I'm looking for a group rate for a hymanitarian mission to El Salvador at the end of May. Any suggestions?

Once you determine which airport you will be flying to and from and solid dates of travel and number of passengers and names, determine which airlines fly that route and contact the group depts for those airlines to get quotes. Most airlines consider 8 passengers traveling together as a group, but some airlines have higher requirements - 10, 12 or 16. They can also have different criteria for different routes.

Once you have your best deal direct from the airlines, you can see if folks like us, who specialize in consolidator fares, can beat the price. Sometimes we can be very competitive and sometimes the airlines don't give the consolidator any discount greater than their regular group fares.

Keep in mind that to get a solid guaranteed group quote from either us or the airline, you will need the names and ages of the passengers to be included in the quote. Just getting a price without names is not binding at all with the airlines. We've had calls in the past from church groups that did not realize this. They got a "quote" from the airlines and didn't read the fine print - that the amount quoted wasn't binding. Then they did a lot of work, got everyone signed up and ready to go and then found out that the real cost was a lot higher than the quoted cost. Then they were calling us to see if we could help get the cost down. Always pay attention and ask how long the quote is good for and what can cause the price to change.

Good luck and let me know if you need a quote.