College Times

Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Calendar

Media Credit: Alan Solomon- Chicago Tribune

At first we thought this year was going to be the spring break when students would hunker down and mimic their parents. Bad economic times call for spending less money, right?

Right …

Just not the way we expected.

As we started polling friends and students on spring break plans, the destinations were seemingly more exotic than ever: cruises to the Bahamas, trips to New York and London and the typical Cancun, Mazatlan and Cabo party packs.

Why?

Prices for many of these trips are cheaper than they’ve been in years.

Prices for seven-day all-inclusive trips to Cancun, for example, are roughly $1,000 cheaper than they were last year. Packages that retailed for $1,700 in 2008 are retailing for $700-$800 this year. Find these deals at ststravel.com.

By researching, you can find some extraordinarily cheap deals, including a bus trip with five nights hotel in Mazatlan for $449 per person when you have four people in the hotel room. That deal is available at studentcity.com

If you’re not looking for all-inclusive packages and you want to do your own thing you can find even cheaper deals.

We found all-inclusive trips to Cancun including airfare and a four-day stay at the NH Krystal averaged about $1,100-$1,200 for an all-inclusive package on student travel websites. But a trip with just airfare and hotel can be booked for $445 per person through Travelocity.com – a $750 per person savings. That’s a lot of extra spending cash for liquor, food and side trips.

Also big this year are cruises. Trips out of Long Beach and San Diego start as cheap as a little over $200 per person. For good cruise deals, check out Travelocity.com or orbitz.com.

TIP #1

FRIENDS FLAKE … OFTEN

Not everything goes according to plan, that’s why preparing for the worst is always a good idea, especially for spring break.

Before you plan your trip, get confirmation from everybody who’s going; you don’t want to pay cancellation fees. Also, ask about the hotel or rental’s refund policy.

Many, but not all, will allow full or partial refunds if you cancel 14 to 60 days in advance.

Many flights and pre-paid packages are nonrefundable. So if your friends bail, don’t bail on yourself – you’ve already paid, so go with another friend, or by yourself. Or ask your friend who backed out to transfer or sell their spot to another person.

TIP #2

CHOOSE WISELY

Choosing the wrong place to stay during spring break can ruin a trip real quick. It’s important to pick a reliable place that understands the student lifestyle. These tips will help:



RESEARCH

After you get a quote on a package from a travel agency, check how good a deal it really is. Call the condo complex or hotel directly and inquire about their rates.



CONSIDER YOUR GROUP SIZE

This may seem like a no-brainer, but how many of you are going? For groups of five or more, condo rentals often make a lot of sense. For groups of four or less, try a single hotel room.



BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR

You may have the money to stay at a fancy resort, but are you and your friends really fancy resort material? They’ll likely have little tolerance for your drunken 4 a.m. exploits.



LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Will you be drinking a lot? Consider a hotel or condo closer to the hot spots. The extra cash you spend could save you tons of money in cab fares and avoiding a DUI.

TIP #3

BUDGET … AND DO MORE

        Living on a college budget only goes so far. But, by utilizing a little ingenuity and commitment, some of those monetary restraints can be loosened.  Some ways to spread a dollar further:



STUDENT TRAVEL AGENCIES

This is their business, so they know exactly what to do. These companies specialize in spring break travel and capitalize on trip packages, so they want to help any way they can. They almost always have the best deals for hotels and airfare packages.



WEBSITES

Eliminate the middle-man by going after the deals directly via the internet. There are countless websites set up to aid traveling students.



HOTELS

Spring break only comes around once a year. So when it does, there are a number of places itching to roll out gigantic deals in order to ensure a visitor’s return. Some of the common practices in wooing customers are usually seen before dinner time. Free buffets and extended happy hours are all par for the course.

TIP #4

BE READY

        Before you leave, you’ll need to do these things.



BACK, BACK, BACK IT UP

Give your family a complete list of emergency contacts, like your hotel’s address and the cell phone numbers of your fellow spring-breakers. Create an itinerary.

It never hurts to hide some extra cash or travelers checks in a safe place.

Designate a rendezvous. If you happen to be separated from your posse, you’ll know exactly where to meet up.

Additionally, keep absolute essentials on your person in case your bags get lost.



PROTECT THE HOME FRONT

Put your mail and newspaper delivery on hold, lock doors and windows, ask a neighbor to keep an eye on your pad. Put your car in a garage, roll up the windows and lock the doors

TIE UP LOOSE ENDS

Pawn your pets off on a friend or relative. Pay the bills due before your return date.  Cancel all your regular appointments. Organize a folder with essential documentation.

 

ALL INCLUSIVE

Where to begin your spring break planning search

Most spring breakers plan to go the all-inclusive route. These four sites are among the best at planning trips just for students. These trips often include meals, hotel, transportation, airfare and party planning*.

StudentCity.com/ParadiseParties.com

StudentCity.com, which has a partnership with MTV-U, books most of its parties through ParadiseParties.com. Among the best deals they have right now are bus trips to Mazatlan with five-nights hotel. The cheapest rates start at $374 per person with four people to a hotel room.

SunsplashTours.com

Sunsplash has some unique destinations, most notably their seven-day package to Amsterdam. Unbelievably, as of last week, there were seven-day packages available starting in the low $1,200s based on double occupancy. The only catch – you had to leave from Los Angeles.

STSTravel.com

We were most impressed with their Cancun packages. Their seven-day packages start at around $775 per person based on four per room occupancy, including tax. Remarkably, many of the four-day packages were more expensive.

STATravel.com

STA Travel is one of the most impressive sites for the range of destinations and packages they offer – from road trip spring breaks, to volunteering spring breaks, to ski, beach and international packages. Their pricing is highly competitive, too, including South Padre Island packages that begin at $199 for seven days. The problem is, you can’t easily book most of these trips online. You have to schedule an appointment with a travel agent.

* All prices quoted were on Friday, January 30. Prices subject to change without notice.

 

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