Spring Break fever is settling on campus and in one month, manystudents will travel to exotic destinations while others will not.
There are many popular Spring Break destinations for collegestudents, including Mexico, Europe and other cities in the UnitedStates.
“Students always want to travel to warm tropical places that havethe sun, beach and fun,”David Vallas, an agent for STA Travel, said.”But there have been a lot of wonderful airfares to Europe andnumerous students are choosing to go there, since it is just ascheap, if not cheaper, than going to Mexico.”
A package for Costa Rica and a ski package for Europe sold outquickly, Stephanie Lovi, Council Travel district manager for SanDiego and Arizona, said.
However, some students won’t be going anywhere except San Diego’slocal beaches.
“I am going to stay here to save some money,” psychology juniorMorgan Velin said. “But the beaches here are awesome, so I hope tosoak up some sun.”
Cancun and Cabo San Lucas are two of the most popular destinationsfor college students in California, especially for the under-21 crowdbecause of Mexico’s drinking age, Vallas said.
Travel insurance is something many students don’t feel the need topurchase, but the extra $30 to $50 spent can make a tremendousdifference, Vallas said.
“If you couldn’t go on your trip anymore, the travel insurancewould cover the trip cancellation and you would receive all yourmoney back,” Vallas said.
Travel insurance also covers lost luggage, stolen items andhospital visits in foreign countries, which can be very costly, hesaid.
Both companies offer the insurance.
Many students are last-minute shoppers, but package prices willnot change, just the availability.
“If people want to travel during March and April for Spring Break,it would be best to begin looking about two months in advance foravailability purposes,” Vallas said.
Popular packages offered by Council Travel are the Cancun and CaboSan Lucas trips. The Cancun package includes bus transfers from SanDiego State to the Tijuana airport, airfare from Tijuana to Cancun,round-trip transfer to hotel and five nights’ accommodations at theTorre Dorado. The price for this package depends on the number ofpeople going, ranging from $719 to $769.
STA Travel offers a Cancun package as well, ranging from $519 to$824, depending on the quality of hotel room. The package is pricedfor four people staying in the room. It includes round-trip airfarefrom Los Angeles International Airport to Cancun, round-triptransfers from the hotel to the airport and five-nightaccommodations.
The travel industry saw a huge drop in sales because of the Sept.11 attacks, but the student market is very resilient, Summers said.
