Cheap Plane Tickets for Summer Travel

Summer is here, and you're ready to pack your suitcase or backpack and go -- but not so fast! You need to book your ticket first. The sooner you buy your tickets for air travel, the cheaper they will be, and the sooner you can start looking forward to your vacation! Here are some websites to check out for the cheapest deals on the internet.

If you are a student, the first thing you should do is head over to STA travel. You can save up to hundreds of dollars off airfares as many airlines have special tickets for students that they set aside from each flight and sell through student travel agencies like STA. Plus, most of the tickets sold through STA come with insurance and you can change or cancel your flight for a minimal fee. STA can also help you out with your ISIC card (International Student Identity Card, which includes travel insurance and can help you get discounts while you're traveling), Eurail passes, and hostel or hotel bookings, travel insurance, or tours.

Kayak is a search engine the chugs through all the flights listed by airlines and also places like expedia and ebookers to find the cheapest ticket for your destination. You can have your search include nearby airports in case it's cheaper to fly from Oakland than San Francisco, for example, and if you sign up for an account you can search for flexible dates. Be sure to click on the "prefer non-stop" flights box. Even if it's a little more expensive, I think it's worth it to fly non-stop wherever possible. You'll save lots of time without having to make endless connections, plus you don't risk missing your connection, and more importantly, it's much better for the environment (not to mention your mental health!). You can also search for hotels and car rentals on Kayak.

Vayama is another search engine that trolls for the lowest ticket prices so you don't have to; I have found that sometimes tickets show up on Vayama that don't show up on Kayak, however, I find Kayak's format easier to use.

Skyscanner: If you are traveling around Europe, you might find it easier to use rail to get from point to point. However, for longer routes or those that don't have good connections, budget airlines abound. But don't be fooled by the deceptively little price tag on the tickets -- some as little as one cent. There are massive amounts of fees and taxes that will be added onto your fare when you try to book it! Skyskanner includes the taxes in their price, but other fees, such as credit card fee, luggage checking fee (and anything other than the smallest backpack will have to be checked), and airport check-in fees (yes, really!) are not usually included. Also, the cheap airlines often use airports that are further out of town, usually in entirely different cities, and have flights running early in the morning or late and night, so you might find you have a difficult time getting to and from the airport. In which case you might find another website, sleepinginairports.com, useful. Buyer beware!

The best thing about skyscanner is, you can search an entire country to see where it's cheaper to fly, or you can search an entire month to see WHEN it's cheaper to fly. Have fun playing around with the different search options and be amazed at all the different possibilities that open up!