Student Airfare

We have some sound advice for those of you looking for cheap student airfare:  Be careful.  We know this might seem like a departure from our college loan theme, but one of our goals is to offer sound information to our readership. 

Student Airfare Costs

We also realize that many students travel great distances to their college or university.  Travel-related costs, such as airfare, can add considerably to the cost of attending school.  In this publication, we're going to separate the fact from fiction when it comes to student airfares.  We're also going to help you figure out where you can find real savings when it comes to travel expenses.

Unfortunately, most airlines continue to view students as just another passenger on the plane.  In fact, while looking around for possible solutions to the high cost of student airfare, we were unable to find an airline that offered a special program of reduced or lower airfare for students attending college.

Special Airfare Programs

At first, reduced fares seem like an obvious offering, which airlines would make to college students.  After all, this is a segment of the population that is traveling out of necessity.  These trips are not vacations or meetings with prospective business associates.  We have students traveling by plane to a college or university that is usually selected based on a balance of cost, enrollment acceptance, and course offerings.

One of the reasons a student may be searching for special airfare rates is because they've heard of Bereavement or Condolence rates.  It is absolutely true these special airfares exist, but that's about it for discount airfare programs offered to individuals directly by the airlines themselves.

Alternatives to Cheap Student Airfare

Many of the websites you'll come across will claim to offer discounted student airfare or cheap rates for students.  Unfortunately, these websites point you to one of the many travel agencies that are already doing business on the web.  There you will find an obvious absence of special airfares for students.  So what are the alternatives to cheap airfare?

Frequent Flier Programs

Continental calls them OnePass, Delta calls them SkyMiles, but they are all the same concept, and they're universally offered by all major airlines.  Frequent flier programs are one way that students can help themselves to reduce their airfare costs.  The best way to take advantage of these programs is to do your homework as soon as possible.  In fact, you may even want to join a program before you attend school.

Major Airlines Frequent Flier Programs

The table above lists all of the major airlines and the names of their frequent flier programs.  It also contains links to their online websites, where you can join the program.

Finding the Right Program

Nearly every airport has an airline that specializes in travel to a given destination.  For example, Newark Airport is a major hub for Continental Airlines.  You can fly nearly everywhere in the world from Newark via Continental.  If your thinking about going to school and the distance necessitates airfares, then figure out which airline has a robust travel schedule to your destination, as well as reasonable prices.  Then make sure you join their frequent flier program.  Here's why.

Student Airfare Example

Let's say your home is 1,500 miles from your college or university.  At the very least, you will be making roundtrips in September, December, and May.  In this example, let's assume you will make four round trips a year (we'll include Spring Break) for four years.  That's 16 round trips at 3,000 miles each.

With a total of 48,000 frequent flier miles, and some help from the promotions airlines often run, you may be able to fund one or two trips through a frequent flier program.  If you can get two trips out of the 16 you've flown, that's equivalent to a 12.5% discount on your airfare.

Saturday Night Stays

Ever since the airlines were deregulated, they have this incredibly complex way of determining what airfare to charge passengers.  In many ways, they practice discriminatory pricing. That means they target certain travelers, and try to maximize the airfare they charge.  One of the obvious targets is the business traveler.  These customers are easy to identify because most business is conducted during the workweek:  Monday through Friday.  Here's where the Saturday night stay comes into play, and how staying over on Saturday can save on your airfare costs.

Many business travelers want to return home on Friday night or Saturday morning, so they rarely stay over on a Saturday night.  This allows airlines to charge higher airfares for business travelers.  After all, their companies are picking up the tab.  Students will almost always find much cheaper airfare when they can take advantage of the Saturday night rule. Whenever possible, plan to stay over on a Saturday.

Airfare Tracking Systems

Most students understand exactly when they need to get back to school, and when they have their breaks; especially Spring break.  There are a large number of websites that offer students the ability to track movements of airfare, both up and down.  Use your favorite airline, the one with the frequent flier program you've joined, and start tracking the cost of the ticket prices.  Most of the larger travel sites will automatically send you an email alert when the price moves beyond a certain threshold.

Nearby Airports and Departure Dates

When looking for low airfares, remember to check nearby airports and vary your departure dates too.  For example, you may be able to save money by flying out on a Friday instead of leaving on a Saturday.

Predicting Student Airfares

Trying to predict airfare prices is not easy.  The algorithm used by airlines takes into account the number of seats left on the plane, and the days remaining until departure.  This helps explain why airline prices change almost daily, and why predicting prices is so difficult.

As mentioned at the start, travel costs can add up; especially for students attending a college or university that requires travel by airplane.  It's unfortunate that airlines don't offer discounts to students.  This type of program would be an effective way to create lifelong customers.

About the Author - Student Airfare

Copyright © 2005 - 2011 Money-Zine.com