Students plan vacations

By Nicole Arias
Staff Writer

For students still without travel plans, there are only 39 shopping days left until Spring Break.

"If you are going to buy, do it now," said Brian Ek, vice

president of communications for Priceline.com. "The inventory for that period goes rapidly."

Although most of the great deals are gone, there are still airline tickets and package deals available, said Sue Haring, agency manager of AAA Travel Agency.

This is partially because, unlike Purdue, most universities schedule their Spring Breaks for the last week of March.

Even with the number of available spaces decreasing, there are times when an opportunity arises to buy a ticket that someone has cancelled, said Deb Wright, travel agent for Wright Travel.

Another way to increase the chance of getting the most affordable ticket to a desired destination is to buy airline tickets for non-stop flights because the price is cheaper and there is less competition for only one ticket.

The idea is to travel from hub cities, such as Chicago for United Airlines or Detroit for Northwest Airlines, because they have more direct flights from these airports.

If students aren't able to find an affordable airline ticket for a specific date and location, other transportation options include car rentals and Amtrak.

Another important piece of advice is to start planning six months before the departure date — and more than that if it's a busy season.

Although this advice comes too late for some, it is never too early to start planning for next year.

But once the plans are made, only one detail remains.

Students are confronted with the choice of buying from a travel agency or the Internet.

Carina Biggs, a group travel agent for Lafayette Travel and Cruise, said, "Buying online is convenient, but I only recommend doing so from companies that you are familiar with. For Spring Break especially, it's a good idea to book with travel agents because they will help you find the best of what's available."

Larry Fix, a customer service Internet specialist for Cheaptickets.com, said, "The difficulty in buying online is that you are acting as your own travel agent."

The Internet, however, sometimes provides the lowest fares that aren't available elsewhere, Fix said.

But buying online can be difficult, Fix said, when it's the first or second time searching and purchasing because students don't have the knowledge and experience that travel agents do to find the lower fares.

Sarah Flinn, a freshman in the School of Science, bought her Spring Break airline tickets to San Francisco online from the US Airways Web site in December. It only took an hour or two to find the best price, she said.

A suggestion for students who choose to buy their tickets online is to compare the prices for varied dates and times to find the lowest fare.

Flinn's first search for a Saturday departure and Friday return with US Airways cost $150, but when she changed the return date to Saturday, the price was $99.

The most popular locations for Spring Break this year are Florida, the Caribbean and Hawaii. Besides these, South Padre, Texas, and Las Vegas are also beginning to have a larger following.

In addition, this year a lot of students booked Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruises, Haring said.

Deb Wright, travel agent for Wright Travel, said that about 99 percent of their Spring Break business this year has been for Cancun, Mexico. Mazatlan, located on the west coast of Mexico, is a newer travel location and is steadily becoming popular, Wright said. It isn't as commercialized as Cancun and it's located on the ocean instead of the Caribbean Sea.

Ann Vullierme, a junior in the School of Management, said two years ago, she and seven other people spent Spring Break driving along the Florida coast in a rental van reserved two weeks earlier, following a plan written up the day before.

Although they are possible, Vullierme's last-minute Spring Break plan is not the best route for students who want a guaranteed, worry-free vacation, according to Jack Mannix, president of the Institute of Certified Travel Agents.

Cheaptickets.com's discounts range from 10 to 50 percent. Users can change or cancel reservations but there is a penalty.

Priceline.com's discounts are typically 40 percent or more, but buyers must fly at whatever time is assigned between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. All tickets are round-trip. At Priceline.com, buyers name their own price and are notified in an hour or less if the price is accepted. The only risk involved is that once reservations are made Priceline.com will buy the ticket, which is non-refundable, non-transferable and non-cancelable. Ek, from Priceline.com, said customers should go out, look around and find the best price; then ask "How much would I have to save in order to fly at these times?"

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