College Crunch

Book Early

The best thing you can do to make sure that you are able to get the ticket you want is to book early. Depending on the mode of transportation, you will want to book anywhere between two weeks and four months before traveling.

Many opportunities for cheap prices will either be long before the trip, or last minute. I don’t recommend booking last minute because you’ll often find yourself without a seat.

Student Discounts

There are many ways to get student discounts, either with just your student identification, or you might need some special student travel card before qualifying for discounts.

Student discounts usually run between ten and fifty percent off the normal price, but on average seem to be around fifteen and thirty percent off.

Many places don’t accept student discounts on all travel times or seats, and so researching the rules can save you huge headaches later on.

Better Than Student Discounts

Research can also be your friend because often the student discount isn’t the best price. From time to time, various travel agencies, and the companies themselves offer special discounts that can be as much as eighty percent off the normal trip pricing.

For a recent trip I took on the train, their was an online coupon for fifty percent off the standard rate, which was another ten percent savings over the student discount. Unfortunately, there was no way to combine the student discount with the e-coupon.

Pack Light

Often times, you will have to take a route that isn’t directly from point A to point B and managing luggage can get quite frustrating, especially since the more transfers you have to do, the more likely your luggage will end up being lost. I am sure there is some comical rule about airlines, transfers, and lost luggage, but I shudder to think how often it occurs.