Airfares too steep? No problem!
Though the Philly region is the country's sixth-largest metropolitan area,
it's major airport, Philadelphia International (PHL), has surprisingly poor
airline competition - resulting ultimately in steeper fares for you.
However, this does not necessarily mean that you'll have to break the bank each
time you need to get to Swat or return home. In fact, if you consider the
following tips and strategies, you'll realize that you actually have many, many
options at your disposal, and if used wisely, you can easily travel to and from
Swat within your budget.
1) Find your base fare
Get an idea of what it would cost to fly from PHL, by using one or all of the
most popular fare-finding sites:
If you like what you see, feel free to go ahead and book. Consult the
Air Travel
Guidelines for ideas on what to pack and when to plan on arriving at the
airport. Then, on the day of
your trip, take a
Swat Airport Shuttle (operating around breaks) or
SEPTA (going into Center City and
transferring to the R1 line) to the airport and enjoy your flight! (Click here for more info on getting to PHL)
If you're unable to find a reasonable fare, which may be very likely if
you're flying into smaller cities, proceed to...
2) Widen your search
If you're not wedded to specific dates/airports, consider the following tips
to find better fares through the traditional sites:
- Travel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday traditionally costs less.
Fares are sometimes (but not always) higher on Monday and Friday than on other
weekdays. Saturday flights occasionally have discount fares, but as a
rule it's more expensive to fly on a weekend than a weekday.
- Stay over a Saturday night. Many airlines have made this a requirement for
reduced fares.
- Buy your ticket as far in advance as possible. Fares are often lower when
purchased 7, 14 or 21 days in advance. And be especially sure to book
early for travel dates around holidays, since these flights fill up fastest.
Remember, most of the major travel sites allow you to reserve fares up to a
year in advance. Also, even if you're not flying around a holiday, keep
in mind that there are a limited number of cheap fares on any given flight, so
it's in your best interest to reserve your price as soon as you can confirm
your dates.
- Can you fly into a nearby airport? If so, there may be substantial
savings involved. And if you don't care where you go at all, just
so long as it's away from Swat, check out Travelocity's
Dream Maps for the best
deals of the moment to anywhere.
However, if these suggestions don't produce any results, or you're unable to
modify your itinerary, consider...
3) Looking elsewhere
Just because the major sites don't show good fares doesn't mean that they're
not out there. Usually, you just have to look a little harder.
For instance, each individual airline offers web-only special fares that may
not be reflected in your searches. Thus, definitely visit the
sites of the relevant carriers to see if there any specials you may be
missing out on.
By the same token, many good deals are reserved exclusively for us students.
Though these sites will not always provide you with the best fare, they all have
great advice for student travelers:
Also, there are many deep-discount sites that can provide great fares,
sometimes only for last-minute flights:
And, of course, there are all sorts of sites that will offer good fares in
exchange for giving up final say on the details of your flight (time, airline,
and even date). Each of these companies has different rules, but generally once
you've agreed to the contract, you're stuck with whatever flight you're given,
so be sure to read the fine print at each site:
Finally, if you're sick of all this computer searching, why not pay the
Ville's very own
Park Avenue Travel a visit?
Liberty Travel and
Westminster Travel on the Pike are both good options as well.
Now, if you still aren't able to find a decent price on flights out of PHL,
fear not. You're not the problem; Philly is. Which means it may be
time to...
4) Switch airports
Despite Philadelphia's pathetic airfare situation, we still have access to
the great transportation-costs equalizer: The Northeast Corridor.
Basically, due to the density of major transport hubs between Boston and
Washington, you can easily travel to a number of other airports in the region
and thus, are not limited to the options provided by PHL. And while it
might seem crazy to travel just for the opportunity to travel some more, the
extra time and money spent on getting to other airports can often pay off with
much cheaper airfare - savings sometimes reach well into the hundreds of
dollars, depending on the airport and destination. Still, before you book
a flight at a neighboring airport, be sure to weigh the airfare savings against
the additional cost and time of getting to the airport. After all, there's
really no reason to spend hours traveling to Baltimore if the bus and train
tickets cost more than you're saving. Nevertheless, if you've found a
sweet enough deal to make it worth your while, by all means consider the
following airports (with full instructions on how to get to each one):
And your options don't end there. While those airports are generally
the easiest to get to and tend to offer the best savings, there are a number of
other airports in the region that are accessible by
train or
bus, as well as car:
Okay, so maybe you still haven't been able to find a decent fare. Or
maybe you're just a man or woman of the earth, and want to stay in contact with
terra firma at all times. In which case, you should...
5) Hit the road or track, Jack!
While nothing matches the speed or convenience of air travel for long trips,
if your destination is somewhere in the Northeast, consider getting there via
the ground.
The cheapest kind of ground travel is to share a car ride with a fellow
Swattie. Thus, check out the Jolt's
Ride Board to see if
anyone's heading your way. The
board is especially
busy around breaks, so be sure to pay it a visit when all you can afford is a
tank of gas.
The two other earth-bound transport options are
Amtrak and
Greyhound. Both are easily
accessible through Center City. Just take the
SEPTA into 30th Street Station (for Amtrak)
or Market East Station (for Greyhound), and you'll be on your way in no time.
As far as comparing the two choices, it all depends on what you're looking
for. First of all, both offer transportation to just about anywhere,
although the more obscure the destination, the more transfers that you'll have
to make, and the more time you'll spend waiting at stations. Also, both
companies have partnerships with
Student Advantage that offer card-holders a 15% discount on standard fares.
This means that purchasing the $20 card can be worth your while if you plan to
make a few trips.
However, for those who are truly price-conscious, Greyhound tends to cost
half as much as Amtrak, and may not take much longer than a standard Amtrak
trip. Nevertheless, Amtrak has recently introduced a high-speed rail
option, known as Acela,
that operates between Boston and DC. This service can get you from Philly
to Boston in just 5 hours (as opposed to 6 for the regular train and 7-1/2 for
Greyhound). Also, all Amtrak trains, but especially Acela, offer more
comfortable riding conditions than their bus counterparts, with more leg room
and smoother rides.
In any case, here are some guides for getting where you want to go - all
without ever leaving the ground!:
6) Bon voyage!
So there you have it: a complete escape plan for getting away from Swat.
And best of all, you can escape with your wallet intact. For while it may
not always be easy to save on transportation costs, it certainly can be done -
all it takes is a little Swattie ingenuity.
If you have any comments/questions/additions for this page, please
contact me. Thanks!
$$$ for College