Travel Tips for College Freshmen
Don't leave your travel arrangements until the last minute! STA travel expert Annika Blau has the essential travel tips for college freshmen and their parents this semester.
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Your priorities the first few weeks of freshman year revolve around keeping up in class, making new friends and trying not to get lost. You're not exactly thinking about how you're going to shuttle back and forth for holidays, but your parents are definitely counting down the days until your next visit. To avoid disappointing them (and paying ridiculous amounts on airfare) we went to STA travel expert Annika Blau to get the essential travel tips for freshmen (and their parents) this year.
1.) A major issue many of my transplant student clients run in to is that once they get done with orientation, they stick their heads in to the proverbial academia sand. Then, when they do finally come up for air right before midterms, they realize that they are about to have a week or two off. This is when they discover (to their dismay) that the prices of airfare are through the roof. What many of their compatriots in the sophomore and junior classes already understand is that once you get your syllabus, you have a blueprint for your whole semester. This means that you can make plans for every break you get from day two of your freshman first semester.
2.) Often times when parents decide to take their kids to college for orientation or come to a parent's weekend, the school will post a number of nearby hotels in different budgets that they would recommend. This can be a great resource but keep in mind that they choose these hotels based mostly on proximity to the school. If the school is in a bustling metropolis, you may be able to do better a bit farther afield, and as long as there is decent transport, this may "up" the caliber of your hotel, while lowering your overall cost. Make sure to get the every-man's view of each property by plugging the name of the hotel into tripadvisor.com. If you are hovering in between moderate and luxury, you could try Google maps and put in the zip code of the college and then the words "boutique hotel". This should isolate the hotels in that area that are not chains, but more of an individual hotel catering to a smaller number of people per night.
3.) If a student is going to college too far away to drive or take a train to get back home, there are a few good ways to start thinking ahead in saving money. Go to your local travel agent and request that they tell you every airline that operates direct service between your home and the new school's closest airport. Find out which of those airlines runs the most flights per day. Ask the agent the candid question of whether they run the cheapest rates overall usually. Ask what partnership that airline is a part of, for example, American Airlines, British Airways and Qantas are all a part of One World Alliance. Continental, Delta, and Air France are part of SkyTeam...you get the idea. You can take two important steps with this information. Now that you have a handle on which airline and which alliance would work for you the best, sign up for a frequent flier number with that specific airline. This is free and can be done directly through the airline's Web site.
4.) The ISIC card is a truly impressive little gem. Not everyone appreciates just how much bang you can get out of this handy ID. ISIC (which stands for International Student ID card) can be purchased at any STA branch for $26 ($22 if you bring your own passport sized photo). To give you just a bit of an idea of what this aqua-colored card can get you, imagine 11 percent off your next JetBlue flight, 11 percent off any purchase at Macy's, and a greatly appreciated 10 percent off any online purchases at Target, which, as we all know, is the freshman's mecca. But even more important is its astronomical discounts on airfare through STA Travel. In addition, students can get a 15 percent discount on Amtrak tickets if purchased three days prior to travel. That's huge. Newbies to New York City who need to hire a car for that two hour apartment move can sign up with ZipCar, an amazing pick-up/drop-off system in NYC, can have the cost of their first year's membership waived with ISIC.
With these tips, you can travel to and from school with more ease and less money. But what do you do once you there? Click over to our At Home section for decorating advice and to our Style section for back to school fashion. Looking to avoid the freshman 15? We've got you covered. And of course, click here for more travel tips.
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