with substantial parts of their commission.

Ultimately, it is volumes that matter. Every site realizes that it stands to make more profits if it sells more tickets. The only way it can do so is by attracting more travellers to its site. So, you can expect tickets at cheaper rates; you can expect flexible ticketing where the prices vary from date to date; you can even also examine package rates where you end up paying less than the official fare.

Some net savvy travellers use the sites to hop across two or three flights to reach their destination. This enables them to use the cheapest airlines on different sectors. This is a good strategy especially when you are travelling abroad. Instead of flying non stop to your destination you can break your flight, and take a cheaper flight.

First Class Airfare Promises Royal Treatment

Few people can afford first class airfare. But those who can travel like kings. They get wide pushback seats, lots of elbow room and a superior service. The airlines also try to win them over by providing several thoughtful gifts. These include lip balm, cooling gel, mouth wash moisturizer, hand lotion, hand gel, body gel and even socks.

On long distance routes and international flights the first class passenger also gets a privacy divider, seats that recline completely, eye shades, fresh linen and even duvets. Another area where the airlines pay great attention is food and drinks. They serve possibly the best food you can imagine to their first class passengers. The same goes for drinks.

And why not. The first class passenger pays ten to fifteen times the fare paid by an economy class passenger, and certainly needs to be pampered.

This does not mean that you cannot travel first class. You can, especially if you are a frequent flyer. You can collect all the miles and convert them into a first class ticket. You can also fly some of the cheaper airlines that charge less for first class. You can also get your business class ticket upgraded to first class, if the first class is empty.

Flying first class is certainly an experience, and if you can afford it you must fly first class as often as you can. There can be nothing better for the ego. The service and treatment is impeccable. You feel like royalty.

In fact, the difference in treatment can be felt from the point of check in. The first class counters are separate. They are not meant for the hoi polloi. Then when the boarding call comes the first class passengers either board first or board last.

No wonder the dream of every economy class passenger is to fly first class.

It’s not difficult to get the Best Price Airfare

Today it is not difficult to find the best price airfare. All that you need is some patience and the ability to search the net. You should also be willing to spend some time on the net, and be flexible in your schedule.

The best is to book the trip in advance. You will find that it costs less to buy a ticket 14 days in advance than three days in advance. Of course, if you have an emergency then you have to depend on last minute fares. Some airlines keep a few seats aside to meet such needs. But you cannot always get them. So, last minute fares should be your last option.

Another way to get a good deal is to fly during the middle of the week. These flights are relatively less booked than weekend flights. Similarly, flights that take off very early in the morning or during the middle of the day have lower occupancy rates. It therefore makes sense to use one of these flights.

You should register yourself with sites that mail information on the availability of lowest priced tickets. This saves you the trouble of doing the search yourself. You get to know the best airfare available on your travel route, and travel days.

You always have the option of visiting the large travel sites on the net. Most of these sites have entered into deals with airlines and provide special discounts on several sectors. You will have to visit several sites to get the best discount because these discounts vary from site to site.

Otherwise, you can visit those travel sites that use a robot to find out the best fares available on the net. These sites do the searching for you once you have indicated your travel date and destination.

Finally, you should not forget the airline sites. Several airlines release cheaper tickets on their sites, especially on those flights that are running empty. You need to keep track of these tickets by visiting the airline sites regularly.

You need patience to find Cheap Airfare

The best place to find cheap airfare is your desktop. All you need to do is to log onto the net, enter your destination and search dates in important search engines like SideStep.com, Kayak.com or Mobissimo.com. Then hit the Go button, and wait for the search engine to display airfare availability.

You will find the cheapest airfare displayed first. You can book the ticket immediately or continue with your search by moving to other search engines. You will find that there are still better options available.

This is what the Internet has done. It has made it possible to find the best fares at the click of a button. There are times when you may find that the early morning fares offered by an airline are much les than the fares offered late during the evening. This may happen because the airlines has decided to release more seats on a flight that is running empty.

The same happens with large travel sites that use consolidator fares. These sites buy tickets in bulk from airlines and then offer it at low costs on the net. Their strategy is to offload all tickets that they have bought. They become desperate to get rid of tickets as the flight time nears. You can get one of these tickets if you are willing to play the waiting game.

Most travel sites offer flexible searching. This gives you the option to find a low fare on a future date. You also have the option to register for low fare alerts. These alerts are mailed whenever the airline or the travel site cuts the fare further.

You can also go for a package deal that includes hotel and car rentals. Very often, you will find that your total cost is much less than what you would have ended up paying if you had booked them separately.