- If you are a student, with an ISIC card, mention that up front.

- Round-trip tickets are almost always cheaper than two one-way tickets. In fact, because most single fares are based on half of the full-price round-trip fare, they can cost more than some discount round trips. Hard to believe, but often true. Don’t get a one-way from home and expect to get a cheap single out of London. Get your return ticket from Europe before you go, unless you have no firm date of return.

- Never be pressured into buying a ticket right away, even if they tell you it is “the last one left in the world.” If that were the case, they wouldn’t need to pressure you to buy it. Don’t be rushed into anything. On the other hand, don’t get an excellent deal that works perfectly for you and then wait a week for no reason.

- When offered a ticket, keep in mind the ten factors mentioned earlier (see p.72). Ask if it is refundable (it probably won’t be if it’s cheap). Ask how long it is valid for. Ask how much it would cost to change the European departure city and the day of departure. And ask about any restrictions they may have “forgotten” to tell you about.

- One possibility to consider is a stopover flight, where you stop for a few days in another European city on the way to your final destination. These are usually found on the big European national carriers, and can sometimes be done at no extra charge, or for as little as USD 50-100 per stop. As an example, Icelandair does a three-day stopover in Iceland on its way to continental Europe.

- Never pay cash if you can avoid it. Use a credit card, and after you have the ticket in hand, call the airline and see if it is a valid ticket (check destination, date, one way or round trip, price, etc). As I write this, the radio is reporting on a group of teachers from California who went to Zimbabwe, only to discover that their “round-trip” tickets were actually one-way. Not one of them checked. Don’t make the same mistake. If the ticket is bogus in some way, cancel the charge, and call the police. If you don’t have a credit card, and can’t use someone else’s, be up front. Tell your agent that you want to confirm your ticket with the airline, and get all the details they would use to get the ticket. Then call the airline and ask if the ticket could be issued at the price you’re paying. An hour of wariness could save you hundreds of dollars and weeks of headaches.