Best way/time to purchase long-term tickets to Europe for study abroad?

Question

I am going to be leaving in August to study abroad for a year. I will be going to Italy, however I would like to fly into either Düsseldorf or Amsterdam and visit a friend before starting school in mid September. Basically I want to book a roundtrip ticket into DUS/AMS in late August and out of Milan MXP before Christmas. When is the best time to do this and what are the best sites? I have tried STA Travel, and generally they are fairly cheap, however, not for this flight it seems. Maybe it's too far in advance to get a good price. Also would it be cheaper to get one way tickets? Another thought I had was to call the airlines personally...is that beneficial? Is there some sort of student rate? Thanks to all!

Answer 1

STA is like a travel agency, and all agencies make commissions based on the overall ticket price. They might say they are getting you the best deal, but really, if they find a cheap ticket, their 'commission' or percentage goes down.

My recommendation is you have to find a consolidator. They do not work with the general public. You have to go to a travel agent, who then will buy your tickets from a consolidator. But let me tell you a personal example of how good they are.

I wanted to go to Prague from San Francisco back in 2001. The best price I could find was around $1,000 RT. My friend who was a travel agent hooked me up with a travel agent who found me a ticket from a consolidator for $395 RT and that included one night in a hotel in Helsinki, finland on my return!! Amazing difference.

The downsides to going that route are, you do not often get to choose departure and arrival times, airline preferences, etc. If you can remain flexible, you will find a consolidator the best option.

If you do not go that route, you will have to do a lot of research on the net. Cross compare ALL the sites. ALL of them. Travelocity, kayak, expedia... and then, any and all airlines that operate out of the cities you are choosing.

Travelocity has something you should sign up for TODAY. It's called Fare Watcher. You can list city pairs, i.e., DUS/AMS and whenever the ticket prices drop by a certain dollar amount, they immediately send you an email.

And one way tickets are rarely, rarely ever cheaper than RT. I would avoid those at all costs, especially if any part of that involves flying within the United States. Why? You automatically become what the airline industry calls, a "selectee". And being a selectee, you are flagged for EXTRA mandatory security! And that security process is the full process, going through everything you own, removing shoes... random checks of you and your belongings. It is not fun. I did a one way ticket post 9/11 from Tampa, FL to Ft. Lauderdale and for a simple and quick flight, I spent more time in security than I did flying!

Good luck! With a little hard work, you can get amazing deals.

Answer 2

Give the 2 other major student ticket agencies a shot, http://www.studentuniverse.com and http://www.travelcuts.com

With outbound in peak season (ie, most expensive part of year), and with student agencies and "consolidators" already selling peak season inventory for this summer (from a limited supply of seats), I would go ahead and purchase as soon as you've done a thorough job of fare hunting.

Since you want an open-jaw ticket (arrive one city; return from/to a different city), try the "multi-stop" or "multi-destination" options at airfare aggregator (mega-search) http://www.kayak.com as well as the consolidators I'll list below.

Keep in mind that if you want to change a date or city on your ticket, it is usually cheapest if you've bought it from a student agency. If you book other sources, it will cost you $200 or more, typically, to change the ticket.

Answer 3

Compare all-in-one place at airzu

Answer 4

try going to expedia.com