Requesting Advice for Purchasing Flight

[Carlos and Jocel 2]

This question is for all of you out there who have already had their second half arrive to them from Russia. My fiancee's interview is on 3/24 and she has told me that she would like to leave to come here as soon as 3/29. Of course, I would like to spend as little $ as possible, while still making it comfortable for her. I know if I buy her ticket now, I will likely save a lot of $. So my question is, should I buy her ticket now or wait until after her interview? How many days after the interview did it take for your fiancee to receive her visa? Did anyone request for DHL to hold the visa for their fiancee to pick it up in person? OK, that was more than one question. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

(BTW, if I purchase her ticket today, one way from Moscow to Los Angeles, it will cost me as little as $680 after taxes. That's tough to beat.)

WORD OF ADVICE WHAT YOU THINK YOU MAY SAVE NOW MAY CAUSE YOU MORE LATER! IF YOUR GOING TO BUY AN ADVANCE TICKET HAVE A FEW WEEKS AS CUSHION IF YOU KNOW WHEN IS YOUR APPOINTMENT. SOME INTERVIEWS GOES SMOOTH AND SOME HAVE HICCUPS, WORST HAVE A SPEED BUMP AS NOT GETTING APPROVE OR ASK TO FOR THE 2ND INTERVIEWS. WAIT TILL THE INTERVIEWED IS OVER AND EVERYTHING WENT SMOOTH... THEN TALK TO A TRAVEL AGENT TO GET THE CHEAPEST TICKET WITHIN THAT TIME FRAME. ALSO YOU CAN SEARCH ONLINE. GOODLUCK!

[mox 298]

Oy! Make the caps stop!!!!!11!1oneone

[Brad and Vika 129]

My only thought is that a week might not be long enough, just in case there is a delay in assembly or something. We interviewed in Kiev, and I bought my ticket way in advance. I did have to change the date once because of the interview date being later than I thought, but we also got the visa by picking it up in Kiev in about two days. Our tickets back were for two weeks after the interview. Maybe Russia interviews are different, but that was our experience. I also attended the interview. Good Luck!

Do you mean you flew to Kyiv for the interview, or you actually attended it with her? I haven't heard of that happening too often, although Ecuador seems to actually require it these days, according to one of my friends.

I actually attended the interview, and spoke to the consular officer. Honestly, his only question to Vika was "do you speak English?". The few other things he said were directed at me - except for "sign here".

It depends on how much of a risk taker your are.

(1) If you buy in advanced you are betting to have the visa in hand before you must fly. Which in most case is a saving of X dollars.

(2) If you are buying the tickets after you may lose some money on a lost deal but it will serve as insurance and piece of mind. Let's call that an overpayment of Y dollars.

(3) If you buy in advance and no visa is in hand at the time of the scheduled flight, what kind of loss will you experience in (1) changing the tickets or (2) refunding them, let's call that Z dollars lost.

So now do the math and take the option depending on what level of risk you feel comfortable with.

When I did this in 2004, I gambled and went with the first option and won. Other experiences have varied. Most cases are success based on VJ stories.

So did we. It was no problem at all, and we could have scheduled the ticket back a week earlier. The risk of paying $200 or so to change the tickets seemed worth it.

[OKIE2 0]

This question is for all of you out there who have already had their second half arrive to them from Russia. My fiancee's interview is on 3/24 and she has told me that she would like to leave to come here as soon as 3/29. Of course, I would like to spend as little $ as possible, while still making it comfortable for her. I know if I buy her ticket now, I will likely save a lot of $. So my question is, should I buy her ticket now or wait until after her interview? How many days after the interview did it take for your fiancee to receive her visa? Did anyone request for DHL to hold the visa for their fiancee to pick it up in person? OK, that was more than one question. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

(BTW, if I purchase her ticket today, one way from Moscow to Los Angeles, it will cost me as little as $680 after taxes. That's tough to beat.)

Who did you buy tickets from??