It’s about that time when college students around the country are starting to book flights for spring break. As students constrained to a budget, we know first hand about the struggles of affording today’s ever so expensive airfare. Whether the destination is Cabo, California, or somewhere with not so warm weather, the prices of flying have completely skyrocketed, leaving us scrounging to book any ticket below our absolute maximum budget.
While searching for flights under six hundred dollars, we keep in mind the experiences with airlines that we’ve had in the past. It’s easy to narrow down our search options based on that one memory of watching a family sprinting down the moving walkway in the Denver International Airport. United Airlines clearly delayed their flight for twenty minutes, giving them a generous three minutes to push two strollers and carry seven suitcases as they try to wrangle their five kids under the age of ten to their connecting flight from terminal A to terminal Z. We all know that feeling when you watch the macho dad start yelling at the flight attendant at the counter when his family misses their flight by fifteen minutes because it took off early. Or the time when American Airlines lost a bag and it wasn’t returned for over a week because it “didn’t have a tag on it.” Because we’re so eager to reach our spring break destinations, we have no time for hiccups along the way.
Why are flights so over-the-top expensive? Everything we’ve ever been taught about simple logical reasoning shows that when fuel prices are low, prices of flights and gas should decrease. Right now, gas prices are lower than our GPAs, as opposed to last year’s prices, which were around a whopping $3.85. So why aren’t airlines reducing the prices of flights? The simple answer is that airlines have no motivation to lower airfare unless enough people show little to no interest in traveling. And that is just not an option for those of us who absolutely have to get to Cabo’s fruity drinks or California’s hot sunshine for spring break 2015.
I know you’re probably thinking, “Well wouldn’t smart people just book their flights way in advance to avoid the high prices?” For college students, there is rarely such a thing as “in advance.” From writing papers to leaving for class, a fair amount of students wait until the last minute. So booking a flight seven months in advance is not expected. Airfare does not vary too significantly though, and as college students on a budget, we still struggle no matter how ahead or behind we are on the search for flights for spring break.
Despite this binding dilemma, I have a few pieces of advice for those of you searching for a reasonably priced plane ticket.
1. Never underestimate your skills on the Internet.
2. Websites such as www.expedia.com and www.kayak.com may seem wonderful, but from experience, there are always more effective ones.
3. Find a friend with a private jet and a generous heart.
