Quesion About Plane Ticket

So luke leaves in less than a month for bmt and im already looking at plane tickets lol. I just have a question for everyone. Best place to look for a plane ticket in a budge? What was your longest lay over if you had any? And how much school did you miss? I found this one ticket 246$ but theres a three 1/2 lay over and i wont get home till 1230am ish and school the next day? I would be missing almost an entire week of school...any advice?