College Life

Time To Go Home, The Student Way
By Gunes Atalay

We are in college and we in New York, the 10th most expensive city in the world. Most of us work, but we are still broke. Our parents miss us and we miss being home. However, how will we buy a plane ticket to go home, when we are so broke?

I did some research and found the best websites for a student to buy her plane ticket. So, if you are looking to go home, or on vacation during Thanksgiving, or for the January break, you don't have to spend all of your money on tickets. You can check these websites out and find the best prices.

The first idea I found to save money is www.studentuniverse.com, a website created for students. It requires a school E-mail account to join and a student ID card while flying. It has big discount specials for students, not only for flying, but also for rail way, hostels, and car rentals.

Another website that is very useful is www.orbitz.com. Out of all discount websites, Orbitz usually gave me the cheapest price possible. It sometimes has specials for students, and it doesn't require you to apply with a student E-mail. It has flights, railway, car rentals, hotel packages and cruises. So, if you are looking to have some fun on your break, you should check it out!

A third website is www.hotwire.com, and even though Orbitz owns it, Hotwire is usually more expensive than Orbitz. However, Hotwire is perfect for last minute trips, because they have a different system. When you search for a last minute trip, it gives you one result that is a lot cheaper than the rest, but it doesn't give you the flight time or the airline. It guarantees that the flight will be between 6 am and 12 am. It also guarantees that it will be either non-stop or one stop. It might seem a little scary, but it definitely works. I used it one Friday when I needed to go to Kansas for an emergency and I got a 9 am, non-stop, roundtrip flight for $180, while all other results showed prices between $500-$700.

The fourth website is www.cheapair.com, which also gives good results, sometimes. It lets you mix and match flights, which makes it cheaper, and it has package deals with hotels, cruises and cars.

As someone who travels constantly, using these websites has saved me lot of my money. Here are a few more tricks for those who want to travel. Try buying your tickets on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, because you will find it is a lot cheaper on those days, and try to stay at least one weekend day. That will get you a lot cheaper price because airlines know that someone who leaves on a Monday and wants to come back on a Friday is on a business trip. Those people usually pay no matter what. It is the same policy for people who leave on Friday and want to return on Sunday to get back to work on Monday, and are willing to pay more. Since we are not business people, and we are not willing to pay the highest price, we need to put in more time searching for the best deal possible.

I hope you get a great deal.

Have a nice trip!