Reading week travel for students looking to save
Keeping in mind the costs and pursuing his love of travel, Guelph-Humber student, Jake Raczywolski is spending reading week in Nashville and St. Louis for hockey games.
“An issue, and something we’re still worrying about is finding cheap hotels in the areas we’re going to be in when we need to crash, since we’re not planning on booking the hotels in advance,” said Raczywolski.
He added that the main concern for young adults and students right now is affordability; trying to find easy-to-book, cheap places to stay that still allows them to have a good time.
Skiplagged is a company that was founded in 2013 by a 22-year-old Aktarer Zaman. The concept behind it is a trick called “hidden city ticketing” that is essentially booking a flight that has a stop-over in the destination you want to go, and not getting on the second part of the flight. This poses some risk, and more planning needs to go into it compared to traditional booking methods.
Nicholas Miller, from Mississauga, and an avid Skiplagged user since the company started, said he has saved thousands of dollars over the years on trips to San Francisco, Florida, Paris, London, Milan, and Amsterdam. “It has definitely been worth it and I’ve never had any troubles, came close one time to losing my bags but was able to work it out,” said Miller, 20.
The only thing to keep in mind is not to book a round-trip flight because if you do not board the second-half of your flight there, they will cancel the rest, he said. Miller also added to not check baggage, and to book your flight there and flight back with different airlines.
Miller said that he can’t remember all the prices, but over the years flights have ranged from $60 to Boston and up to $620 to London, round-trip, leaving from the Toronto and Buffalo airports.
Another company that is gaining popularity and reputation in the hospitality industry is AirBnb, a website that allows people to rent their properties out to travelers. Customers can search hundreds of options in almost any part of the world whether they’re looking for apartments or private villas.
Kevin Smith, coordinator for the travel, tourism and hospitality program at Humber College, has used it himself and rents out his places on AirBnb. He said it is changing the travel industry pretty drastically.
“It’s not only cheaper; it’s a better experience that is having a really big impact on tourism trends. It hurts the hospitality industry a little, but to the student going out on reading week, looking for a place, it’s a no-brainer to me,” Smith said.
At this time of year, Mary Ha, travel consultant at Flight Centre said, “Places like Jamaica, Mexico, and Dominican are the most popular right now. All-inclusive resorts are very popular for young travelers because one price includes absolutely everything from the flight, to food and all your drinks.”
Ha said another key to getting good deals is booking as early as possible.
About the Author
Selena Kovachis is a third-year journalism student at the University of Guelph-Humber. She hopes to one day make people read her opinion as an editorial writer for a magazine.
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