How to find cheap travel

How to find cheap travel
This article will uncover the market of cheap travel,
suggest ways of finding cheap travel and pay attention to
the problem issues that may arise in budget travel.

Student travel has come a long way in the past few decades.
It is no longer considered a rarity. Gap years, student
electives abroad and cheap summer holidays in distant
places, have become part of the generally life-enriching
experience that is now considered synonymous with the
student status. (Frost F et al., 1999)

The current financial climate, with many students having to
rely on student loans, parental support, holiday jobs or
personal savings for their financial fluidity, largely
dictates and limits just what can be achieved in this
regard and there are a number of ploys and strategies that
are commonly used to make the money go further or, to look
at it another way, to allow the same money let the student
go further! (Reisinger Y et al., 2004)

We can start by taking an overview of the situation and
dividing up the travel costs into those that are necessary
to arrive at a destination and those that are necessarily
incurred to move around once the student has arrived.
Generally speaking, the preferred way to travel is by
flying. It is often the quickest way to travel long
distances and in these days of competitive pricing
strategies, many of the no-frills and budget airlines are
offering very cheap flights across mainland Europe. The
unwary student should note that the eye-catching prices
quoted are invariably exclusive of taxes and fuel
surcharges which can add between £30-£200 onto the quoted
cost (depending on destination and distance).

As a general rule, the cheaper the flight, the greater the
sacrifice of both flexibility and conditions. A flight that
arrives or leaves in the early hours of the morning, does
not supply food, has minimal in-flight entertainment and a
strict baggage allowance, is clearly going to cost less
than one that has additional amenities. A word of caution
also for these flights as there are generally strict terms
and conditions, limited changeability and minimal prospect
of refund if there's a problem.

Cheap flights are at the other end of the spectrum from
cheap holidays. With holidays the greatest savings are made
by those who are willing to book at the last minute. With
flights, the converse is true. As flights get booked up,
the prices tend to rise. (Bernstein J et al., 1999)

Two of the most commonly used mechanisms for obtaining
cheap flights are flight-brokers and screen scrapers. The
flight brokers make their money by selling you a flight
that gives them a commission. There is therefore a balance
between the amount of commission that an airline pays them
to fill their seats and the requirements of the student.
The screen scrapers are web-based tools such as
TravelSupermarket, TravelJungle, and SkyScanner. You
effectively enter your requirements and these sites send
the details to dozens of airlines (and some brokers) and
display their findings with the cheapest first. (Sheth A et
al., 2002)

There are variations on this process with sites like
Expedia and Travelocity specialising in long-haul flights
and Expedia and Opodo allowing flights to one airport then
leaving from another. Flights Direct will specifically
examine the charter market for occasional bargains.

If you intend to fly on certain dates a few months in the
future, it is well worth signing up to the e-mail lists of
the appropriate airlines. They will send out details of
short-term sales so that you can snap them up at the right
moment if they come up. British Airways, Opodo, American
Airlines and KLM are particularly good for this type of
approach.

Once at the destination, the student has to consider the
best way of travelling around. Rather like the airlines,
one pays for convenience, accessibility and comfort ? the
cheapest forms of travel generally being the slowest and
least luxurious. It is clearly impossible to generalise
throughout the world, but hitch-hiking, which might have
once been considered the cheapest way to travel, has a
distinct risk element of personal safety and clearly is
inappropriate for the lone female traveller. Many of the
commercially available insurance policies specifically
forbid such practices. (Cullinane S, 2002)

Public transport is often the most reliable of the cheaper
options. Either the local busses, the long-haul coaches or
the train services being generally safe and reliable. Many
of the more developed countries offer student travel cards
(or a variant) to reduce the costs of repeated journeys and
some bus companies (Australia travel being a notable
example) will sell an open ticket between two specified
destinations which can be used with different segments of
the journey being undertaken over a period of several weeks.

There are other considerations relating to travel such as
how best to deal with money. The time-honoured way of
carrying travellers cheques may no longer be popular, with
many students electing for the convenience of "plastic"
money and credit cards. One should note that Mastercard
will generally convert foreign exchange transactions at
about the best commercially available rate, but will then
add about 2.75%. This does vary between cards and therefore
should be individually checked. Overseas cash withdrawals
are also usually subject to a 2% additional fee (minimum
charge £2) on both credit and debit cards. In addition to
all of this, some credit card companies will also add a
transaction fee on foreign transactions. (Halifax is
currently the worst, levying £1.75 on each transaction.)
For the student, the Post Office or Nationwide credit cards
appear to be the best option. They have no levy on overseas
purchases but they do charge interest on all cash
withdrawals.

As with all travel, insurance is not essential, but only
the most foolhardy student would travel without it. The
annual multi-trip insurance is seldom competitive except
for the USA where it may work out cheaper than individual
trip cover (mainly because of the medical expense element
applicable to the USA). Most will require you to be staying
at pre-booked venues which may not be appropriate for the
student traveller.

Decide what cover you need, what excess you need (the first
part of each claim that you have to pay yourself) and then
shop around. The classic insurance selling line is "why not
upgrade to our platinum policy, with £30 million worth of
medical cover etc." In real terms, the chances of you ever
needing more than £2 million of medical cover or
repatriation to the UK is virtually negligible and
therefore perhaps best avoided. A good plan is to include a
personal liability cover of £1 million and also cover for
"cancellations and curtailments" together with cover for
lost or delayed baggage and cash.

You should note that Europe-only cover is cheaper than
further afield and therefore only select wider cover if it
is appropriate. Lastly, ensure that the company you are
dealing with is covered by FSA regulated underwriters.

Bear in mind also that the new EHIC card (free from
www.dh.gov.uk/travellers) will provide free or discounted
health care costs in the EU, but does not cover any
repatriation costs.

Useful sites for comparisons and costs are
Travel-Insurance-Web for Europe-only travel and Insure For
for world-wide travel.

References

Judith Bernstein, Susan C. Awe (1999) "Wired travellers :
travel and tourism", Reference Services Review ISSN:
0090-7324 Dec 1999 Vol 27 (4) 364 - 375

Cullinane S (2002) "The relationship between car ownership
and public transport provision: a case study of Hong Kong"
Transport policy Vol 9, (1), January 2002, pp. 29-39(11)

Frost F, T Shanka (1999) "Asian Australian student travel
preferences: An empirical study", Asia Pacific Journal of
Tourism Research, 1999

REISINGER Y, F MAVONDO (2004) "Determinants of youth
travel market's perceptions of tourism destinations" Page
1. Tourism Analysis, Vol. 7 pp. 55?66 1083-5423/02 2004

Sheth, A. Bertram, C. Avant, D. Hammond, B. Kochut, K.
Warke, Y. (2002) "Managing semantic content for the Web",
Internet Computing IEEE Jul/Aug 2002 Vol: 6, (4) 80- 87

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