Fly back home: Discover your options this weekend

Every South American student in Brisbane has gone through the same ordeal: finding affordable flight fares to fly home. Visiting different travel agencies, searching on Internet and trying to grab special discounts on economic class, everything is valid when it comes to cutting down the costs of traveling to our beautiful countries of origin.

The truth is that finding that cheap flight is getting more difficult, especially after Aerolineas Argentinas axed its Sydney-Buenos Aires flights on April, being the airline that offered the most attractive fares at that moment.

The move left Qantas and LAN as the sole airlines offering direct services to South America, flying only from Sydney to Santiago de Chile. These changes reduced competition significantly and left travellers with even less options, having to opt for the already increasing fares, which are expected to rise up by %15, or looking into flying through the United States or even Europe.

The best way to avoid these increasing fares is keeping an eye on promotions, booking in advance or attending travel fairs that promise a good deal to everyone, and even better, if you are a student as you will get further discounts.

So if you are in Brisbane and cannot wait to go home, the best advice is to visit Travel Expo this week. The event will offer free and informative presentations from leading experts and a range of products you and your friends could be interested in, including tours and reduced flight fares to the Americas.

Researching, comparing is always the way to go, so head to the Convention Centre on Sunday between 9am and 4pm, and find yourself a deal. There is nothing like visiting home and it gets better when it does not cost you a fortune!

By Janeth Taborda

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