There’s absolutely no doubt that the 2012 International Students for Liberty Conference is going to be the premiere libertarian event of the year. With the Stossel Show taping, the GoRemy performance, the great speakers, and the invaluable networking opportunities, the question is not if you should go but rather how to get here. Students for Liberty will be providing some of our travel tips on how to get you to the 2012 ISFLC, Feb 17th-19th in Washington D.C.
If you are thinking about traveling to the ISFLC via airplane, here are some tips to make your search for the best airfare rate easier.
1. Organize A Group
The best way to get better airfare is to come with a group. Encourage your fellow student group to come to the ISFLC by booking together. Most airline companies offer group rates and discounts. They even make it easy for your group to come by offering free name changes on tickets, free baggage check, and even charging a $50 deposit fee for each ticket instead of paying for them all at once.
Most airline companies require 10+ more people in a group and some even offer individual purchases within the group from multiple origins. So if you’re coming from Texas and your friend from California wants to join the group, airlines such as Virgin America and JetBlue let you be apart of one group! This makes group travel easier, more effective, and best of all- cheaper!
2. Know When to Buy
The hardest part about buying airline tickets is knowing when to finally purchase or continue tracking. As a bi-coastal college student, I was always looking for cheap airfare to and from the East Coast. I came across a brilliant site- farecast.com. This site predicts when the best time to buy your ticket and the chances of increase or decrease in fare; making that difficult question on when to buy a lot easier to answer.
Also, most airline companies launch sales on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during odd hours, many times between 1-4am. If you want to catch a great price, you might have to turn nocturnal for one night.
3. Online Travel Agencies
Online travel agencies, such as Orbitz and Priceline, might give you the best price but many come with added fees and restrictions. However, that doesn’t mean you should count them out.
For instance, Expedia offers mystery tickets that are well below market rate. Mystery tickets only lets you choose departure and arrival dates but leave the mystery in what airline as well as departure and arrival times. If you’re flexible about your schedule this might be a good place to look. Just to give an example, I once got a $220 roundtrip ticket from NYC to Los Angeles by buying a mystery ticket. This is unheard of!
4. Last Minute Deals
Most of the time, buying early would get you the best rate fare. However, there are a few times where buying last minute deals could land you a better price.
5. Frequent Flyer Miles
Use those flyer miles and see if you have enough for a free ticket! Some airlines even let you use miles to subsidize your cost for the ticket you are purchasing even if you don’t have enough for a free one!
