Student flight deals are out there if you know where to look. With a little patience and some helpful hints you can save enough money to buy a couple of extra souvenirs, or even stay abroad a little longer to explore the countryside.
Soon you’ll be able to find the best rates on international student flights available – whether you’re going across the pond, south of the border, or to the other side of the world.
Find Cheap Student Flights
Cheap student flights can help you stretch your limited student budget when you’re studying abroad. And because the Internet has made the process of booking travel much easier for the average person over the last decade, it’s a cinch to do it yourself.
Many travel companies have built their businesses around a promise to deliver discounted travel to the individual traveler. There are scores of options online, many of which have special sections dedicated to the student traveler where you can find cheap student flights and other travel deals.
Student flight discounts can also be found through those websites and organizations strictly dedicated to student travel, such as STA Travel. Here you can find information on student flights and obtain other helpful travel information and discounted rates for railway travel.
Additionally, you can find discounted rail passes for many countries that you might be considering by using a search engine to find them.
Another option to save money is to use an International Student Identity Card or ISIC. These cards are available at ISIC and can help you secure student flight discounts – either direct from a participating international airline or through a student travel agency. They are also handy for identification purposes and provide valuable discounts and other benefits around the globe.
Another option to find a cheap student flight is to turn in miles you’ve accumulated through an airline directly or through a student credit card. If you’re shy of the miles you need for a flight, you have a couple of options.
Parents or friends can share their miles with you or you can purchase the number of miles you are short directly on airline websites like American Airlines. Although these transactions are not free, they can still save you hundreds of dollars for your student flight.
Lastly don’t forget to check with your study abroad advisor or with the staff of the study abroad program you’re enrolling in. Many times special deals on student flights or bulk travel discounts have already been arranged for you.
Have a Travel Plan in Place
It’s important that you have a general plan in mind before you begin to seek out student flights for your trip abroad. If you are going as part of a group with your school or another study abroad program, your student flight and other travel plans might be pre-arranged as part of your total package. If not, much of the groundwork will be up to you.
In order to appropriately plan your travel you should first contact the school you’ll be attending or the program you’ll be studying abroad with. Find out if there is a set date, time, and place established for the entire group to meet. Sometimes these groups meet at the destination airport and then take a bus or some other mode of transportation to the foreign school.
If you have to arrange for a student flight and other transportation on your own, you’ll be required to select your travel dates. Keep in mind that many countries require students and other visitors to present a round-trip airline ticket in order to enter the country.
It’s also a cheaper alternative than two one-way tickets. With that in mind, call your new school and ask when classes will start and whether or not there is an orientation period that you should plan to attend. Additionally, find out when classes and exams are over at the end of the semester.
For fun, try to plan for a couple extra weeks on either end of your trip to explore. Take advantage of the time you have to backpack through Europe or explore the outback. No matter where you go, you’ll be glad you stayed a little longer.