Tips/suggestions for affordable flight & travel?

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FCMike11

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As title says. I will be flying a decent bit for this interview season and looking for any tips or suggestions on ways to maximize my funds (any particular websites/services/personal experiences).

Also, when flying to another city, do you guys rent a car to get around? Was thinking i would like to arrive the day before and explore the location a bit. Renting a car would be useful as well to help you make sure you are punctual/not relying on public transport.

I did find this sticky
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/reminders-what-to-pack-for-oos-interviews.563674/

Which was incredibly useful but didnt quite cover everything i wanted to know. I appreciate any responses and apologize if this has been covered somewhere already, could not find it.

Edit: http://www-forums.studentdoctor.net/index.php?threads/1156633/

Found this as well, but will leave this thread up fo see if anyone has anything valuable to add.
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As title says. I will be flying a decent bit for this interview season and looking for any tips or suggestions on ways to maximize my funds
Why don't you summarize what you did find valuable, so readers know what you already considered. And so it isn't necessary for us to wade through old threads?

Did you explore whether your school's alumni association has a program that will match you with grads who might let you sleep on their sofa when visiting their city for interviews?

Did you apply to schools that match you with host med students for a free overnight stay?

Either option can save you hundreds of dollars.
 
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Why don't you summarize what you did find valuable, so readers know what you already considered. And so it isn't necessary for us to wade through old threads?

Did you explore whether your school's alumni association has a program that will match you with grads who might let you sleep on their sofa when visiting their city for interviews?

Did you apply to schools that match you with host med students for a free overnight stay?

Either option can save you hundreds of dollars.

I understand what you are saying, im not asking anyone to use the search engine or wade through threads. Just asking anecdotally if personally someone used certain methods/programs etc.
I did not consider the option of staying students. Will call schools if/when i do recieve interviews.

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I understand what you are saying, im not asking anyone to use the search engine or wade through threads. Just asking anecdotally if personally someone used certain methods/programs etc.
I did not consider the option of staying students. Will call schools if/when i do recieve interviews.

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The thing is that the advice is completely different depending on where you currently live and the places where you are interviewing.

I am from an east coast city, and I commute to NYC for work each day (so I have a way of getting to NYC- a city with quick access to a ton of places- without spending additional money).

I never needed to rent a car.

I used megabus/greyhound, planes, public buses, my legs, trains, taxis/uber, and the metro to travel. I had an extended family member drive me 10mins to 2 interviews that happened to be near his home. I could have accessed those 2 sites by public transit if I needed to though. So I went to 11 interviews in 8 cities and never needed a car.

I think every school except, maybe, 2 had student hosting overnight.

I paid for one $400 round-trip ticket with credit card rewards. I made uber accounts using my siblings' and parents' cell phone #s so I can get free rides (they live in the suburbs and I have many siblings and I don't even think they know what uber is). Take the uber carpool thing over taxis when possible. Buy plane tickets on expedia or kayak- also book hotels through these sites
 
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Someone I know had a credit card and got miles for spending, but obvs you need to pay it off immediately and are just milking getting points for dollars you're spending anyway

I would Kayak.com flights, also look directly on a few's websites (SW and a few others don't go through Kayak search), I tried to stay with the same companies for miles
I would use Hotel.com for hotel, 10 and you get a free night
I used Kayak or some other search for rental car

You could pack certain kinds of food and you really should

thanks OP for linking the threads
 
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You can find discounted flights for students on studentuniverse or statravel. You can also use budget airlines like Spirit - who cares if you're comfortable? It's only a few hours anyways. And you could use airbnb or search craigslist for couch surfing for a cheap place to stay
 
I don't know if anyone's posted this on the other threads, but there's an app called "Hopper" that gives you the cheapest flight options for the dates you look up. It also has a calendar that color codes how pricing is going to be like for the month. Hope that helps!
 
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