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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Peru
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I would like to know what people do to get cheaper flights to the US once they have gotten the visa. Just want to hear some ideas. Do peole find one way to be more expensive than round trip? How does immigration look at one way vs. round trip?

Any & Mike

01/2004 Somewhere around this time we met online and spent two years chatting as friends.

07/04/2006 Things changed and our chat sessions heated up!!

11/18/2006 First visit to Lima, Peru (Any kissed me first!)

02/02/2007 Sent in I-129F

02/06/2007 Second visit to Lima.

02/12/2007 NOA 1

05/02/2007 NOA 2 email received

05/18/2007 Packet sent to Lima, Peru

05/21/2007 Received Letter from NVC

06/01/2007 Received Packet from Consulate (not sure what it's called)

06/22/2007 Interview Date

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Filed: Country: Pakistan
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I would like to know what people do to get cheaper flights to the US once they have gotten the visa. Just want to hear some ideas. Do peole find one way to be more expensive than round trip? How does immigration look at one way vs. round trip?

I think if you ahve an immigration visa then you will try to get a one way ticket as you will be migrating to the US for life.

I travel to Pakistan a lot to see my wife and have found that going through a travel agent has worked out best for me.

***I-130***

2006-12-14 I-130 Sent to Vermont Service Center

2007-01-12 I-130 NOA1

2007-04-06 Approved!

***I-129F (new form)***

2007-01-31 I-129F Sent to Chicago

2007-02-07 I-129F NOA1

2007-04-06 Approved!

***US Embassy Islamabad***

2007-04-25 Packet Received by my wife

2007-05-15 Medical Exam

2007-05-29 Interview Approved!

2007-05-29 AP starts

2007-11-01 Wife got call to pickup her Visa from American Express

2008-01-12 POE at JFK

***I-485***

2008-11-10 I-485 Sent to Chicago

2008-11-20 Payment accepted

2008-11-22 I-485 NOA1

2009-01-09 Biometric

2009-03-08 Interview Letter

2009-04-08 Interview Approved!

2009-04-08 Welcome letter received

2009-04-18 Green Card Received

USA_b.gifpakistan_b.gif

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and anything posted is just my own opinion

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I would like to know what people do to get cheaper flights to the US once they have gotten the visa. Just want to hear some ideas. Do peole find one way to be more expensive than round trip? How does immigration look at one way vs. round trip?

I think if you ahve an immigration visa then you will try to get a one way ticket as you will be migrating to the US for life.

I travel to Pakistan a lot to see my wife and have found that going through a travel agent has worked out best for me.

Round trip tickets are not an issue. Usually (not always) they are significantly cheaper than one-way's. :thumbs:

Airfares change from day to day (even hour by hour) depending on the airline, destination (and departing) location and time/season. Many on line sites can help -or a travel agent also.

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Kenya
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Kayak does a pretty good job, but I just got a ticket for $300 cheaper than Kayak by going through a travel agent. Before buying any ticket online, I would call a travel agent to see what they can do.

APR 25, 2006 ARRIVE IN KENYA FOR PH.D. DISSERTATION RESEARCH

JUL 07, 2006 MEET AT CHECK-INN CLUB IN BUSIA, KENYA

SEPT 25, 2006 RETURN TO US

OCT 18, 2006 I129F SUBMITTED

OCT 24, 2006 NOA1 I129F

OCT 24, 2006 BACK TO KENYA

NOV 18, 2006 PROPOSED IN MOMBASA, KENYA (SHE SAID "YES"!)

DEC 26, 2006 NOA2 I129F

DEC 27, 2006 RETURN FROM KENYA

JANUARY, 2006 NVC CAN'T LOCATE PETITION

FEB 14, 2007 LETTERS SENT TO CONGRESSMEN

FEB 15, 2007 CIS CUSTOMER SERVICE SENDS EMAIL TO CSC REQUESTING TRACE ON MY PETITION (SHOULD HEAR BACK W/IN 45 DAYS)

FEB 19, 2007 APPROVED PETITION TOUCHED

FEB 21, 2007 EMAIL FROM CONGRESSMAN'S OFFICE SAYING PETITION HAS JUST BEEN RECEIVED BY NVC

FEB 23, 2007 PETITION SENT TO US EMBASSY IN NAIROBI, KENYA

MAR 5, 2007 PICKED UP PACKET 3/4 FROM EMBASSY

MAR 26, 2007 RETURNED PACKET 3 TO EMBASSY

APR 12, 2007 RETURNED MEDICAL EXAM RESULTS TO EMBASSY, HAD INTERVIEW, AND WAS APPROVED!

APR 26, 2007 PICKED-UP VISA FROM EMBASSY

APR 28-29, 2007 NAIROBI-ZURICH-CHICAGO-DETROIT-ANN ARBOR

JUL 3, 2007 WEDDING IN LAS VEGAS

JUL 30, 2007 MAIL AOS, EAD, AP APPLICATIONS

SEPT 8, 2007 CHECK CASHED

OCT 24, 2007 AP APPROVED

NOV 5, 2007 EAD APPROVED

NOV 6, 2007 EAD IN MAIL

JAN 22, 2008 INTERVIEW -- APPROVED!

Jacinta is a conditional permanent resident alien!

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Filed: Country: Pakistan
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Kayak does a pretty good job, but I just got a ticket for $300 cheaper than Kayak by going through a travel agent. Before buying any ticket online, I would call a travel agent to see what they can do.

I agree with mmarlo

***I-130***

2006-12-14 I-130 Sent to Vermont Service Center

2007-01-12 I-130 NOA1

2007-04-06 Approved!

***I-129F (new form)***

2007-01-31 I-129F Sent to Chicago

2007-02-07 I-129F NOA1

2007-04-06 Approved!

***US Embassy Islamabad***

2007-04-25 Packet Received by my wife

2007-05-15 Medical Exam

2007-05-29 Interview Approved!

2007-05-29 AP starts

2007-11-01 Wife got call to pickup her Visa from American Express

2008-01-12 POE at JFK

***I-485***

2008-11-10 I-485 Sent to Chicago

2008-11-20 Payment accepted

2008-11-22 I-485 NOA1

2009-01-09 Biometric

2009-03-08 Interview Letter

2009-04-08 Interview Approved!

2009-04-08 Welcome letter received

2009-04-18 Green Card Received

USA_b.gifpakistan_b.gif

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and anything posted is just my own opinion

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The two best places I've used are Best Travel Store and Just Fares I have purchased tickets through both places, and was highly satisfied.

Both of them were better priced than any other service I could find.

I worked with Mark at Just Fares, and he was great to work with. He can be reached by email at mark@justfares.com, or you can reach him by phone or fax below:

Toll Free: - 1-866-253-0126 Ext-1015

Fax: - 1-206-204-2120

Those are the two places I'll be checking with for tickets for my next visit, and for Annie's ticket to USA.

If it's going to be, it's up to me!

LoveLine (aka Timeline)

January 2005 - Met Annie online

February 13th 2006 - Met in Real - WOW!! Ikaw maganda!

February 14th 2006 - Proved I was really serious, proposed to Annie - She said "Yes"

February 2006 - January 2007 - Both working, saving, planning. Continuously chasing Annie online, on phone...

January 22, 2007 - February 4th, 2007 - Together again in Philippines, working on paperwork, visiting family.

February 27th 2007 - I-129F Mailed to Nebraska

March 6th - NOA1 Received.

May 23rd - NOA2, Received Approval Email

June 14th - Receive letter from NVC, packet on the way to Manila Embassy

July 30th - Annie receives packet from Embassy, appointment scheduled for September.

August 29th - Annie survives Blood Draw, Injections, and successfully completes Medical at St. Lukes.

September 13th - Annie is a huge success at the Embassy, SHE IS APPROVED!

September 20th - Visa in Hand, tickets purchased..

December 18th - Jumped on Airplane, Philippines for Christmas and New Year's.

December 27th - CFO Seminar Succesfully Completed

January 8th - Jumped on Airplane to USA together, Seattle POE, arrived home to Kansas.

March 14, 2008 - Married

May 19, 2008 - AOS NOA1 Recieved, Biometrics scheduled for June 18.

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Filed: Country: Czech Republic
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Unfortunately, from my experience, all those websites (expedia, priceline, cheaptickets, etc.) only work for flights originating in the USA, or maybe Canada. At least it doesn't search for flights leaving from Prague, even though they are USA-bound. I find it weird, because it works just fine the other way round (San Francisco to Prague and back). I get tickets online from local travel agencies - that works best for me.

L&H

K1 Journey

2007-01-24 I-129F sent to CSC (day 0)

2007-05-07 NOA2 (day 103)

2007-06-23 US entry, POE New York JFK (day 150)

2007-07-20 MARRIED!!!

AOS Journey

2007-07-25 AOS + EAD applications sent to Chicago lockbox

2007-09-15 Biometrics Appt in Oakland

2007-10-17 EAD card arrived in mail

2007-11-19 AOS interview in San Francisco - approved pending FBI name check

2007-12-22 AOS approved!!!

I-751 Journey

2009-10-21 I-751 sent to CSC

2009-10-23 package arrived at CSC

2009-10-23 NOA1 date (time 21:03)

2009-10-27 check cashed

2009-12-01 Biometrics Appt in Oakland

2009-12-22 CRIS email: "card production ordered" - exactly 2 years from my CGC!!!

2010-01-04 10yr GC received!!!

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Kenya
Timeline

One reason why Kayak is better than Expedia, Orbitz, and many of the other online search engines is that it does not restrict itself to specific airlines. I think each of those places must have certain agreements in place with the airlines. Kayak will return for example flights on SWISS and British Airways, but I have never seen those foreign airlines on those other sites. But, a travel agent's search engine is even more powerful than Kayak because while Kayak can find for example SWISS flights to Chicago, it apparently can't combine that flight with a connecting flight on a US carrier like United from Chicago, say, to Detroit. The databases that travel agents can tap into can give those kinds of options.

Even Kayak, though, does not search Emirates, which I saw from using their website offered cheaper fares than anything I found on Kayak or other engines, but ultimately I decided that the extra hours that it would take my fiancee going through Dubai wasn't worth the few dollars I would save.

It is true that some of the online search engines do not allow the purchase of tickets that do not originate in the US, but others do, and I was finding tickets, just not the cheapest ones, for my fiancee's flight from Nairobi to Detroit through Kayak, Expedia, and at least one of the other major sites (but not Orbitz).

APR 25, 2006 ARRIVE IN KENYA FOR PH.D. DISSERTATION RESEARCH

JUL 07, 2006 MEET AT CHECK-INN CLUB IN BUSIA, KENYA

SEPT 25, 2006 RETURN TO US

OCT 18, 2006 I129F SUBMITTED

OCT 24, 2006 NOA1 I129F

OCT 24, 2006 BACK TO KENYA

NOV 18, 2006 PROPOSED IN MOMBASA, KENYA (SHE SAID "YES"!)

DEC 26, 2006 NOA2 I129F

DEC 27, 2006 RETURN FROM KENYA

JANUARY, 2006 NVC CAN'T LOCATE PETITION

FEB 14, 2007 LETTERS SENT TO CONGRESSMEN

FEB 15, 2007 CIS CUSTOMER SERVICE SENDS EMAIL TO CSC REQUESTING TRACE ON MY PETITION (SHOULD HEAR BACK W/IN 45 DAYS)

FEB 19, 2007 APPROVED PETITION TOUCHED

FEB 21, 2007 EMAIL FROM CONGRESSMAN'S OFFICE SAYING PETITION HAS JUST BEEN RECEIVED BY NVC

FEB 23, 2007 PETITION SENT TO US EMBASSY IN NAIROBI, KENYA

MAR 5, 2007 PICKED UP PACKET 3/4 FROM EMBASSY

MAR 26, 2007 RETURNED PACKET 3 TO EMBASSY

APR 12, 2007 RETURNED MEDICAL EXAM RESULTS TO EMBASSY, HAD INTERVIEW, AND WAS APPROVED!

APR 26, 2007 PICKED-UP VISA FROM EMBASSY

APR 28-29, 2007 NAIROBI-ZURICH-CHICAGO-DETROIT-ANN ARBOR

JUL 3, 2007 WEDDING IN LAS VEGAS

JUL 30, 2007 MAIL AOS, EAD, AP APPLICATIONS

SEPT 8, 2007 CHECK CASHED

OCT 24, 2007 AP APPROVED

NOV 5, 2007 EAD APPROVED

NOV 6, 2007 EAD IN MAIL

JAN 22, 2008 INTERVIEW -- APPROVED!

Jacinta is a conditional permanent resident alien!

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Costa Rica
Timeline
One reason why Kayak is better than Expedia, Orbitz, and many of the other online search engines is that it does not restrict itself to specific airlines. I think each of those places must have certain agreements in place with the airlines. Kayak will return for example flights on SWISS and British Airways, but I have never seen those foreign airlines on those other sites. But, a travel agent's search engine is even more powerful than Kayak because while Kayak can find for example SWISS flights to Chicago, it apparently can't combine that flight with a connecting flight on a US carrier like United from Chicago, say, to Detroit. The databases that travel agents can tap into can give those kinds of options.

Even Kayak, though, does not search Emirates, which I saw from using their website offered cheaper fares than anything I found on Kayak or other engines, but ultimately I decided that the extra hours that it would take my fiancee going through Dubai wasn't worth the few dollars I would save.

It is true that some of the online search engines do not allow the purchase of tickets that do not originate in the US, but others do, and I was finding tickets, just not the cheapest ones, for my fiancee's flight from Nairobi to Detroit through Kayak, Expedia, and at least one of the other major sites (but not Orbitz).

Kayak :thumbs:

Our K-1 Timeline

2/15/07--Completed gathering documents, completed I-129F

2/26/07--I-129F arrives at CSC

2/27/07-- NOA1

2/28/07-- Check cashed

3/1/07-- Touched

3/7/07--Cleared check shows in my account

3/7/07--NOA1 hard copy

5/17/07--Touched (PLEASE NO RFE)

5/18/07--Touched again

5/21/07--NOA2

5/31/07--Arrives at NVC

6/4/07--Left NVC, on da way to da embassy!!!

6/8/07--Arrives at consulate

6/8/07--Picked up packet 3 during consulate visit! (just lucky we visited same day as they received from NVC)

6/12/07--Medical exam

6/19/07--Interview

6/20/07--VISA

7/21/07--US entry through Atlanta!!!

8/12/07--MARRIED

Adjustment of Status

Event Date

CIS Office : West Palm Beach FL

Date Filed : 2007-08-29

NOA Date : 2007-10-04

RFE(s) :

Bio. Appt. : 2007-10-31

AOS Transfer** : 2007-12-17

TOUCHED : 2008-02-08

TOUCHED : 2008-02-10

TOUCHED : 2008-02-27

Welcome To US Sent date: 2008-02-27

Employment Authorization Document

Event Date

CIS Office : West Palm Beach FL

Filing Method : Mail

Filing Instance : First

Date Filed : 2007-08-29

NOA Date : 2007-10-10

RFE(s) :

Bio. Appt. : 2007-10-31

Approved Date : 2007-12-12

Date Card Received : 2007-12-21

Processing

Estimates/Stats : Your EAD was approved in 105 days.

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A one way ticket should never pose a problem, but we have seen Vjers having a problem trying to depart and being forced to purchase a round trip before boarding. It totally depends on the airline you are flying. double check with the airline and make sure your SO understands the documents in hand are all that is needed to the POE side.

erfoud44.jpg

24 March 2009 I-751 received by USCIS

27 March 2009 Check Cashed

30 March 2009 NOA received

8 April 2009 Biometric notice arrived by mail

24 April 2009 Biometrics scheduled

26 April 2009 Touched

...once again waiting

1 September 2009 (just over 5 months) Approved and card production ordered.

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Filed: Country: Denmark
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Hi. I've look around alot and I have never found anything cheaper than www.cheapoair.com I am not familiar with the travel agent idea. I'd look into that first and then look at www.cheapoair.com Let us all know if you find a really cheap rate by going through a travel agent. Take care.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: India
Timeline

I often use many of the travel sites for foreign air purchases. I guess it depends on the travel agent but I find that, recently, travel agents usually offer deals that can be found elsewhere if one searches. I would recommend the following websites where I have seen very low fares from time to time (I would suggest trying all of them and seeing which one gives you the best rate, because it can vary from day to day):

www.kayak.com - Have seen very low fares here. They search a lot of sites, but not all.

www.sidestep.com - Another great one. They also search a lot of sites and some that kayak doesn't.

www.mobissimo.com - I found my trip through this site recently. Allows searches with foreign origins also and searches some sites that the others don't.

www.qixo.com - Another one that searches numerous sites.

www.itasoftware.com - Shows general ticket availability but no links to buy tickets.

www.bookingbuddy.com - Allows one point of entry of flight info and allows searches on numerous other travel sites.

www.farechase.com

www.bestfares.com

www.farepath.com

www.cheaptickets.com

www.cheapoair.com

www.flights.com

If you don't want to search through all of these. Using a combination of the first three will usually get you a fare which is pretty close to the lowest available.

Also, try www.internettraveltips.com, which provides a listing of the website owner's favorite travel sites. Lots of great info and travel sites.

Hope this is helpful.

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