Stride Three: Plane Tickets

     The dreaded and confusing topic of plane tickets has been on my mind since the day I figured out I wanted to study abroad. I asked myself every day: How much will the plane ticket be? When can I get the cheapest tickets? What website is the best? And Which European city do I fly into? Don't worry! I will answer, well try to answer all of these questions in this post! 

 How much will the plane ticket be? 
           I am flying into the U.K. and flying out of Spain. When purchasing a round trip plane ticket expect to pay over $1,000.00. To be more realistic, from $1,200 - $1,500 depending on your departure airport and arrival airport. Just a side note, when searching for flights look at departure airports that are also within a fews hours drive from your house because as I found in researching, you can find a flight that is cheaper by over $100.00 (sometimes two or three hundred dollars!) if you just drive a bit farther to the airport! Funny story, when discussing airfare with my older sister, Chelsea and she told me the cheapest way to get to Europe was by train. I believed her for a few days before she broke the disappointing news to me. 
    
 When can I get the cheapest Tickets? 
              I have read a lot of articles on finding cheap international airfare and I have recorded many ticket prices over the past few months. The link in-particular from FareCompare.com says airlines lower prices of international flights 4-5 months prior to departure date. They do get cheaper at this point; however, from the information I have gathered, I have foudn the cheapest flights between 8-10 WEEKS out from your departure date. I also read another website 6 weeks out from departure is the cheapest! My advice to any students studying abroad is to track the prices of the tickets to their destination. Also, almost all travel websites say that you can purchase the cheapest flights on tuesday (which I personally did, and side note, the price went down nearly $100.00 from the weekend!) and the cheapest day to fly is wednesday because it is mid week! 
FareCompare's advice page-  http://www.farecompare.com/articles/tips-from-air-travel-insiders/
Micheal Blue Jay's Blog with Travel Tips- http://airfare.michaelbluejay.com/

What website is the best? 

              The website I found best price for international travel was ORBITZ.COM! That is personally where I brought my tickets. I have also heard of STUDENTUNIVERSE.COM which is specifically for students studying abroad. Below I have the links to these websites! Also, I have attached a link to Fare Compares "Where-To-Go Getaway" Map which is such a great tool! You can enter in your departing city and then it will calculate the airfare for any destination around the world! (That is the video that I have linked below!) 

Student Universe- http://www.studentuniverse.com/
Orbitz- http://www.orbitz.com/
FareCompare- http://www.farecompare.com/maps/

Which European City is Best to Fly into? 

             I have read in travel blog after travel blog that LONDON is the cheapest European city to fly in and out of. Which is one of the reasons, as I mentioned above, I am flying into London! Not to mention, I would LOVE to go to London. In addition to Micheal Blue Jay's Blog, which recommends to fly into London I have found another source called "So you wanna?" which I have shared this link below! 
So you wanna?-  http://www.soyouwanna.com/soyouwanna-backpack-through-europe-1113-full.html


Hope this helps! 
Lauren