Though it’s most certainly a bad thing that the economy is taking a turn for the worse these days, it does mean that the price of both gas and flights are dropping. This is especially the case for student flights. An article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday highlights the fact that sites such as StudentUniverse.com and STA Travel have been featuring some really good prices of late. This is due to the fact airlines are seeing a lot more empty seats on their planes as customers tighten their financial belts for the potential tough times ahead.
I took the liberty of searching around on some flight prices to verify that the WSJ article was correct, and indeed it is. For instance, a flight from JFK to London leaving Nov. 1 and returning Nov. 7th that costs $823 as a regular fare with American Airlines costs $697 via Student Universe. That’s a pretty nice savings of $126. If you search around you’ll find that sometimes the deals are fantastic, and other times you’ll save just a little.
Below are the regular fares for an American Airlines flight from JFK -> LON on Nov. 1st to Nov. 7th, which start at $823:
And then the prices for student fares on StudentUniverse for the same dates, which start at $697:
The basic reasoning why prices are getting better for students now is because airlines sell blocks of seats to these student discount sites that can verify their members are indeed students. Because more seats are empty on flights, STA and Student Universe are getting handed more blocks of seats to try and sell.
Getting back home or doing that summer travel to Europe could just be a lot cheaper for you now!
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