Saving money on interviews

[BYU4you]

I know it is still a bit early, but in order to save money on interviews you have to start early.
A few people have already scheduled interviews for one school and we should be seeing a lot more in the following months.

Since we are all poor I'd like to share some ways I have already saved money and hope everyone else can share their tips as well.

Some ways I have saved money thus far are:

Cheap airlines, if you can use Allegiant Air, you can save a ton. They don't fly many places or on many dates. They also charge extra for bags and choosing seats. But if you can get it done right you will save a ton. I have flown numerous times from Utah to LA for as low as $40 and just now with a bag and going from Utah to Arizona I'm only spending around $76 and it fits nicely with my interview date.

Southwest, they give free bags and are much cheaper than other flights. You can go from Utah to New York or Boston for like $127

Airline Credit Cards, knowing I was going to spend a couple thousand on applications I applied for a southwest credit card and just after initial application fees I already earned 50,000 free points. That means I could go to New York and back twice without having to pay a dime. That will save me a couple hundred.

I never realized how expensive car rentals were until looking right now for my interview. I also realized companies chrge like $25 a day extra if you are under the age of 25.
I went on USAA and made a free account and got a discount that waives the underage fee (even if you aren't military)
So instead of paying $80 for a rental car I am only paying $24 after the discounts.

Again it's a little early, but things like cheap flights and racking up airline points should be looked at ahead!

What other ways can we poor students save? Ideas?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Weakfart]

Nice post! Other than trying to find rooms with other interviewers on SDN can't think of anything!

 

[ajj70]

Hertz code--waives under age fee --1911795
National Car-waives underage fee-usually gives a good discount too--XVC1093

I've used the National Code but not the Hertz code so use at your own risk .

Look online before you leave for any discounts/coupons for meals while you are gone. If the weather is nice, often campgrounds/state parks have shower facilities and such so if you are REALLY strapped for cash, it's a cheep way to stay--sleep in the car you rented.

Priceline and other similar websites can give you pretty good discounts on hotels.

Oh, and car rentals, I know National has a "last minute deal" on their website so using that in conjunction with the above code you can usually get a rental car for $15-18/day. Sign up for the car rental programs and earn free rental days too. National is nice because you can sign up for a compact car but if they have their Emerald Aisle at the airport, you can pick any car on the lot!

 

[ajj70]

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/travel-discussion/790643/

This is where I got the car rental codes so you can try others as well.

 

[Kittenz]

If you're interviewing at Detroit Mercy, ask them if you can have an interview date post-december (so long as they're not a priority school for you). They were the only school lenient on interview dates. Doing so, if you don't get into one of your top choices, you can still interview there. Otherwise, you're stuck paying for all of the trips to interviews Pre-Dec because you won't know what schools you're getting into until Dec 1st.

 

[customx]

Ask each school if there are hotels nearby that offer discounts to students that are interviewing.
If you have multiple interviews, see if you can line a couple of them up back to back. I met a couple people that were able to interview on back to back days. It will usually end up being cheaper than making two separate trips.
Use Airbnb to book a room. I got a room a few miles south of the Strip in Vegas for $40. At the time I interviewed, the CES and NFL playoffs were going on, so rates were much higher than normal for most hotels. You could even try to book a house with a few people from SDN to cut even more costs.

 

[capnamerica]

A few people have already scheduled interviews for one school and we should be seeing a lot more in the following months.

Which school?

 

[quigz]

Which school?

MWU-AZ!

 

[BYU4you]

Another obvious one is if you can plan trips together. I'm hitting Upenn and Columbia back to back and saving a ton.

 

[tarheel616]

If you are part of a pre-dental society/club it is never a bad idea to ask members if they know anyone in those areas. I have an interview coming up in New England and am staying with a pre-dental society members family for the night. For another interview I am staying with an alumni from our club that I contacted recently. Long story short: never a bad idea to use the undergraduate connections if you need a place to stay.