Spring break can be expensive, as students usually find themselves paying to spend a week to party in another city, but it doesn't have to be. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE.

When students are finished with their last class this week, they will officially be on spring break. While the holiday technically runs from Monday through the 18th, it’s safe to say that many students will be long gone by then.

Spring break is an honored college tradition that students use as a breather before finals. Every year, thousands of young adults flock to numerous party destinations around the world such as Miami, Cancun and the Bahamas, for one last hurrah before the end of the school year.

Unfortunately for students, who are already a demographic notorious for not having money, these trips usually require hundreds, if not thousands of dollars when the costs for transportation, housing, food and, for those of age, alcohol are calculated.

Here are some travel tips aimed at making spring break a more pleasant experience by making it a cheaper one.

Staycation

The biggest way to save money would be to not go anywhere, but this does not mean that people can’t still have fun.

Jillian Scibelli, a junior majoring in criminology, made staycation plans with four of her friends so that they don’t end up spending too much.

“We’re staying here in Tampa, and we’re going to do day trips to (places like) the springs and the beach,” Scibelli said.

These local trips are becoming more popular among college students who either don’t have the money to travel far or can’t take time away from other responsibilities such as work.

Anyone contemplating staying in the Bay Area for spring break should at least try and do things they’ve never done before. There are plenty of things to do, including visiting museums, the beach and cashing in on various services that offer students with USF IDs discounts.

Group deals

Like Scibelli, most students who make spring break plans do so with a group of friends. This is another way to ensure that one doesn’t have to part ways with more cash than they need to.

“Split costs with your friends if you’re going in big groups,” said Sydney Wren, a sophomore majoring in nursing. “You can get group discounts.”

Many travel services, including hotels and airlines, know that this time of year is good for crowd travel, so they offer discounts based on group size. There are also several websites that offer complete spring break packages for groups, such as StudentCity.com and STSTravel.com.

Aggregator sites

For the best prices on airfare and hotels for the individual, people should use aggregator travel sites, such as Kayak.com and Travelocity.com,  instead of specific brand sites. This allows them to view and compare prices from multiple airlines and hotels at the same time.

If students are travelling especially far and will have to make a stop or two before they get to their final destination, these sites find a way to make the air fare even cheaper by grouping together connecting flights from different airlines. It would take too much time, effort and work for students to find these deals on their own.

Kayak.com even offers an explore page, where people can see the cheapest destinations to fly to from their city based on budget, temperature, continent and available time. This is perfect for the student who just wants to go somewhere but doesn’t really care where.