Thousands of students nationwide are already booked up and geared up for Spring Break 2012, and let me guess…you aren’t one of them? The college student has notoriously mastered the art of doing things last minute- from cramming for midterms, buying your lover Valentine’s flowers, to calling mom on her birthday at midnight- and believe me when I say those skills will come in handy in the “real world”- but last minute travel is risky for anyone who is looking to score a last minute deal, especially for those risk-taking college students.
Hundreds of students are booking last minute spring break deals, and a huge percentage of them are at risk to get screwed. Here are a few last minute booking tips from the experts to ensure your group does get hooked up, but not screwed.
- Be flexible with your destination: You may have your heart set on one destination, and one departure day and return day. Being flexible with the destination, amount of nights, and even the airport you leave from will definitely open up more affordable last minute opportunities for you and your crew.
- Don’t be afraid to road trip it up! Lots of colleges are within driving distances to hundreds of beaches- even if does take you 15-18 hours to get there- getting there is half the fun. Panama City Beach, Florida, for example is the nation’s number one spring break destination- and thousands of students drive there year after year- and it’s only 15 hours from Chicago and also Washington, DC. Not too shabby.
- Use points, miles or credit card points for one way flights: Do you or your rents hoard their credit card points hoping that someday you will take that dream trip to Europe? Well why wait- check and see if you can cash in your earned miles, or if your credit card points could be put towards one-way flights.
- Stick to the experts, and do your research: Once you’ve decided to go- although the clock is ticking, you don’t want to get hosed in your last minute investment. There are dozens of companies online promising spring break specials, spring break entertainment, and to be honest- other spring breakers, because who seriously wants to go on SB2012 alone? Checking out the company’s website, asking your friends, and calling the company direct and asking about the trip are all great ways to quickly do your research.
- Book with a Student Tour Operator: Last minute deals are still available with most reputable spring break companies. A tour operator will do all the work for you, often include flight, cruise, bus or other transportation.
- Facebook- obvi! You are already on social media all day long anyway; why not check out what people are saying about spring break, and about destinations. If you are interested in a specific company- check out their Facebook “Likes”- if others like their product enough to put it up there on the internet they must be doing something right.
- The More the Merrier? Yes companies usually give great deals to large groups, but the smaller rooms aren’t always left out either. Be sure to ask on the phone if there are any deals for groups, or last minute deals for small groups!
Find out StudentCity’s last minute deals by clicking here……
