By Catherine DeFuria
If you have not already booked your travel plans for Thanksgiving break, get on it.
Break is coming sooner than you thought and reservations are filling up. If you are heading home for Thanksgiving, here are some helpful tips and reasonable prices.
When flying home for the holidays, the time and day of departure makes a huge difference in prices. Leaving Boston for New York City (LGA) at 8:30 a.m. would run $130 compared to taking a later flight at 10:30 a.m. for $176.
Mary Kinstler, travel agent for Delta Airlines, said, “Early morning flights are usually cheaper, and if you are planning on traveling later in the day, make arrangements in advance.”
Another way of getting home for the holiday is via bus. Greyhound offers a student discount club and a companion fare.
With the student advantage card, students can save 15 percent on all walk-up fares and save up to 50 percent at more than 15,000 locations nationwide. The membership requires a fee of $20 and can be purchased at greyhound.com.
The companion fare is a great deal if you are traveling with someone. For certain destinations a companion can travel with you for free when you make a full fare, round trip purchase with three days advance notice. Like airlines, the time and day of departure makes a difference in prices.
When departing from Boston earlier or later in the day, the prices are considerably higher than traveling during mid-day. Departing from Boston to Hartford, Conn. at 8 a.m. or 5 p.m., round trip, would be $68, but departing at any other time, round trip costs $42.
The reason for the difference in costs is that varying bus lines, such as Peter Pan and Greyhound, arrive and depart at different times and each company has different rates.
Greg Lake, Greyhound representative, recommends traveling on Peter Pan for a cheaper bus fare. Lake also said, “There are no reservations made for bus lines, it is a first come first serve basis and I suggest getting there at least an hour early to guarantee a seat.”
STA travel in the Curry Student Center provides information on bus schedules to New York City from Northeastern for a maximum of $40.
Megan Conway, branch manager of STA travel, said, “Students can take a bus to NYC Port Authority for $20 one way or $40 round trip.”
Other alternatives, which require more than one type of transportation, including taking a bus from Boston to Providence, R.I., would be $13.95 round trip or $7.95 one-way. From there, Southwest Airlines can fly into Long Island-Islip for $88 round trip or to Baltimore for $128 round trip or Chicago for $306.
If none of these options suit you, here are some Websites to help you head home. For type of transportation, orbitz.com, expedia.com, or studentuniverse.com are the Websites to look at.
Specifically traveling by bus try, http://greyhound.com or bonanzabus.com or for the train, amtrak.com.
Conway clearly stresses to make travel arrangements far in advance, even before school starts. It is becoming harder and harder to get students home, especially for the holidays.
“Flights are cut in general, so there are less flights but the same number of travelers,” said Conway.
So, if you plan on traveling anywhere, especially for the winter holidays, Conway suggests making your itinerary now.
