<p>Does anyone have any tips or web sites to get info. to purchase a reasonably priced airplane ticket for study abroad? i.e. are there discount student rates? Should I only buy a one way ticket going overseas and then buy the return ticket later or are there one year open tickets available? Thank you so much.</p>
<p>buy a return. trust me. you can get return tickets from the UK to US for like £350 if you’re lucky - I don’t know when you’re studying, but…</p>
<p>A one way ticket usually costs as much and sometimes more than a return ticket. I was in the UK visiting my dad when he passed away and had to miss my return (non refundable) flight. A one way ticket back to the US was much more costly than a round trip ticket. Definitely buy a return.</p>
<p>One site I use for searching for tickets is kayak.com You can’t actually buy the ticket there but it compares prices from various airlines then you go to the airlines site to buy the ticket. You can also look at sites such as Expedia etc for comparison purposes.</p>
<p>Good luck with finding a £350 ticket to the UK nowadays. If you do please let me know. It is several years since I have found one that low and I travel to the UK every year (though I am in the middle of the US not on the East coast which makes it higher).</p>
<p>Try Icelandair. There’s a layover in Reykjavik (sp?) but that’s not a big deal. </p>
<p>We also saved several hundred dollars on airfare by having S arrive a day early and spend the night in a youth hostel before going to his host family, and the same thing on the other end. (Except that his host family was happy to have him stay an extra day.)</p>
<p>Both my daughters studied abroad in Europe their junior year and we are frequent travellers. I always use Kayak to research fares and fare combinations. Sometimes I have booked directly with the airline or using Expedia or Orbitz. If you do have to change return flights or if there is a weather related issue, the airlines are more helpful if you’ve booked directly than through a third party. Pay attention to when the program ends and when housing must be vacated.</p>
<p>We like STA travel because it is cheap to change the return flight home if needed. It is geared for students, but I think teachers can buy tickets from them, also.</p>
<p>I like kayak, too. But for STUDENTS:</p>
<p>[Cheap</a> Tickets for College Students and Faculty: Airfare, Rail and Hostel Deals](<a href=“http://www.studentuniverse.com/]Cheap”>http://www.studentuniverse.com/)</p>
<p>best value for student tickets …</p>
<p>Studentuniverse (linked above) sometimes has good deals for students if you book far in advance. You should always compare their prices to Orbitz, etc - sometimes you can get cheaper deals there.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom:</p>
<p>[The</a> Great American Sale from London - Book by 26 Jan 10!](<a href=“http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i18n/specialOffers/TOY_LHR.jsp?locale=en_GB]The”>http://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i18n/specialOffers/TOY_LHR.jsp?locale=en_GB)</p>
<p>We once had a problem with Student Universe. My daughter has a summer program in France that she is affiliated with and when we booked through Student Universe the one time, her flight was re-routed causing her arrival to be significantly delayed and we did need to get them to reschedule to another flight entirely as her arrival in Paris was time sensitive for transport to where her program was. On the return leg, she had her confirmation in hand in Paris to fly on BA through London home and BA had no record of her reservation for that flight in the computer. Luckily she was at the airport early and flew standby on an even earlier flight… but of course no such luck with her luggage which arrived here several days later.</p>
<p>It’s going to be an expensive ticket, so do some advance planning. If you have a major airline near your home city, look into their frequent flyer program and their overseas partners. You can earn almost enough miles on a ticket to Europe to get a nearly-free FF ticket for a later domestic flight.</p>
<p>I have found American Airlines to be a good choice for overall prices to western Europe and in offering one-way fares. They don’t charge extra, and you can even book a one-way fare with miles. Their website is quite easy to use; you’ll see the variation in weekend and mid-week fares on a grid. </p>
<p>What are your departure and arrival cities? Some cities in Europe routinely offer cheaper fares, such as Dublin. You can also save by using a smaller domestic airport. There is a lot of shopping and pricing to do. Consider using fare alerts as it is a little early to be buying for summer. And try pricing your route on different days of the week - it is possible to save just by buying on a Tuesday rather than a Friday, for instance.</p>
<p>I always use itasoftware dot com to search for fares, then book directly with the airlines or sometimes an agency like Expedia. When you go to the website, log in as a guest in order to search airfares.</p>
<p>If you’re flying somewhere other than Western Europe, Lufthansa has an interesting program called We Fly Home, which often has really good fares. Lufthansa also has a student section of the website, but I’ve not used that one. STA travel ended up giving us the best deal for my son when he flew to Turkey last year. It’s worth checking around.</p>
<p>Well darn it dreaming - you got me excited for a while - Unfortunately the great American sale from London does not help me as my travel originates in the US. I Checked the AA web site for flights originating in the US (Dallas is the nearest AA hub for me) and the flights for the same June dates london/dallas/london that were £370 (amazing!!) are over $1400 for Dallas/London/Dallas. I would have booked today if I could get the £370 equivilant price. It is actually very surprising - back when my Mumwas healthy enough to travel to the US from London it was always *more *expensive for flights originating in the UK. </p>
<p>That is quite a deal for anyone originating in London.</p>
<p>Historically, one way tickets have been far more expensive. These days, sometimes they are reasonable. However be very careful with student visas, as sometimes a round trip ticket is required. </p>
<p>STA travel, with a $50 fee to change the return date is a great deal compared to regular airlines and travel sites. However, it was not in effect for the Caribbean where my D is going on exchange.</p>
<p>Check visa requirements for study abroad. Many countries, including European countries that don’t require tourist visas, require student visas, which in turn require that the student have a round-trip ticket in hand for the visa application. One way may not be an option.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider in buying one-way tickets are new airport security rules. A one way ticket is a common red flag. Most of the time flying on a one-way nothing will happen to an American student, but this last weekend a friend’s D (think Iowa farm girl), flying back from Zurich after a semester abroad was pulled out, questioned and detained for about an hour and a half because she was flying on a one-way ticket. She made her flight, but it was close.</p>
<p>If you use Student Universe do a google search for a coupon code before you book. I just got a code that knocked $30 off the ticket price and gave us free trip insurance for a trip to Rome.</p>
<p>Is it possible to buy an open date round trip overseas student ticket? Do they exist or do you have to have a firm date? I am concerned that my son might change his mind and want to extend his stay since the spring semester ends in June–might want to travel around before coming home. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>STA TRAVEL. $50 to change the return date if he changes his mind.</p>
<p>If the visa requires a round trip ticket in hand, and you have the cash available, buying a fully refundable (that’s key) ticket to use for the visa application may be a good idea. They don’t care if you then substitute a less expensive round-trip ticket.</p>
<p>The visa can be a royal pain in the neck. Some require that your student apply in person at a specified consulate – even if there isn’t one in a thousand miles – and others don’t actually approve the visa until right as you’re due to leave. Others have notices that it is first-come, first-served, but they close the doors as soon as they’ve admitted as many people as they choose to help that day. D got her visa for Italy two post-office delivery days before she departed. We were biting our nails. We were also required to prove a certain (rather large) sum of money in the bank to prove that there were funds available to support the student for the entire term.</p>
<p>I bought my son a round-trip ticket, but I fully expect to change the return flight and pay the change fee. I just calculated that into the cost of the ticket (in my head, at least). It’s way cheaper that way than booking 2 one-way flights. Add to that the issue of one-way tickets being a red-flag for security, and it’s just not worth it. I picked a return flight for the day the program says he has to vacate their housing, although he fully expects to do some traveling after that point. </p>
<p>I usually just go to Orbitz, compare fares and schedules, find the flight I like, then go directly to the airline’s website and book it.</p>