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At student Traveler, we like to think of ourselves as professional nomads. We travel the world to bring you great content, and while we’re doing it, we try not to break the bank. That’s why we know that the first step to taking any trip is to make sure you get a good deal on your airline tickets.The internet has loads of discount ticket retailers and it can be heard to determine which website has the best deals. You’ll want to shop around and compare prices, but even in the digital age of instant information, it can be frustrating to troll through the murky waters of the web to find the best deal.
Worry no more, would-be traveler! We’ve compiled a list of websites that specialize in discount tickets. This should point you in the right direction and get you on the road in no time!
Farecast is probably different from any discount airfare website that you have seen – mostly because it is actually an airfare prediction website. Instead of just showing you the discounted fares that are available right now, Farecast helps you decide when you should buy your ticket. They spend all their time researching fares, so you can see if the price is going up, down, or staying the same – in some cases, it can be cheaper to book later.
Besides the prediction aspect of the website, the airfare search interface is incredible – easy to use and straight forward. The best feature is “refine Results” section, which allows you to select ranges for your arrival and departure times, as well as price ranges, airlines, and total flight duration. As you make your selections, the list of available flights is immediately repopulated, so you can tweak your results to find the perfect flight at the perfect flight.
When you decide to buy, farecast.com redirects you straight to the airline. No booking fees, no problems. Currently, Farecast.com only works for domestic flights.
STA Travel is a great source for discount tickets for students looking for a break from their college routine. Their website bills them as “the world's largest student travel organization,” so you know they have some of the best deals around, no matter where you want to go.
Their top deals and deals of the week are always a great buy, and their website is easy to navigate and very comprehensive. They not only offer flights, but you can also book hostel stays and tours for when you arrive. Their “create your own trip” feature allows you to click locations on an interactive map and book a complicated trip with multiple destinations with ease. If you’re not as tech-savvy as some, or if you’d just rather talk to a real person, you can stop by one of their many locations for a one-on-one with one of their expert associates.
Remember, STA is for students and young travelers and in some cases you may need an International Student ID Card (ISIC) to take full advantage to the deals available.
Travel Cuts is another great website for student discount tickets. If you’re not into online booking, they have a toll free number with agents ready to search thousands of deals to find you the best ticket at the right price. Besides cheap tickets for college students, Travel Cuts also offers deals on tours, rail passes, travel insurance, and anything else you might need – pretty standard stuff for major online booking agents these days.
Travel Cuts has also teamed up with MyTripJournal.com to offer personal online travel blogs to their customers – a great way to make your friends back home jealous of your adventures.
Airline’s prices are always fluctuating, so it can be hard for discount ticket websites to keep up with the cheap fare hustle – and by the time you find out about the deals, they might be already snatched up. FareCompare offers travelers with a new way to snag cheap tickets by alerting them to cheap fares before they hit the online market, via email or RSS feed.
Of course, FareCompare also offers the standard discount ticket search engine, along with deals on hotels, car rentals, and cruises.
Travelosophy specializes in selling discounted airfares to Europe, Africa, The Middle East, and Asia. They offer the standard discounted ticket rates, as well as student (and youth) fares. If you’re plans aren’t set in stone, you can book open-ended tickets and tickets flexible dates. They may not be the biggest, or the best, but Travelosophy is still a good place to check for discounted airfare.
OneTravel is yet another searchable online database of discount airline tickets. They have a pretty standard interface, and offer standard discount deals. One cool feature is their audio guide download section, where you can purchase audio guides for your iPod for many popular destinations.
In addition to discount airfare, OneTravel offers deals on cruises, car rentals, and accommodation, from budget hotels to upscale resorts. A good alternative to the Orbitz, Hotwire, and Priceline websites.
Of course, there are so many online discount ticket websites out there, that it would take a year to review them all. These are just a few sites that we found helpful in our never ending search for cheap tickets.
Don’t forget to check out Student Traveler’s Cheap Airfare section for some of the best deals around!
Justin Jones is the managing editor for Student Traveler Magazine, and a freelance nomad.
Find out more at www.JustinWasHere.com