Flight to USA with K1 Visa

[Loren Y 2,755]

As others have said, Buy the round trip, and just cancel the return leg. I did this when I bought my wife her ticket to come on a K1 and just pushed the return date out as far as possible ( Like 90 Days). There are two good reasons for this, 1 - it's cheaper, 2 - If things go south, you already have a return flight back before the 90 days is up. I know that sounds cold, and I'll probably catch some flaming for it, but you never know, sometimes things don't work out, and your already covered. Also, when you go to cancel, check if you can get a credit if not a refund, and then you will have some credit to use with the airline usually within the next year, but I have heard some airlines have been allowing you to use the credit even further out.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Loren Y

[Timona 4,207]

2 hours ago, brevig said:

Strange.  I checked cheapoair.com and for roundtrip I got $685 and for one way $472.  Which honestly now I envy you, as my flights for one way are $1200 and roundtrip $2000+, hehehehe.  I hate to push you, but curious, is it going direct to the airlines, or a specific date?  I'm just wondering how you are getting such a terrible rate.  Both rates I checked were to Philly.

 

If you want cheap tickets, do not go to specific website. I thought people knew this by now? 😂

Go to "Google flights," put your destinations and let it pull the data from all travel sites. It will the tell you which is lowest and all you do is click on it and follow it to the paying site.

 

https://www.google.com/travel/flights

 

[Sinead91 249]

3 hours ago, brevig said:

Sorry, I've flown a lot, and never seen a round trip cheaper than a one way for the same destination.  Yes, the one way might be almost the price of the round trip but I have NEVER seen it cheaper.  If you don't mind, as I'm super curious, what is the arrival/destination you are searching that a round trip is cheaper than a return ticket?

 

Also, they don't look at your tickets during the K1 visa interview, so it's not important anyways.  They even advise you not to buy tickets until you are already approved.

I got a 600$ round ticket to the US before and my husband had a one way and it was $1200, sometimes depending on season it is reasonable.

 

OP it isn’t an issue. Just cancel your return ticket after you’ve flown! Hopefully you’ll be able to redeem it when you get your advanced parole!

[TurtleMoss 17]

Just putting my two cents in; I bought a round trip ticket in 2016 when flying to the US with my K-1 visa because one-way was $2500 as to where round trip was "only" $1300 (Gotta love flying mid-summer). I had no issues and canceled the return flight the day before the return date. 

[Scandi 4,166]

4 hours ago, brevig said:

Sorry, I've flown a lot, and never seen a round trip cheaper than a one way for the same destination.  Yes, the one way might be almost the price of the round trip but I have NEVER seen it cheaper.  If you don't mind, as I'm super curious, what is the arrival/destination you are searching that a round trip is cheaper than a return ticket?

 

Also, they don't look at your tickets during the K1 visa interview, so it's not important anyways.  They even advise you not to buy tickets until you are already approved.

Most of us Scandinavians fly with SAS, the one-way tickets are in most cases more expensive than a roundtrip. I was going to get myself a one-way in May this year and would've had to pay $2500 between L.A. and Copenhagen, vs the roundtrip that would've cost me $1200 all in all. So a significant difference. So it was a lot cheaper to buy a roundtrip, pay a little extra to get a return ticket that was refundable, and then cancel it once arriving in CPH. 

[JFH 12,190]

9 hours ago, brevig said:

Sorry, I've flown a lot, and never seen a round trip cheaper than a one way for the same destination.  Yes, the one way might be almost the price of the round trip but I have NEVER seen it cheaper.  If you don't mind, as I'm super curious, what is the arrival/destination you are searching that a round trip is cheaper than a return ticket?

 

Also, they don't look at your tickets during the K1 visa interview, so it's not important anyways.  They even advise you not to buy tickets until you are already approved.

From Europe round-trip tickets are almost always cheaper. 

I work for an airline and my job involves pricing, contact negotiation and capacity control on routes, I could give you a very long explanation as to why that is the case in Europe but let’s just say “that’s just the way it is”. 

[brevig 28]

13 hours ago, Scandi said:

Most of us Scandinavians fly with SAS

Aha, I see, I think that is the thing.  I always go with whichever airlines I can find cheapest and not a specific one.

 

8 hours ago, JFH said:

From Europe round-trip tickets are almost always cheaper.

I see.  I've only flown to Europe a few times, and never one way.  Still seems kinda crazy, but I guess they have their reasons.  I'm really surprised so many people in Europe have reported the same thing.  I've done dozens of one way flights around/to/from Asia and never paid more than a round trip.

 

Anyways, yeah, for sure if a round trip is cheaper then do it.  I seriously doubt would be an issue with CBP, but if you want to be extra safe bring proof with you that it was cheaper to do it that way.

[Limey 551]

I did the round trip thing, as it was definitely cheaper (UK - USA). I kept the return flight open just in case, meaning to cancel it as it approached but then forgot all about it. It never caused any issues. I'm pretty sure that a flight manifest won't include a person who bought a flight but doesn't check in and board.

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Process & Procedures to Progress Reports.