Plane Ticket

Seventeen days and counting!! I fly out to Haiti in 17 days and I just got my airline ticket. Since I'm flying with a group and my dates aren't flexible I wouldn't buy my ticket so close to the departure date. However circumstances being what they are it couldn't be helped this time. Usually when you travel with a group there is a deadline for getting the ticket and someone is in charge of making sure everyone is on the same flight. So why didn't I get my ticket sooner? Good question :)

The original plan was for everyone on the medical team to meet in Miami and fly into Haiti together. When I got the first quote for my ticket it was over $1,000 and I almost broke out in tears because I simply didn't have it. I had budgeted for the trip but I had read the information wrong and thought the trip cost included the airline ticket from Miami to Haiti and the only extra cost I had was getting to Miami. Since I hadn't budgeted for this I had to do some creative searches. Flying out of Chattanooga is very convenient however it isn't always the best economically. As soon as I got the quote I started looking at ticket prices for flying out of Atlanta and also was contacting friends and family to see if someone could give me a ride to and from the airport. There have been times where it is $300 to $400 cheaper flying out of Atlanta, however this time is was only $140 less and even on a tight budget it isn't enough to inconvenience someone to fight Atlanta traffic.

The group I'm going with uses a travel agent and he is a wonderful way of booking people from different areas for the same trip. This past October was the first time I had ever used a travel agent and I found him to be very helpful. If you are limited on time and don't have time to search all the many different websites or if you simply need help planning your trip, a travel agent is a wonderful thing. It is their job to know how to put trips together and to find the deals out there.

Searching all the different websites out there trying to find the best deals can be a daunting task. The first trip I took internationally that wasn't with a group was to Thailand. I asked friends what sites they recommended and I searched and I searched and I searched ... It can be very time consuming. I have my favorite sites that I use but I still find myself checking out others seeing if I can get the better deal. There are even sites that will give you the option of signing up for email updates and will let you know if the price drops, the gamble is that there is no guarantee the price will drop and may actually go up.

The travel agent was a huge help and was the go between for me and the ministry. I was able to get my ticket for $698, including travel insurance and the travel agent fee. I will be landing in Haiti 2 hours before the rest of the team and for the money saved I am willing to wait. I am very thankful that the ministry was willing to work with me and is allowing me to fly in on a flight different from the team.