<p>I am an admitted student who has been nothing but impressed with everything I've seen and heard of USC, until today. USC explicitly stated on my portal and via email when I registered for USC Explore that there are discounts available to students who purchase airline tickets through USC's travel agency. I just got off the phone with the same agency, and they kindly informed me that although the airlines have discontinued the discounts and the agency is no longer able to give them, USC has not removed this from any of their letters or documents. While this may seem a trivial issue to some, there are plenty of students, like myself, who cannot afford to fly round-trip across the country to visit USC. My parents were hesitant to let me take this trip (since they cannot afford to accompany me) and were very happy with the idea of discounts. Now my plans are ruined and I have no idea if I'll be able to take the trip. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Ugh. Very frustrating...</p>
<p>Have you checked with Southwest Airlines? They are having some really good deals into Southern California, mainly LAX. Don’t just rely on kayak and priceline for deals, they don’t show the deals on SW. Good luck, you can make it work.</p>
<p>Your user name is fitting.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I have always found that I can find flight deals and prices that are lower than any I was ever able to find through the USC-affiliated travel agency. It takes some searching, but I always wanted to book via airlines we preferred, at times and flights we wanted. LAX is a busy airport and served by a LOT of airlines. If you prefer to fly in and out of other airports, you can get to USC through them as well.</p>
<p>Sadly, the USC travel agency never helped us in the years our kids attended; have not heard from friends that they found the rates great either. Watching for sales tended to work best for us. :)</p>
<p>I would second the Southwest recommendation. If you book in advance you can get some very nice deals.</p>
<p>Oh and on the plus side the deal at the Radisson is still available and very good.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the feedback 
This was frustrating and the cost is daunting, but hopefully it all works out! </p>
<p>Ditto Southwest. I accidentally waited to book Xmas travel, for example and realized I was going to be looking at a big bill. We live halfway across the country. But the day I looked, they were having a sale and the tickets had dropped to $102 each way.</p>
<p>So yes - and also look at Kayak.com to track rates on other airlines (Southwest doesn’t use them).</p>
<p>In general - claims from anyone about negotiated rates only results in a discount of a few dollars even when it is still in effect. My daughter’s middle school used one to book tickets and I actually found the rates cheaper by $100 by booking myself. Same thing happened when I used AAA - a vacation was quoted at $300 more per person than the tour providers own website that morning.</p>
<p>So don’t feel frustrated. I think you may have been expecting the “old deals” to give you HUGE discounts. They wouldn’t have. And yes - Airlines are consolidating and many of them have recently pulled those discounts from Travel Agents because it had to include their commissions.</p>
<p>So again - your homework - Kayak.com, Southwest.com, and AirfareWatchDog. The three best travel tools a student can ask for.</p>
<p>@warchant good one, lol.</p>
<p>Gonna be a long four years for the OP if this matter incites this kind of reaction. “Disgusted.” Really? Wow, drama.</p>
<p>Good point, @blueskies2day. Well said.</p>
<p>I should have paid better attention to the title before I wasted my time answering the question. :(</p>
<p>I am definitely a dramatic person, but, regardless, everyone’s advice is still appreciated. lol. thanks @ArtsandLetters</p>
<p>itasoftware.com is also a useful site and compares a lot of different airlines and you can have a window of departure and return dates. I use it first as my go-to site. </p>
<p>Like HImom, I always found that the discounts offered by the USC-affiliated travel agency did not bring the prices down to those you could book yourself through options including those listed on this thread. Do not imagine that there were HUGE discounts available in years past - it isn’t so.</p>
<p>Be sure to consider the costs of travel back and forth over four years when making your final decision. If you are having this much trouble coming up with the money to visit, it sounds like it may be an added expense that you will have trouble affording. Keep in mind that you will probably be making the trip multiple during the year and that flights can go up around Christmas. </p>
<p>@takeitallin…Very good point. </p>
<p>Travel expenses will be a factor in making a college choice wherever a students attends unless it is within driving distance. Many students do not travel home during the school year due to costs. This is especially true of international students.</p>
<p>No worries @agitations. I have two kids who lived theater for many years so I have two “drama” queens myself. Good luck with your search. Not sure where you are coming from but Southwest, Jetblue and Alaska air are often the best bets (we use SW because there’s no charge for bags and the family can use their allowance to get D’s stuff to L.A.)</p>
<p>I was agitated when I discovered that colleges now expect students to make a separate trip during the summer for freshman orientation. A round trip from the east coast to USC in July for that purpose was not in the budget. OP you don’t know whether the discount was more than trivial anyway - see what Southwest can do and if it’s not possible, make your best decision. As a parent I met families at USC orientation (the last one a couple of days before classes began in August, so that we could lump it in with the move in date) whose students were coming from abroad and had never laid eyes on USC beforehand. Everybody was happy. </p>
<p>Not all colleges do summer orientations and most, like USC, do have an option for those who cannot attend during the summer. You can join the international orientation at USC right before classes start. The only downside is that you register for classes during orientation and won’t be able to do so until then. </p>
<p>Some schools provide “distance” or online registration/orientations to students who don’t attend the on-campus summertime orientations. Gotta love the Internet. 
</p>