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By admin, January 4, 2010 7:34 pm

Getting things cheaper should be a part of every UK student’s daily life…

So this article has been written to help you get cheap student travel in the UK!

Cheap Student Train Fare

The easiest way to get cheap student train fare in the UK is to book in advance. Buying tickets a week or two in advance can literally quarter your train fare and you can even save money by buying your ticket the day before on the Internet and collecting it at the train station the next day. This is great if you’re a student that’s far away from your home town, as cross-country train fares can be extremely expensive and create a big dent in your student travel budget!

If you are travelling a short distance (25 miles or so) and there’s a possibility you may be returning the same day, get a return.  A single could cost £5 to a destination, but costs £5.20 for a return! Not quite sure why but it saves you money! So if there’s a slight chance that you will be returning the same day, spend the extra pennies just in case!

Going home for the holidays or the weekend? Don’t get a single there and back. When travelling to and from major train stations in the UK, you can get an open return. An open return lets you return back to your university city within 30 days of the ticket being purchased, at any time, for a couple of extra quid. Saves you paying for a single there and a single back!

Student Discount Airline Tickets

Students don’t tend to fly from UK city to city, so this section is really just about flying abroad.

Get last hour student flights, not last minute. Last minute flights used to be all the rage, but now flight companies are getting smarter and pushing flights prices up for the last couple of days that a flight is available, making consumers think that they are the cheapest they have been on sale. You are much better off looking at student flights a two or three weeks before your required flight date, as this is when they tend to be cheapest. Great if you want a weekend away to Prague or Ibiza!

Double check taxes and supplements.  A common mistake that is made is thinking that you’re getting amazing student discount airline tickets with a £1 flight and then realise after you’ve booked that they’ve charged you an extra £70 for tax and fuel surcharges! Triple check prices on the Internet… A £3 flight that sounds too good to be true, will be too good to be true!

Fly with cheap airlines. Students don’t care who they fly with as much as adults… Or they shouldn’t anyway! Go on discount flight company websites such as Jet2 and RyanAir and Bmibaby and get your student discount airline tickets!

Student Bus Travel

Getting cheap bus travel really depends on whereabouts you live in the UK.

Get a free bus. If you live in big cities such as Manchester and Leeds, they will usually have free city buses running that will circle the city all day, usually coming every 10-15 minutes. Look out for them if you ever visit a big city! The standard buses also tend to be dirt cheap as well, if you know which ones to get.

If you live in a town or village, chances are the buses will be ridiculously expensive. Your literally probably better off walking or getting a lift to be perfectly honest!

Cheap Car Insurance for Students

See the student’s car insurance post for more information

 For everything else to do with students, visit here!

Hope this post helps you get cheap student travel in the UK!

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By admin, January 3, 2010 7:42 pm

These days travel can be stressful enough. If you are the kind of person who prefers everything organized for you and everything included with no hidden costs, a travel package may be just right. Packages can differ as to what is included, but they generally include all airfare, accommodation and usually some meals, activities and ground transportation.

The concept of a travel package is older than many people think. In 1841, Englishman Thomas Cook chartered a train to take a group of people on a twenty mile train journey; the cost of the trip included food for the day, which was a novel idea at the time. Thomas Cook grew to be one of the largest and most well respected names in the history of travel and a major influence on the travel industry.

Today, travel packages are still popular, despite the internet having made it easier to plan and book trips on line. Packages range from airfare and a couple of nights in a hotel, to all inclusive trips of several weeks at luxury resorts. Travel packages can be found to just about anywhere in the world. It’s the perfect way to see a place that you might be reluctant to visit on your own. Whether you will be wine tasting in France, hiking in the Himalayas, or scuba diving in the Caribbean, you can easily find a package that works for you.

One big advantage of a package is that they are generally less expensive than buying all the components of your trip separately. Airlines and hotels often sell blocks of seats or rooms at lower prices. The savings are then passed on to the traveler. There is always an exception to the rule and it pays to check the total costs of both options before purchasing your package. Most major airlines offer their own packages, which are nearly always less expensive than booking air and hotel separately.

Some packages include an event or activity that is difficult to see if you had to book it yourself – particularly appealing are sports packages or packages for a unique event. It’s virtually impossible to attend the Olympic Games unless you buy some sort of a package. A New York or London package might include tickets to a sold-out show; a ski package might include the use of slopes that are often booked up; a golf package might include a guaranteed tee time.

Check the conditions of your package carefully to see exactly what is and what is not included. Whereas the most important components, airfare and hotel, are probably included in a package vacation, some other potentially costly things may not. If meals are included in your package, does that mean breakfast, lunch and dinner? What about alcoholic drinks with your meals? Also, is ground transportation, bus or taxi from the airport to your hotel or cruise ship included?

Be particularly careful of extras such as activities or excursions – both of which can be costly parts of any trip and are often not included in a travel package. One of the best features of a cruise is the option of taking a tour or excursion at different ports of call. These are not always included and the cost can add up. The meals included may just be breakfast, rather than three meals a day. And determine whether tips are included in your package, another potentially costly item.

Although it is nice to have everything booked and paid for all at once, the ideal package should offer some flexibility and some time to do your own thing. If you are taking a tour of Europe, you will want some free time to just shop; and if you are on a driving tour of the Southeast US, you don’t want to be sitting in a bus all the time. Many more complex packages will include the occasional free day; and you may find that you have a choice of activities or events.

Some independent and experienced travelers claim that a travel package takes away some of the spontaneity and flexibility that traveling can provide. That is true to some degree, although the convenience and cost saving are worth it to many people. And if you are a solo traveler, you may find that you are charged more for the dreaded single room supplement that tour companies levy; although sharing a room with a complete stranger is certainly a good way to meet people.

So is a travel package right for you? Only you can decide that. It may depend on your budget, your destination and your comfort level as well as whether you just want to let someone else do the planning.

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By admin, December 23, 2009 8:08 am

On the surface, many individuals feel that all of the information on flights, hotels, rental vehicles and other aspects of a vacation are on the internet. While it may be possible for you to find good deals using the web, the best value can be found by consulting a travel agent. This value comes because the agent provides resources and knowledge that is difficult to obtain on your own.

The foremost advantage of working with a travel agent is experience they bring. He or she has likely been working in the field of travel for years and has learned all of the ins and outs of the industry. Even brand new agents have their colleagues to help them learn the ropes. Most agents also undergo rigorous training. This experience and training will allow the agent to serve the consumer very effectively. Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the experience and training is an agent’s ability to understand the fine print. Sure, you can go on an airline ticket search engine and find what seems to be the cheapest deal. But do you know what you are really getting for that money? More importantly, do you know what you will be missing out on because of the discount? There may also be hidden charges, fees and taxes as a part of the apparently cheaper ticket price, driving what you actually pay up as much as a few hundred dollars. A more expensive flight may often be the best value. The travel agent will always know.

A second advantage that a travel agent can boast is connections. Over years of service, agencies develop relationships with individuals throughout the world. This means that you can have the best options available for you before you even begin your trip. Looking by yourself you may be able to find a great deal of information on what to do at your eventual destinations. However, only a travel agent with good connections can really take care of all the details. Using their ability to get information about the area where you will be visiting, they can get every aspect of your vacation taken care of, even the most miniscule of points. Instead of stopping for lunch at a place that looks okay from the outside, you can be recommended to the perfect local cafe. Instead of wrangling through throngs of tourists to get to an overpriced monument, you can be told the best times during the day to hit each spot. For example, many cities have one day a week in which public museums are open for free. Your agent will be able to find out the best times to go anywhere. All in all, the agent can use his or her connections to set you up with the best possible ways to have the vacation of your dreams.

A recent trend for online travel shopping is packages. Companies will get together to put hotel, food, flights and many other amenities altogether into one bundle that will leave you spending less money. But these bundles are not always as great as they seem. Not only can you end up having to pay hidden fees and charges, but you can also be lured into a sense of security that everything will be taken care of for you. Sometimes everything is not taken care of. It is easy to get yourself trapped into buying an all-inclusive package thinking that you will not need much cash while on vacation, only to find that any slight change in plan is going to change your bill drastically. There also may be little details not covered in your package that you would never think about ahead of time. With any package deal the fine print can be a very important thing, and if you do not have a complete understanding of what you are doing, you could miss something crucial. But travel agents know the industry jargon. They know the best websites, what the packages actually contain and they are out to get you the best deal. Sometimes buying a package that is not the cheapest, but only slightly more expensive will lead to you having a much better vacation. It is not that travel agencies do not take advantage of special packages and promotions. It is that they know the best way to use them.

A final and very beneficial advantage of using travel agents is simply that they are after your best interests. Any supplier of service, whether an airline, hotel, restaurant or rental company; is looking to sell you their product. They also may not tell you when another company offers a better service for a very similar price, or a similar service for a better price. A travel agent wants you to come back again, and therefore will work to find you the best value deal with whatever supplier is offering it. Within that, they are looking for the best deal for you, not for an anonymous internet customer. Using a travel agent can ensure that you have the plans in place to give you a perfect vacation. Also, if something goes wrong during the vacation, the travel agent will be available to help fix the problem.

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By admin, December 16, 2009 8:58 pm

We might all have some great daydreams about taking our family on the perfect vacation, whether it is to see Disneyland or on a cruise to the Bahamas, but more often than not, life intervenes. There might be accidents or problems and you might find that your plans get knocked for a loop. The important thing to remember is that you are not alone and that there are options for you. More people than you might believe end up doing some last minute travel preparations and even if you have the majority of the trip to plan and not much time to plan it , you will find that last minute family travel is not nearly as bad as you might think.
When thinking about planning some last minute family travel, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, make sure you know where you are going and why. Are you or your children (or preferably both) interested in it? Just because a destination is popular does not make it a good idea. Remember that there are no universally perfect vacations, just perfect ones for you! Speak with your family about it; you might be surprised by what comes up as being a great place to visit.
Remember that when you engage in last minute family travel that some methods of travel are more forgiving than others. For instance, there is a good chance that trying to travel by air will be difficult if not impossible. Unless you manage to luck into some truly stupendous deals, you will end up paying a great deal of money for your tickets. Investigate other forms of travel. Of course, driving is one of the greatest and most convenient ways to travel, but if you have the need for speed, you might be stuck with a plane ticket. If speed is less of a concern, consider taking a train. It’s roughly equivalent to the speed of a car, depending on where you are going, and you will find that you will have time to enjoy yourself.
When you are thinking about last minute family travel, this does not mean that you can skimp on calling ahead to get hotel rooms. Some places will even allow you to make reservations online, so make sure that you have a plan on where you will spend the night. You never know when a convention or a local sporting event will tie up every hotel room within 10 miles, so make sure that you have a good idea of where you and your family are sleeping. Even if you are calling less than 24 hours in advance, you will still beat out the walk ins who show up after your call.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make sure that your traveling goes smoothly, no matter when you have planned it. There are always options open to you, no matter where you are, so to get some great ideas and solutions, head to http://lastminutefamilytravel.com and see what other fast ideas and swift savings you can find!