How much did you spend on airplane tickets per interview?

[bozz]

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I guess it depends on the place, but for those who have traveled by flight, how much did you spend on airplane tickets?

Upwards of $300.. is that normal?

 

[MilkmanAl]

I spent $270 to get to Little Rock from Raleigh and was refunded ~$50 of that because they left me stranded in Dallas. I hate Delta.

 

[beachblonde]

I spent anywhere from $250 to $600.

A lot of it depends on where you're going-smaller airports can often be more expensive, and direct flights are also pricey. Use cheaptickets.com or kayak.com and just hope for the best....

 

[Kaydubz]

Has anyone tried scheduling interviews on back do back days and flown directly from one interview city to the next and only back home after the second interview? If so, how stressful / easy was it?

 

[MilkmanAl]

That sounds like a recipe for trouble to me. I'd imagine it would be extremely stressful.

 

[radi0headfan]

~$250-300, but i used my delta miles for a couple of interviews

 

[87138]

None. None dollars.

I drove.

 

[beachblonde]

Sadly, that's not always an option. Not everybody has a car (or access to one), or they aren't willing to drive 8 hours or whatever.

But you're lucky that you managed to avoid the hassles of flying.

 

[SarsMO]

Has anyone tried scheduling interviews on back do back days and flown directly from one interview city to the next and only back home after the second interview? If so, how stressful / easy was it?

I did it with three interviews, actually. I was very stressed during the week, but in the end it was SO worth it: cost effective and over in a week. Here's what I did:

Sunday: St. louis to Syracuse
Monday: interview at SUNY upstate
Tuesday: flew to Boston
Wednesday: interview at BU
Thursday: interview at Tufts; fly back BOS to STL.

Like I said, stressful, but so worth it. I really had my interview-mojo going on. I wouldn't have done it any other way.

 

[Bradstein]

Sadly, that's not always an option. Not everybody has a car (or access to one), or they aren't willing to drive 8 hours or whatever.

Or you don't want to spend twice as much on gas as you'd spend on flying.

 

[beachblonde]

Or you don't want to spend twice as much on gas as you'd spend on flying.

I know! Last year gas was way cheaper. In some cases I imagine it's cheaper to take a train/airplane than it is to drive your own car....

 

[riceman04]

I am not sure if past fare's are that great of a guage for how much you could potentially spend this year during the interview cycle.

Keep in mind that the price of oil per barrel has increased by about 2 fold (now down to approx $120/barrel), capacity has been reduced on airlines, routes are being cut, airlines are merging, and it costs extra for little things now (I am waiting for airlines to start installing coin machines on their seat recliners....lol)

best of luck to everyone


riceman04.....brown basmati style! (ha)

 

[chad5871]

With gas the way it is, and airline prices increasing, I'm expecting to spend at least $300 round trip on travelling to the schools that are farther away. I hope I get a lot of interviews at schools close to home (I mostly applied around here anyway).

 

[Dulcina]

bought 2 tickets so far, $300 and $365

 

[pinkipod]

$340 continental

 

[87138]

Sadly, that's not always an option. Not everybody has a car (or access to one), or they aren't willing to drive 8 hours or whatever.

But you're lucky that you managed to avoid the hassles of flying.

Agreed. I live in an area of the country where applying to 15ish schools still meant that the farthest I'd have to drive was about 5 hours. I realize not everyone is as fortunate.

 

[brooklynblunder]

the least I paid is around $120 rt (a few times, US Air hub in Philly), the most was 330 because it was the week of.

the average, I would say, for me was around $160-$180 w/ tax and fees.

1. tell the school that you would get back to them if they give you a list of days
2. flex search expedia and bing for a range of dates
3. individually search bing and expedia for each day (because they don't account for stop over trips)
4. search statravel.com

that should cover all the bases, i know its an old thread and the interview season is almost done but i just wanted to say something

 

[YellowDiamond]

Just spent $300 for a published fare of $680 (very short notice interview). I used the negotiator on priceline.com. I might add that the negotiator also works well for hotels. If you use Priceline, you lose flexibility (i.e. you pick your leaving and return date but not time), but I am currently on break. If a fare to a relatively small city is expensive, I would give it a try.

STA travel is also worth checking. Sometimes they are no better than Kayak but other times you may see a 50% discount.

 

[bannie22]

I spent a total of 4500ish on 8 interviews so far (1 was paid by points. so it cost 0)

 

[guyski79]

$225
$125
$400
$275
$430

 

[Zona Pellucida]

My Philadelphia trip cost $1100.00 for airfare alone.


I win.

 

[metallica81788]

New Orleans to Charlottesville: $200 US Airways
New Orleans to Columbus: $200 American
Baton Rouge to Richmond: $260 American/Delta (during Thanksgiving week, so fares raised)

 

[cardinal2010]

I did it with three interviews, actually. I was very stressed during the week, but in the end it was SO worth it: cost effective and over in a week. Here's what I did:

Sunday: St. louis to Syracuse
Monday: interview at SUNY upstate
Tuesday: flew to Boston
Wednesday: interview at BU
Thursday: interview at Tufts; fly back BOS to STL.

Like I said, stressful, but so worth it. I really had my interview-mojo going on. I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Sunday: SF to Pittsburgh
Monday: Pitt interview, Pitt to NYC
Tuesday: Einstein interview, Bus to Boston
Wed: BU interview, Bus to NYC
Thurs: Cornell interview, Bus to Boston
Friday: Tufts interview, Bus to NYC
sleep during weekend.
Monday: Sinai interview, NYC to SF

Was a incredibly exhausting trip (interviewing, despite sitting on your ass most of the time is a very tiring experience) and I missed a week of school, but saved soooooo much money.

San Fran to Pitt to NYC to San Fran was $10 more than just round trip to NYC, and bus between NYC and Boston was $1 each way with wifi on the bus! (Boltbus FTW!)

 

[brooklynblunder]

My Philadelphia trip cost $1100.00 for airfare alone.


I win.

you cant be serious?

 

[bannie22]

you cant be serious?

international flight?

 

[Tatastrophy]

Less than 150 bucks round trip for all of mine (I love Airtran sales...and Delta trying to compete by matching those prices for flights at better times!😛)

 

[mvenus929]

I know! Last year gas was way cheaper. In some cases I imagine it's cheaper to take a train/airplane than it is to drive your own car....

Uhh... I remember gas being up near $5 a gallon before dropping in October/November down to about $2.50 a gallon. I just paid $2.38 for gas tonight. I don't think it was way cheaper last year.

I paid about $260 for airfare and bus to Charlottesville (flight to Charlottesville, bus to DC, flight from DC), and almost $500 to go to Columbia, SC. I drove to my other interview, which cost about $30 for gas. And yeah, I wasn't willing to drive 2 days, kamikaze-style, cross-country (I've done it before, and it suckss) on two separate occasions for interviews. Flying was cheaper and less stressful.

 

[alibai3ah]

Sunday: SF to Pittsburgh
Monday: Pitt interview, Pitt to NYC
Tuesday: Einstein interview, Bus to Boston
Wed: BU interview, Bus to NYC
Thurs: Cornell interview, Bus to Boston
Friday: Tufts interview, Bus to NYC
sleep during weekend.
Monday: Sinai interview, NYC to SF

Was a incredibly exhausting trip (interviewing, despite sitting on your ass most of the time is a very tiring experience) and I missed a week of school, but saved soooooo much money.

San Fran to Pitt to NYC to San Fran was $10 more than just round trip to NYC, and bus between NYC and Boston was $1 each way with wifi on the bus! (Boltbus FTW!)

Jesus, that's insane. At some point, I think for the sake of doing well on interviews (and not being burnt out), I would just spend the extra money to fly again.....

 

[casillas]

if you buy your ticket early enough (read one month and more) you can get really good deals. i got a flight from california to the east coast for 200 bucks and it was non-stop. but on another flight to the east coast i messed up and got the flight a week before ended up paying close to 400