Studying abroad is one of the most incredible things you will do in your life. Thankfully, Marist puts a heavy emphasis on it and our girl, Carol Toufali, will make it happen for you nine out of 10 times. One of the main concerns for some people (mostly our parents) is money.
Traveling can be pricey if you do it wrong, and no one wants to go abroad and sit in their respective town or city for the whole four months. After being abroad for a month and traveling to over six cities I learned a few tricks on how to get the most for you money as a college student.
Pack one large checked bag and two carry ons. I stupidly used my backpack as a carry and checked two large suitcases on while my friend used two smaller suitcases. We both brought the same amount of clothes, but I got stuck paying $100 extra for the second bag.
Use Skyscanner when looking for flights. The site searches every airline for you and compares the prices to save you time. StudentUniverse also offers great student prices.
RyanAir is the key budget airline. Its cheap, real cheap. Cheap as in you have to buy your own water for 3 euro on board but hey it’s cheap. Flights around Europe also are normally all under two hours so just pop some headphones in and it will be OK. Being flexible with your travel times will also help lower your cost.
Megabus -- yes, like the American company. If you are staying in mainland Europe you can get a bus from almost any city for as cheap as one euro. That’s right, one euro. The farther in advance you book your ticket the cheaper it gets. There are coach busses with free wi-fi on them as well.
Friend the employees of Bus2Alps on Facebook before you book any trip. Bus2Alps plans day trips, weekend getaways, and spring break trips entirely for you. They take care of your flight, hostel, transportation and more. Every employee has a discount too so make sure you chat them up. If you're studying in Florence, Rome, Paris or Barcelona it's extremely helpful.
Walk! It's that easy to save money. Instead of taking the bus or train to class, walk. You’ll save money and be able to see more of the city. Most cities have free walking tours. The tours normally last about two to three hours and are 100 percent worth it. My personal favorite company is New Europe Tours. They have free walking tours in over 18 cities. They also offer cool extra activities like a tapas tour in Barcelona, a pub crawl in Dublin, and beer tasting in Brussels for student prices.
Get used to hostels. Trust me, I was creeped out, at first, when I had to share a room with eight other people, most of them being strangers. The larger the room size (the more people) the cheaper your hostel becomes. You might be used to staying in four-star hotels with your parents but, hey, for 10 euro a night, a hostel doesn't seem so bad.
Student discounts are not just for America. Whether it be at the local coffeeshop, the movie theater or a plane ticket it pays to ask if the company has student discounts. Check out http://www.studentcard.ie/ to see where you can get deals.
Happy travels!
