Sale: Book and buy your 2017 conference air tickets now

The emirates flag in the background is also on the tails of their aircraft

Both Qatar and Emirates are promoting their annual sale prices of air tickets. If you book on Qatar before 26 December and fly before 16 June 2017, you will save 10% in economy class and 15% in business class which could add up to a few hundred rand. If you also sign up to their loyalty programme and book on-line you will get a bonus of 2000 miles extra. And remember that you can also book a stopover in Doha – definitely worth considering.

Well, almost all that is said about Qatar is equally true of Emirates.  If you book before 28 December and fly between now and end of March, or middle April to end November, you will see that the cost of the tickets is cheaper – the flights I am monitoring are more than R600 cheaper. Direct Flights are cheaper than multi-city flights when booked on this special offers and remember to also look for alternative airports or transit airports that could be cheaper.  Emirates also have Featured fare specials available until 18 January 2017, but there are terms and conditions linked to these prices so make sure that you know what you are buying.

Personally, I prefer to fly with Qatar, but seldom do so because of their limited destinations and partner options (when compared with Emirates). We will go to Los Angeles and from there to Seattle. When searching for options on this, booking on Emirates provided me with more than 20 options throughout the day and on different airlines. When trying to do such a booking on the Qatar page, Seattle simply could not be selected.

It is worth taking some of your well-deserved time off to search and compare the airline fares during the festive season to prepare properly for the 2017 academic conferences. Even if the university is paying for the ticket, it is to the benefit of both the institution and the academic to save on expenses. And if you are planning to take someone with you on the next international trip, do your research and compare prices but also take advantage of the sale options by your favourite airlines.