Students hoping to find cheap flights for a last-minute spring-break getaway might be out of luck as record-breaking oil prices, increased taxes and high demand take their toll on airfares.
With only one week to go, hopeful travelers have virtually no chance of finding low fares anywhere, said Tony Lefevre, the owner of Travel Masters, a Tempe travel agency.
"They've kind of waited too long," Lefevre said.
The single most important factor in finding budget-priced tickets is booking early, he added.
"Start in November," Lefevre said. "There's usually some good bargains if you book early."
Journalism senior Kara Kissell said she booked her spring break, all-inclusive package to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, in January and paid $865 for the deal, which includes flights, hotel and meals.
"Prices were going up daily [in January]," she said.
She bought the trip on the STA Travel Web site, which caters to students and offers them discounted prices, Kissell said.
Had she booked the trip this week, the flights alone would have cost $555.
Students can find bargains on STA Travel and Student Universe — a site aimed at the college crowd — but it's worth cross-referencing with other sites such as Expedia.com or Kayak.com, which screen hundreds of sites for the best fare.
Kayak.com, for example, found the Puerto Vallarta flights for $474 — $81 less than the ones STA Travel found.
Airlines, such as US Airways, adjust their schedules for peak travel periods like spring break, said Morgan Durrant, a spokesman for the Tempe-based carrier.
Depending on demand, the airline may increase the number of flights or use larger planes for certain destinations, but it also offers fewer low-fare tickets during that time, he said.
"The industry is highly competitive, almost to a cut-throat nature," Durrant added.
And, in an effort to simplify their price structure, US Airways no longer offers specific student fares since its 2005 merger with America West, Durrant said.
But Lufthansa is in the process of expanding its GenerationFly Web site, for which only U.S. college students can register, said Florian Gmeiner, a spokesman for the German airline.
With the site, Lufthansa hopes to tap into the lucrative market of American students by encouraging them to use Lufthansa's continental connections to travel to a variety of destinations in Europe, he said.
"We've all been students once upon a time," Gmeiner said.
Lufthansa charges $827 for a sample round-trip from Los Angeles to Frankfurt; the same flights go for $725 on the GenerationFly site.
For those who can't afford any of these deals, Lefevre recommends making the most of their time in Arizona.
"They're in the best spot going," Lefevre said. "It's fresh air, sunshine and very little cost."
Reach the reporter at: andre.f.radzischewski@asu.edu.
