Okay, this is kind of cheating, but it occurred to me that you could potentially get a great airfare if you were to join a group that has already negotiated a lower group rate. Does anyone know how to locate such groups and has anyone ever tried this? Personally I'm trying to get to Croatia in mid-August and the fares right now are prohibitive.

A group of ten of us traveled to Europe in April 2005. We checked group rates and found the discount to be only ten percent from the regular coach fare. We ended up making individual travel arrangements and meeting in Rome.

Are you a student? I notice your email address is from utexas. There are organizations that address which offer student airfares. I don't know the name of a specific organization, but maybe someone will post who does know. Try typing "student travel" or "student airfares" (without the quotes) into the search box at the top of the page. Relevant replies will appear on the left-hand side of the page.

Did a quick search and found this URL, which I hope you find helpful:

http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xch...sion_web_live/

A lower than regular fare is not necessarily one of the benefits of group fares. And ofttimes the group fare is higher than regular. Student and consolidator fares are the best to pursue.

Should read "there are organizations that offer student airfares."