Finding a cheap flight home..

Finding a cheap flight home: Planning your trip to Hargeisa

Okay, so I've dusted off my passport, and took those old suitcases out of storage, and after a long and abnormally harsh Canadian winter, I'm eagerly counting down the days until I bid "Au revori!" to Canada, and "Bonjour!" to the warm summer sun of Somaliland. Yes, this summer like many of my compatriots living in the Diaspora, I am heading Hargeisa, and throughout my stay I plan on bring you stories, and sharing my experiences from the fatherland. I also want to hear from you! So, if there are any stories you would like me to cover while I am there, like restaurant reviews, the best healthcare clinics or schools, etc. leave comments, or e-mail me and let me know.

I thought for my first article, I would cover the slightly tedious but useful topic of actually planning your trip to Hargeisa. Anyone who has ever planned a trip to Hargeisa can tell you what a long, complicated and expensive process it is, and this year with the recession hitting all of our wallets, we're all eager to get the most out of our hard earned cash. If only planning a trip to Hargeisa was as simple as tapping your feet together three times while repeating the words "There's no place like home", but like the commercial says, "If life were that easy you won't need Master Card". The plus side to all of this, however, is that because of recession, things like plane ticket prices should drop. I haven't seen these price drops yet, but I'm still holding out hope.

As a seasoned traveler to Somaliland, I have picked up a few tricks over the years. Although, my experience has been limited to planning trips from Toronto, the lessons can be easily applied for other destinations.

There are few countries, like the Emirate, and Djibouti, that offer direct flights to Hargeisa, though the list of countries is growing every year. So, the first thing you'll have to do is find a location you'd like to travel from. My personal favourite is Dubai, because it has the widest selection of planes that fly out to Hargeisa. Next hit sites like Expedia, and look for flights to Dubai. These sites serve as useful tools because they allow you to see which airline's offers the cheapest tickets. Whatever you do though, don't buy your tickets from these sites. Once you've found your cheap ticket, go directly to the airline company's website and purchase from there. They will usually offer you the same ticket, usually at a cheaper price but with better conditions, such as more freedom to change return and departure dates, and ability to refund ticket if need be.

It's best to start looking for tickets well in advance. The longer you wait, the more expensive ticket prices become and this usually means the difference between travelling in comfort and style on a high end airlines or travelling on a lower end airline company, that loses your luggage, and refuses to reimburse you.

For those of you, who prefer going to a travel agency to book your ticket, make sure to go to many different agencies, to ensure you are given the best price. Before purchasing your ticket ask the agent the conditions attached to the ticket. A lot of people get excited when their quoted a great price and purchase the ticket without knowing the terms attached. Ensure that you're allowed to change departure and return dates if need be. Flights from North America to Dubai during the summer high season cost $1200-$1800, depending on the airlines, and how early you book your ticket.

Now that you have your ticket to Dubai, it's time to get that ticket to Hargeisa. With Hargeisa now being a hot summer destination, many new airline companies have now opened to serve this popular location; however, many of these airlines only fly to Hargeisa on certain days, something you might want to consider before booking your flight to Dubai.

Now, for this article I actually went on Expedia and surprised to find that they did have Egal international Airport as a destination, however, when I tried to look up flights to there from Dubai, it won't let me. So, it seems Expedia is not all that helpful, for this part of your planning. There are many other ways to book your flight to Hargeisa, such as going to a Somali travel agency, every large city has at least one, or many of the airline companies that fly to Hargeisa have a 1-800 number you can call, or you could try booking your flight while in Dubai. Flights from Dubai to Hargeisa during the summer high season cost between $500-$800, depending on the airlines and the date you choose to fly.

So, when we add up all costs, we get…..
Flight from Toronto to Dubai: $1600
Flight from Dubai to Hargeisa: $700
Returning home after many years away: Priceless….

By: Hayat Farah