Flights Home for the Holidays

S

smle

5-Year Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2009
Messages
48
My cadet just informed me of the days he could fly home. My question is can I buy his ticket or does he need too? He is checking on his end to see if he can get any kind of discount. Anyone out there know?
 
Some airlines have military discounts, but I've found it generally cheaper to shop for cheap tickets online. Make sure to compare the rates at both DEN and COS.
 
We always purchase our kids tickets, shopping for the cheapest prices we can find. Besides they don't really have the time to be their own travel agents (and we wanted our two to fly together), I feel it's something I can do to help them out. Trying to coordinate dates and times is sometimes difficult though.

And, I'm still hurting over the $1110.20 plane tickets for Thanksgiving because they couldn't get difinitive dates earlier. $1110.20. Maybe if I keep typing it, it'll go away.
 
Plebe year I was my NAVY midn's exclusive travel agent using online sites almost exclusively to book air reservations home and back to the academy...had to tweak the flights home a few times last minute due to his "military obligations" or exam schedule changes. These last 2 years I've suggested he book the flight home himself when he's confident about his last academy obligation/duty. I usually still book his flight reservations back to the academy since that date/time is generally posted well in advance. Btw- We're lucky in that SWA has several non-stops out of BWI to our homeport city (STL) and they are very understanding and helpful when it comes to changing reservations for AD military ( and bags still fly free :thumb:). If your cadet/midn uses SWA be sure to check out the "special" Rapid Rewards Program for College Students......it really speeds up the process of earning free flights and upgrades.:biggrin:
 
Southwest is great because you can cancel a flight at any time. Heck, you don't even need to cancel, just don't show up and you can use the credit from the unused ticket against a future ticket for up to one year.

As for the College Rapid Rewards program. That is no longer available.

This is from the Southwest website

Effective July 15, 2009, the College Rapid Rewards Program is being discontinued. Existing Members enrolled in the Program will continue to earn bonus credit through October 15, 2009. Beginning October 16, 2009, all College Rapid Rewards Members will earn Rapid Rewards credit at a standard rate, consistent with the general program.
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one recommendation I have is, when it makes financial sense, book two one way trips instead of a round trip. This way, if there is a change that needs to be made on just one leg of the flight, you don't end up having to buy a full fare ticket for the entire round trip.
 
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