Everything you need to know about buying airline tickets for Erasmus trips


When to buy tickets?
It is always better to buy tickets earlier, but there are also times when it is still early to buy tickets. It turned out that the best period is 3-4 months earlier. It is good to follow the prices for 3-4 days to see how the prices move. The only recommendation when it comes to groups is to buy tickets up to 6 months in advance. Please note that the months of April, May, September and October are the most popular for Erasmus mobility.

Where to buy tickets?
With us, of course :) We're joking a little, but we really recommend that you buy plane tickets through an agency only and exclusively for support. There is always the option of a canceled flight, whether due to weather, breakdown or force majeure - in this case, support can make the difference when and how you continue your journey.
Rarely does any agency (except us) deal with low budget companies, so you will have to buy it yourself, but with low budget flights, agencies cannot even offer support (except moral and advice) because low budget companies have their own conditions, rules, and support in that case as well. there is no special support for agencies.
If you decide to buy tickets online, we have prepared a couple of "main" search pages for you
https://www.the-intertravel.com/aviokarte

What to watch out for?
First and foremost, if you buy tickets with a connecting flight, you must make sure that the flights are connected, because if they are not, it means that you need a lot more time in the connecting flight. Flights that are not connected means that you have to pick up your luggage during the layover and make a new check-in for the flight.
Another important item is the transfer, please note that your transfer is not from another airport in the same city. For example arrival in London at Heathrow airport and departure from Gatwick airport or in Istanbul arrival at Istanbul international airport and departure from Sabiha Gokcen airport.
The full price is usually shown on the second or third step, and in most cases you also have an additional cost for paying by card.
Check whether you have luggage and how much, and whether it is possible to add it and at what price.
Try to find out immediately how you have organized support, phone numbers, email addresses so that you have all the information in case of any difficulties on the way.

Names and surnames on airline tickets
A big problem with Erasmus is that, when traveling with children, you don't have names and surnames early enough. Names and surnames of passengers can always be changed on low budget companies, but almost never on regular companies, unless it is a group.
For group trips, tickets are purchased without names and surnames and are added later with the possibility of changes. With regular companies, a group is considered if you have 10+ people, while with low budget companies, a group is 15+ people.

Our advice
Try to plan your mobility if you have 10 people, because then you can take a group and buy tickets much earlier at much better prices. Cheap enough that the difference in ticket price will cover at least one ticket.
If you are not able to increase the number of passengers, try taking Job Shadowing, a course for teachers, etc.

The rest
It is recommended to arrive at the airport 90 minutes before departure.
With low budget flights, it is recommended that you check in online, because check in is charged (unless you paid extra for check in when buying tickets). With all other carriers, check in at airports is free.
After checking in, you will receive a boarding pass with which you go through everything from control, arrival at the gate, and boarding the plane. If you are traveling with children, keep their boarding pass because it is a big problem if you lose it.

For all advice, help and recommendations, contact us at info@the-intertravel.com

Safe trip everyone!