What type of plane ticket should I buy?

By Brian Freedman

In the real world - the one you'll be forced to enter after college, that terrifying landscape of smelly office microwaves and two measly weeks of paid vacation every year - you'll never have the option of staying abroad as long as you'd like so you'll probably want to take advantage of the opportunity to do so now. If you're about to buy your ticket to study abroad, you may want to consider building in some flexibility to travel after your program.

Types of Tickets

Roundtrip
One-Way
Open-Ended

Roundtrip
Roundtrip tickets are almost always going to be your cheapest option for flights. However, unless you already know how long you're going to be able to travel, they are somewhat limiting, because you have to pick a return date when you book the ticket. However, one thing students often don't consider is the option of paying the fee to change their return date. Some change fees for students are as low as $25 depending on the airline although others can be as high as $200 so this is definitely something you have to investigate carefully.

One-Way
One-way tickets are going to be more expensive than round-trip tickets. However, some airlines are offering better and better deals on one-way flights and some such as Aer Lingus are moving toward one-way fares as their standard price. You need to be aware that flights booked at different times of year can vary widely in cost even if you're coming and going from the same place. However, booking your flights one-way does give you the flexibility to not only come and go as you please, but also to potentially use different airlines or arrive and depart from a different city or even country. Just make sure to investigate if the country in which you're studying requires proof of a return flight or something like that as part of their immigration procedure!

Open-Ended Tickets
The other option, of course, if you're just not comfortable buying a one-way ticket, is to buy an open-ended ticket. Essentially, this will give you almost as much flexibility as a one-way ticket, but it will also offer you a way to get home on a moment's notice if, for some reason, you have to or choose to.

The way it works is like this: You buy a ticket to get you to wherever it is you're going, but instead of your return ticket specifying a date, you have the option of using it whenever you and the airline agree, within a certain period of time (usually about one year, but details may vary). This is potentially your most expensive option, but airlines vary widely so you'll need to compare prices. As we discussed above, it may make more sense to estimate when you think you'll want to return and buy your round trip ticket. You can then pay the fee to switch the return date when you know when you'll actually be returning home.

As with anything else in your study abroad experience, a little research and thought can help you figure out which option is best for you.