There are countless places to buy airfare, but the three main outlets you should consider are student travel agencies, the airlines, and online travel-booking sites. Here's a look at the major players and how they operate:
Student travel agencies: Three well-regarded agencies dedicated to student travel. You can research travel and book tickets over the phone, online, or at "brick-and-mortar" locations throughout the U.S. The advantage of these companies is that you can speak directly with travel agents who can advise you of all the options, help you find the lowest fare, and put together complicated trips that might be difficult or impossible to arrange on your own. However, in order to buy student fares through these agencies, you must first buy an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), which costs $22 plus shipping. Keep in mind that all the agencies charge a booking fee of about $5.
Airlines: The cheapest regular fares are often sold directly through the airlines' own websites, where you can access sale fares that might not be available through other providers. The major "legacy" carriers in the U.S.,
American,
Continental,
Delta,
Northwest,
United, and
US Airways, all offer sales frequently. However, you can often beat the fares from the major carriers on low-cost airlines such as
Southwest,
JetBlue, and
AirTran. The downside to low-cost carriers is that most have more limited flight networks than the major carriers and most offer few or no international flights.
Online travel-booking sites: Rather than checking the website of every airline to find the cheapest flight, you can compare fares on multiple airlines at the same time by using an online travel-booking site such as
Tripsmart,
Orbitz,
Expedia, or
Travelocity. These sites are good for helping you to set a price benchmark for your itinerary. They also have useful tools that can help you determine the cheapest days to fly. However, these sites do not always have access to the airlines' cheapest fares, and all add a booking fee to each purchase. Also, fares for two of the most popular low-cost carriers, Southwest and JetBlue, cannot be booked through these sites. iIn that case, it's helpful to use these sites to get an idea of what's available and then go to airlines' websites to book.