How do you buy airline tickets for spouse?

[His Glory 25]

We were planning on buying plane tickets for us to come back together so that would mean I would by 1 roundtrip and 1 one-way. But if they delay visa I am thinking it would be best to buy tickets that were refundable or that can be changed, although I hear that is expensive. I have only flown once in my life and that was my trip to Ghana. So Im not experienced in this. How should I go about doing it? Also, how do I make sure my husband and I are on the same flight back if mine is round trip and his is oneway? And worst case senerio there is a problem at interview. Im going nuts. I guess as we draw closer Im getting more nervous. To get him a ticket will the airlines request his visa confirmation before they sell to us? I just dont want any last minute "Doh!s"

[chispas 0]

Hola,

Whew. I can see you have many thoughts circling through your head right now. Breath....... Although I am sure you will receive many variations to the advice, I would ask a few questions first. When is the interview scheduled in relation to your return ticket? Each embassy is different as far as how fast they process their visas after a successful interview so maybe someone who went through your embassy can answer that one.

The airline tickets are usually cheaper if you purchase round-trip tickets as opposed to one way. Also don't forget to accumulate your frequent flyer miles! You may want to leave extra room on the back end of your trip in case they ask for additional information or there are any glitches during the interview. This will give you flexibility in your purchase. If you purchase a full fare ticket, you may have flexibility in making changes to it. In my experience, tickets were cheaper when purchased over in Africa than from the US. But again, this may differ from agency to agency and time of year one is flying. The last thing is that depending on the type of ticket you buy for your SO, it may not be transferable. I have heard of travel agencies that only deal in cash and others which hold the reservations for only 24 hours. Again, I am sure you'll receive much help in this area and whichever way you choose, may you both have a speedy interview and joint flight back.

Chispas

[His Glory 25]

Hola,

Whew. I can see you have many thoughts circling through your head right now. Breath....... Although I am sure you will receive many variations to the advice, I would ask a few questions first. When is the interview scheduled in relation to your return ticket? Each embassy is different as far as how fast they process their visas after a successful interview so maybe someone who went through your embassy can answer that one.

The airline tickets are usually cheaper if you purchase round-trip tickets as opposed to one way. Also don't forget to accumulate your frequent flyer miles! You may want to leave extra room on the back end of your trip in case they ask for additional information or there are any glitches during the interview. This will give you flexibility in your purchase. If you purchase a full fare ticket, you may have flexibility in making changes to it. In my experience, tickets were cheaper when purchased over in Africa than from the US. But again, this may differ from agency to agency and time of year one is flying. The last thing is that depending on the type of ticket you buy for your SO, it may not be transferable. I have heard of travel agencies that only deal in cash and others which hold the reservations for only 24 hours. Again, I am sure you'll receive much help in this area and whichever way you choose, may you both have a speedy interview and joint flight back.

Chispas

Hey thanks Where would we buy tickets in africa? Can you buy delta tickets there?

[Donna A 4]

do they still have refundables? after being ripped off once i always ask and the travel agent says most of them are not refundable anymore. i hate that...things come up and sometimes u just cant make it when u wanted.

[JJWashington 0]

Personally I would only purchase the tickets from a US Airline. This is said after my horrific experience with South African Air. I also found that the refundable tickets were not much more. They are so expensive anyway. I last flew in June 2007.

[Zee Bee 61]

I don't know what airline you are planning to use.

If you are going to go by North American Airlines (www.flynaa.com), all their one way tickets are refundable. If you are going to buy the roundtrip ticket, you can select which legs you want to be refundable and the added fare depends on which fare you want to be refundable (more expensive if the return to JFK is the refundable portion). For NAA you may want to check with the local office in Accra to see if your husband can buy the ticket there since it would probably be cheaper than you buying it online from the US. To change the nonrefundable ticket with NAA is I think $150.

Here is their contact information:

North American Airlines

4 Motorway Extension,

Yekema Square

PMB 369 Cantonments,

Accra Ghana

Phone:

+ 233-21-911- 086

+ 233-21-911- 087

+ 233-024-377- 6907

+ 233-024-377- 6917

Email: ghanaoffice@flynaa.com

Delta's prices are way more than NAA and for Delta's roundtrip tickets the whole ticket has to be refundable so it makes it more expensive. They do have an office in Accra:

Aviation Alliance Ltd.

4th Floor, Silver Star Tower

Airport City, Accra

Private Mail Bag 37 Kanda

Accra, Ghana

Telephone: 233-21-213-111

Fax: 233-21-213-121

Mon–Fri: 8:30am–5pm

Sat.: 9am–12n

Also, with Delta, you cannot buy a one-way ticket from Accra to JFK online.

I've never bought a ticket in Ghana so I am not sure if they ask to see the visa. That is a question you can call and ask them.

As long as both of you book your tickets on the same flight you should fly together. You may not be seated together but you can always switch with people when you are on the plane.

I hope this helps.

Zee

[Craneman 2]

I fly 300,000 plus miles a year.

Make the resevations on the U.S. airline.

Buy round trip tickets, they are usually less for round trip than one way, example round trip to Brazil $1,070, one way $1,800

If you do not use the return ticket throw it away and still save.

[Zee Bee 61]

I fly 300,000 plus miles a year.

Make the resevations on the U.S. airline.

Buy round trip tickets, they are usually less for round trip than one way, example round trip to Brazil $1,070, one way $1,800

If you do not use the return ticket throw it away and still save.

That is true

Check with the airlines and see.

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

They will sell you the ticket even if you tell them that you DON'T have a visa. It's your responsibility to acquire a visa so they will take your money even if you tell them you don't have the paperwork to get into the country legally. They will not let you on the airplane if you can't show them a visa and then you're just screwed if you have a ticket and no visa. Not their problem.

[Zee Bee 61]

They will sell you the ticket even if you tell them that you DON'T have a visa. It's your responsibility to acquire a visa so they will take your money even if you tell them you don't have the paperwork to get into the country legally. They will not let you on the airplane if you can't show them a visa and then you're just screwed if you have a ticket and no visa. Not their problem.

I think it depends on the airline because I know that when we had to reconfirm our flights the airline office did ask to see the visa. But this was for an African airline though, and we were not coming to the US.

[His Glory 25]

They will sell you the ticket even if you tell them that you DON'T have a visa. It's your responsibility to acquire a visa so they will take your money even if you tell them you don't have the paperwork to get into the country legally. They will not let you on the airplane if you can't show them a visa and then you're just screwed if you have a ticket and no visa. Not their problem.

I think it depends on the airline because I know that when we had to reconfirm our flights the airline office did ask to see the visa. But this was for an African airline though, and we were not coming to the US.

Thanks for all the information. Doesnt naa only schedule flights to ghana certain times of the month though?

[Zee Bee 61]

They will sell you the ticket even if you tell them that you DON'T have a visa. It's your responsibility to acquire a visa so they will take your money even if you tell them you don't have the paperwork to get into the country legally. They will not let you on the airplane if you can't show them a visa and then you're just screwed if you have a ticket and no visa. Not their problem.

I think it depends on the airline because I know that when we had to reconfirm our flights the airline office did ask to see the visa. But this was for an African airline though, and we were not coming to the US.

Thanks for all the information. Doesnt naa only schedule flights to ghana certain times of the month though?

They do JFK-ACC on Sundays (arriving early Monday) and ACC-JFK on Tuesdays.

[*JG* 2]

I've had the best luck with calling the airline directly. That way, you can make sure they book the seats together.

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

They will sell you the ticket even if you tell them that you DON'T have a visa. It's your responsibility to acquire a visa so they will take your money even if you tell them you don't have the paperwork to get into the country legally. They will not let you on the airplane if you can't show them a visa and then you're just screwed if you have a ticket and no visa. Not their problem.

I think it depends on the airline because I know that when we had to reconfirm our flights the airline office did ask to see the visa. But this was for an African airline though, and we were not coming to the US.

Thanks for all the information. Doesnt naa only schedule flights to ghana certain times of the month though?

They leave NYC every Sunday afternoon at 3 and return from Accra every Tuesday am at 2am. (really Monday night you have to get to the airport) I live in NY and have always gone through JFK so I don't know the Maryland schedule. But you can check that on the website which is flynaa.com.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Personally I would only purchase the tickets from a US Airline.

That's a pretty odd statement to make. Depends greatly where you travel, doesn't it? Besides there not being any US carriers going there, I've had fantastic travel experiences flying Ethiopian Airlines. While One can take KLM, Lufthansa or British Aiways to get there, I always flew Ethiopian and plan to do so in the future. Most certainly after they take their 787 Dreamliner's into service later next year and offer IAD to ADD non-stop.

As to OP's query, we went to Ethiopian Airlines a week prior to our scheduled departure - we did not have the visa yet - and put a ticket on hold. This was on a Friday for departure the following Friday. We got Nani's visa that next Wednesday and went and purchased the held ticket then. They were really easy about it. Not sure whether that works in other places.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Mr. Big Dog