Nearly 4,000 teachers have traveled the world on GEEO programs, and we’ve also helped many of those educators find the best airfare rates. These are our tips for finding the most affordable flights for your GEEO program.
As a first step, we recommend using a flight search engine to see what is out there. Favorites of the GEEO team are Kayak and Google Flights. If you want to try a more advanced search system, try out Google ITA Matrix, which indexes more flights and has more search options than most flight search sites. Use the search sites as guidelines, but always check prices directly on the airline’s sites as sometimes those can be cheaper. If you have the time and patience, track a route over a few weeks using a price tracker alert, which can be set up on most flight search websites.
If you are traveling through a nonprofit organization like GEEO, you may be eligible for humanitarian airfare, which may be more affordable than rates you can find on travel search websites or airline websites. The humanitarian travel agency we recommend is AFC Travel (formerly Fly for Good). GEEO is registered with AFC Travel as a non-profit. To get a quote from them, fill out this booking form or email staff@afctravel.com and let them know that you’re traveling with GEEO. You may also call them at 1-952-886-7676. If you purchase humanitarian rate airfare, you will need a supporting document from GEEO to show at the airport if asked. Please request this from us after you purchase the tickets. Note that humanitarian rates are not available for all flights to GEEO destinations, layovers can be long, and prices are sometimes higher than tickets found on Google Flights, Kayak, Expedia, etc. Look very carefully at the quote before purchasing your ticket. GEEO can provide you with a letter to use as proof of affiliation with our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization if required.
The best time to book a U.S. flight is usually Tuesday at about 3 p.m. eastern time. We have previously explained why Tuesday is the best day to shop for airline tickets and it’s because many airlines release weekly airfare sales in the early morning hours of Tuesday, and by mid-afternoon, competing airlines have matched sale prices. In other words, shoppers now have the most deals to choose from.
Careful! Buy too early and you could pay too much. Buy too late and you could pay way too much. The sweet spot for deals is usually found in the following shopping windows:
U.S. tickets- Shop between 3 months and 30 days before departure.
International tickets- Shop between 5 ½ months and 1 ½ months before departure.
Popular times to fly- Purchase tickets two months in advance for peak travel periods such as June, July, and August; Thanksgiving or Christmas/New Year’s; and other holiday dates.
Save even more by knowing the cheapest days to fly. If you can’t book cheap days for your entire flight, do it for one leg of the trip and you’ll still see some savings.
Cheap days: In the U.S., Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday are usually cheapest. For international travel, weekdays are usually cheaper than weekends.
Expensive days: Fridays and Sundays usually cost more, especially in the U.S.
Cheap times of day: Fly when most people don’t want to, so cheap times include dawn, overnight and flights around the lunch and dinner hour.
(Source: https://www.farecompare.com/travel-advice/tips-from-air-travel-insiders/
