People between NOA2 and Interview ~2009~

[mr and mrs 187]

(have you guys seen fares lately?! $500!!!!!!!!!)

i have been avoiding looking at them on purpose.

jamie wont fly until the 1st of may. he keeps asking if he should just buy a ticket for his flight to the states. im trying to be good and say 'no. wait. its better that way' but.. im tempted... so tempted.

i am not anticipating any problems with the visa, but who knows?

any thoughts on pre-purchasing (meaning before the visa is approved or in hand)?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Everyone always says, "Don't purchase before you have the visa in your hands!".... and then about half of us go ahead and do it anyway. I'm pointing the finger squarely at myself here. We bought tickets as soon as we knew the date of the interview; however we set the date for 2 months after the interview because I had to work out my notice period at my job. We knew that if he didn't get the visa within a few days or weeks, we still had a lot of wiggle room. We were also willing to pay the change fee should anything really crazy happen and we were stuck in the UK for over 2 months.

However, when you're looking at a very small gap between interview and departure date, you don't have that sort of luxury of time. If something goes wrong (missing a paper on the day, couriers being idiots and not getting the visa to you) you are going to have to pay -- either a new flight (if you're unlucky) or a change fee (if you're luckier). So, how much of a gambler are you? If you really want to go ahead and take advantage of a low fare, make sure you can change the date if you need to and that the change fee isn't so onerous that you might be better off just booking a last minute flight. Say you pay $400 for a flight, and then you need to change it. You pay a change fee of $150. You might have been better off waiting closer to the date and paying the $550.

Determine your own appetite for risk and act accordingly!

(PS -- I'd take the gamble, but that's just me.)

[mr and mrs 187]

good, honest answer. (i like your style.)

im not a gambler. at all really. the thing that is pushing me is that, in my head, i have gotten attached to a date to get married. i think may the fifth sounds nice. for various reasons, its the date i like.

jamie's interview is on the 20th. so, its entirely possible, but could easily be ruled out by a small hitch. i think jamie is more inclined to tempt fate than i am.

hmm. your answer does help. it makes me lean slightly towards pre-purchasing.

anyone care to add anything?

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

My advice would be to just wait. It doesn't hurt to get the visa and then book for a trip in a week, two weeks time -- it'll give you a period of tying up loose ends and that kinda thing. A lot of tickets are non-refundable so it would be a bummer to book ahead of time and wind up not using them. This is coming from the AP girl, though I don't think you guys have anything to worry about.

and be happy that your air fares don't average about $1500-$2000...that's what it'll cost to ship myself to Anchorage.

Magpie.

Edited April 5, 2009 by KnightAndMagpie

[MonkeyJuice 3]

Well I've been extremely bad & booked a flight for 27th May!! I'm probably cutting it fine if my interview is mid may & I know something might go wrong but it was sooo damn cheap! $258!!! to Chicago.

I suppose it's not a huge amount to lose if we miss the date but I couldn't resist.

[Stinky Monkey 1]

I was going to book my flght as soon as I was told that I was approved, but dedided to wait till I had my visa in hand. When it did arrive it had the wrong passport number in it so I contacted DOS and was told that I should not travel on it and it took over a week to resolve and another trip to the embassy. Booking a flight is a risk you take but my advise would be not to, until you have the visa in hand and check it is ok first, if you plan to travel immediately.

[mr and mrs 187]

im still exactly 50-50! dammit!

im worried that the ticket prices are going to jump DRASTICALLY in the next month. (omg, i might be married exactly one month from today! ahhh!)

but, really, the money isnt the most important thing, and if it cost $2000 to get him here, (poor magpie), thats what we would do.

another exercise in patience. im horrible at being patient. EXCEPT, that i have been able to wait 5 years to be with jamie. almost done!!

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

im still exactly 50-50! dammit!

im worried that the ticket prices are going to jump DRASTICALLY in the next month. (omg, i might be married exactly one month from today! ahhh!)

but, really, the money isnt the most important thing, and if it cost $2000 to get him here, (poor magpie), thats what we would do.

another exercise in patience. im horrible at being patient. EXCEPT, that i have been able to wait 5 years to be with jamie. almost done!!

I know. I'm on a student budget too, so I have to really skimp depending on what prices are. I'll just have to see how things go.

Magpie.

[Kirsten UK 2]

I'm debating buying out tickets today for the end of June...I had intended to go out late July, but its about £400 more then for both of us. I put travel date of June 26th of our forms, but I have no idea when our interview will be and the process has seemed pretty lengthy so far so I am dubious about buying them now but I am worried too that the prices will go up drastically in the coming weeks. Who thinks its a safe bet to book now for the end of June?

[MonkeyJuice 3]

I'm debating buying out tickets today for the end of June...I had intended to go out late July, but its about £400 more then for both of us. I put travel date of June 26th of our forms, but I have no idea when our interview will be and the process has seemed pretty lengthy so far so I am dubious about buying them now but I am worried too that the prices will go up drastically in the coming weeks. Who thinks its a safe bet to book now for the end of June?

Nobody can tell you, it's a gamble! Do you want to gamble?

I would

[Nik+Heather 121]

Check out the one-step-up from the bargain basement fares.

They will let you change your outbound for a reasonable fee...I looked at KLM, and it was still really awesome...

[mr and mrs 187]

nik+heather (or anyone),

do you have any other good tips for finding cheap flights? i get overwhelmed quickly and im sure i miss out on some good deals.

i guess one of our issues is that jamie will be ultimately flying into BTV, aka burlington international airport in grand old burlington, vermont (it is grand. im not being sarcastic!) normally, what we do is fly into JFK and then connect on another airline. (i have a friend who works for jetblue so we get lots of buddy passes. about $20 for a one way flight to btv from jfk.) but im not sure that jamie will want to deal with the extra hassle of changing terminals and flying standby (thats the catch with the buddy passes) on top of having to pass through immigration. i bet if there is a really cheap flight from manchester to kennedy he might be convinced! i just want it to be as easy as possible for him, poor little guy.

we usually trawl through expedia first and see what is cheap. and then go to the airline sites directly.

and nik+heather, are you saying that looking at say 'business class' might be a good idea? with possibly more relaxed change conditions?

hmm. i look into it.

-lisabette.

[Kirsten UK 2]

Thats a really sensible suggestion, only problem is I have to buy tickets for my daughter and I (and its practically a full adult fare for her on most airlines flying to Charlotte) and the cost is a real issue. I wish I could see into the future! I would definitely book the flights if I had my interview date, I am very tempted to do it before then too......

[Bob and Patricia 0]

im still exactly 50-50! dammit!

im worried that the ticket prices are going to jump DRASTICALLY in the next month. (omg, i might be married exactly one month from today! ahhh!)

but, really, the money isnt the most important thing, and if it cost $2000 to get him here, (poor magpie), thats what we would do.

another exercise in patience. im horrible at being patient. EXCEPT, that i have been able to wait 5 years to be with jamie. almost done!!

I know. I'm on a student budget too, so I have to really skimp depending on what prices are. I'll just have to see how things go.

Magpie.

While reading this thread yesterday, and just for grins, Pat and I started pricing airfare for her trip to the states. We're hoping for a late May interview and she has to give a month's notice at work, so we're looking for travel near the beginning of July.

At first we priced a one-way from Manchester to Chicago on American Airlines. They have one non-stop each day. In our travels back and forth we found them to be the most reasonably priced for that route. This came out to be £745. Next we ran the same departure with a return in October.. (a return we will probably just throw away). This time the fare came to £454.

It pays to hunt around for airfare and try a round trip even if you are only planning one-way. Note, that one-way tickets might also subject you to additional security screening procedures.

Just my $.02

Bob (and Pat)

[DairyFarmer 1]

We bought a ticket got an AWESOME deal £237 and then couldn't use it. If you do buy it make sure it is fully transferable and what the costs to make it transferable are, otherwise you will be like us wasting a ticket and now waiting till we can buy a new one.