finding airfare for student group
 

We are taking a student group from Ohio to Delhi, then on to Tokyo, and returning to Ohio. Best airfare so far is in the $3k range, which is a round the world fare. Any thoughts on how to bring this down? Travel will be in late spring. Many thanks.

When I just put in a CLE-DEL-NRT-CLE itinerary, I can come back with fares around $2,500-2,700. These are not round-the-world fares, but both ways across the Pacific. Downside is that it takes longer to get to Delhi from the US flying that way.

I think if you find a consolidator or a travel agent that can get fares from consolidators, you may be able to get even lower fares than the above.

Last year I did the planning for a group of about 20 people for an international flight to the Caribbean. I worked with the AA group coordinator, which you need a minimum of 10 people flying on the same itinerary to do. The first price they offered me was the standard 10% discount off of the regular fare. When I told them that was more than we were prepared to pay, the rep said she would send my case to the powers that be, who eventually came up with an offer that saved about $250 pp off of the lowest published fare. It may be worth your time to do that. They wanted a $100 deposit pp that would be refundable only after travel was completed and full amount either 30 or 60 days before travel commenced.

One caveat to this method I can mention is that after I had contracted with AA for the lower fare, I wanted to add two more people to the group at the same lower rate, which they firmly refused to do. So make sure you know everybody who is traveling before the negotiations.

Is your group around 150 ? Look into possibly chartering a plane...you never know....I have only done them to the Caribbean, so I have no clue as to who or how much to that area of the world..

Route your itinerary from London. Many times there are some great deals out of London. Then just purchase a rountrip ticket to London.