Most major airlines have student fares and discounts on their websites, but you may have to be signed up to get the deals, or you may just have to do some digging. Plus, most of the workd, other than the United States, has a bevy of low cost airlines that can ferry you safely from one far flung destination to another at ridiculously low fares. With trains and low cost airlines, there is no reason not to get out and explore. Here are some links that may be helpful for booking air travel.

 https://generationfly.com/ Lufthansa's student discount website.

 http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx Is one of my favorite websites. The founder, a travel industry veteran, started this newsletter and blog which is capturing the attention of travelers with timely insight on sometimes rock-bottom, unadvertised airfares. Several sections are worth noting, especially the "Fare of the Day" section, which gives you the latest bargain finds, both domestic and international. Some of these are missed by the other websites as the website monitors some off the beaten track airlines like Allegiant, Southwest, Spirit and a lot of the international carriers. Although this website does not have the international airport to international airport fares focus, if you are flying within the United States, or are flying from the US abroad, this website is a great tool.

The two largest discount student travel sellers are STA Travel Inc. and StudentUniverse.com Inc. They negotiate cheaper fares from airlines for students and teachers, and get airlines to relax many rules and restrictions on those tickets as well. The flexibility can yield huge savings if you want to stay abroad for several months or want a one-way ticket to get to school because you don't know when your exam schedule will allow you to come home at Christmas.

STA Travel requires that students purchase a $22 International Student Identity Card (there's a version for teachers, too) that verifies their status for one year. The card offers discounts beyond airfare, and is sometimes required for study aboard programs. STA Travel sells the card, and requires purchasers fax or email a copy of a valid student ID, a current class schedule or a tuition receipt to the company for verification.

StudentUniverse doesn't require an ISIC card and instead has developed a proprietary system to automatically verify a student or teacher's eligibility for the discounts, based in part on student and faculty email addresses.

http://www.attitudetravel.com/lowcostairlines/europe/ This website contains the most complete compilation of low cost air carriers, with a description of the major cities each airlines flies from and to as well as a helpful airline map. Don't forget to check out their specials area, where they track sales and discounts on the low cost air carriers: http://www.attitudetravel.com/lowcostairlines/europe/offers.html .

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/leisure/fr/launch/home/ This is the main website for travelers who are traveling from or through France. SNCF is the national railroad system in France, but this website contains hundreds of all or partially inclusive vacation deals. You will find the best deals for vacations and train tickets in the last minute, or "dernière minute," sections, where vacations and train tickets can be discounted up to 80%. You can search by destination country, length of visit, departure city, and departure dates and month.

http://opodo.com/ Opodo is a leading pan-European online travel company specializing in worldwide travel. It was founded by nine of Europe's airlines and is now managed by a technology company. The company has websites for nine different countries, and some of their offerings are tailored to the different countries, so check your departure country's website as well as your destination country's website (if one or both are available) to get the best deals. Check the late deals section for the best deals.

http://www.travel.com.au/ Australian site offering round-the-world deals, stop-over packages, activity holidays and more.

http://www.skyscanner.net/ Searches airline and travel sites for cheapest flights between European cities; to and from a wide range of regional airports; and worldwide from Britain. Most fun area, if you are flexible, is the "Need Inspiration" links on the home page, which lets you search for deals in a very flexible manner.

http://www.mobissimo.com/search_airfare.php Mobissimo is a travel search engine that indexes over 180 travel sites. It searches and compares prices from online travel agencies around the world, traditional airlines, low cost airlines and consolidators. The company doesn't sell tickets but takes a cut from transactions for which it generated the lead. Check out the Mobiblog for travel headlines, as well as the deals section, where the website uncovers some really great, sometimes off the beaten path ideas.