Cut Rates for the Over-29 Set

TRANSATLANTIC travelers whose passports relegate them to over-29 status can also take their trips for less than standard fare. They must usually sacrifice some mobility, plan well in advance and sort through a bewildering maze of ticket prices. The variety is so great that each passenger in a six-across row of a 707 airliner may have paid a different amount for his ticket. The round-trip New York-London economy fare in peak season is $555, and the price is just about the same for trips between London and Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington. Some ways a traveler can get a better deal: CHARTER FLIGHTS offer the cheapest fares but also involve the most restrictions (although some are frequently ignored). Any nontravel organization at least two years old can charter a plane and sell the seats at cost to members of at least six months standing. Average tab: $230. Most members of teachers, lawyers, fraternal or many other organizations qualify, and an ingenious travel agent can usually find some charter flight for almost anyone. Organizations with at least 40 travelers, but less than a full planeload can reserve space on regularly scheduled airlines for $277 per seat under a plan called "group affinity fares." GROUP INCLUSIVE TOURS are 14-to 21-day travel packages put together by airlines and travel agents. The group must include at least 15 people, but these are usually assembled by the packager. The main requirement is that at least $100 worth of "ground arrangements," such as car rentals or hotels, must be bought along with the air ticket, which itself costs $305. Two free stopovers are permitted both en route to and on return from the main destination. EXCURSION FARES are available to anyone who agrees to linger fairly long abroad. The fare for trips lasting 17 to 28 days is $385; for those of 29 to 45 days, it is $335. As a rule, a total of five stopovers are permitted on the shorter excursions and a total of three on those of longer duration.

Vacationers can save up to 20% on many of these fares by starting their travels out of the "peak season," which generally covers the summer months. In addition, anyone who does not mind a one-hour stopover in Reykjavik can cross the Atlantic for $279 on a peak-season 29-to 45-day ticket by flying Icelandic, the only non-IATA airline regularly running between North America and Western Europe. But its jetliners land only in Luxembourg. If the fare is still too steep, the prospective traveler has one final choice: he can try to go to work for an airline, most of which offer employees 90% reductions after six months of work.

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