Flying Fiance to the US

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

VISA approved...now just waiting for it to be delivered. Interviewer told her that it would take between 1-2 weeks. If that's the case, then I'll definitely need to reschedule her flight.

[top_secret 2,417]

27 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

VISA approved...now just waiting for it to be delivered. Interviewer told her that it would take between 1-2 weeks. If that's the case, then I'll definitely need to reschedule her flight.

Congratulations!!!!

 

The interviewers time estimate is meaningless.  It's just a canned response.  Keep checking on the CEAC status page for it to become "Issued".  Also you can check status here https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-niv-passportretrieve.asp 

 

When we got ours the courier was still 2Go and at that time you could get detailed delivery tracking.  Now the courier is changed to LBC and I assume tracking is still available but maybe someone else with more recent experience could here could give updated info on LBC tracking.

 

Good luck getting the visa on hand quickly.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Thanks for the tips. I'm still holding out hope that maybe she'll get here sooner than later

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

13 hours ago, top_secret said:

Now the courier is changed to LBC

Are you sure about that?  I hope not.

 

@Kawika & Michelle I have not used LBC recently but their tracking was not good then.  I found Aftership.com to have more information and updated more often than the LBC tracking.

 

https://www.aftership.com/track

[top_secret 2,417]

9 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Are you sure about that?  I hope not.

 

The embassy switched from 2Go to LBC sometime last year so like it or not that is the only option.  We just used LBC from the US (local LBC office in San Diego) and they were awesome from here.  $11 to send some documents from US to Philippines and it took 4 days total with tracking.  FedEx, UPS and DHL were quoting like $120 and last time I used UPS Express it took 2 weeks and the mailer arrived opened and damaged.

 

With 2Go you could track the passport with the UID number from the ustraveldocs site as the tracking number.  I have no idea if that remains true with LBC though.

 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

6 hours ago, top_secret said:

The embassy switched from 2Go to LBC sometime last year so like it or not that is the only option.

I've had bad experiences with LBC tracking but nothing got lost.

 

Strange that the Embassy keeps switching couriers, and different departments use different couriers.  Might not be about service but just about the $, and annual contracts.

 

Back when I got my daughter's CRBAs and passports (2014 and 2016) U.S. citizens services was using Air21 and we had good service.

 

When we sent in my wife's passport for her tourist visa renewal, we were required to use 2Go.  Terrible experience and a neighbor had the same.  Disappeared for over a week.  I can't remember who they used to send it back but it was ok.

 

Last June when we went to the Embassy to renew my daughter's passport, they used Air21 to return it, and good service again.

 

 

 

 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Here's what I have now:

 

USTravelDocs:

 

 

CEAC:

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by Kawika & Michelle

[RO_AH 1,659]

14 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

  I found Aftership.com to have more information and updated more often than the LBC tracking.

I don't think that you can track LBC anymore through them. I used to love them with all of the detail they provided.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

 

Still waiting on an email with some kind of tracking information...

[top_secret 2,417]

An interesting experience ticketing just now.  We plan to fly our 10 y/o daughter home to grandma unaccompanied this summer when school lets out.  I have seen Philippine Airlines handle unaccompanied minors in the cabin many times and I think they do it well.  I have no concerns.  But EVERYTHING from Philippine Airlines or any other airline was ~$2k this summer.  Suspiciously, almost exactly matching dates that US school is out.  But I decided to bite the bullet and pay for PAL since they are nonstop and I would trust them with a 10 y/o kid.  So I called reservations since you can't book an unaccompanied minor online.  Reservations transferred me to "special handling" in Manila.   "Special handling" in Manila quoted me a price that was $700 cheaper than anything I found anywhere, which obviously I said book that now.  Furthermore, the $150 unaccompanied minor fee fell to $100.  I'm convinced the only difference is that "special handling" ticketed from Manila rather than the US.  So while in the ol' days it was true you could get better deals ticketing in Asia, it seems, that everything old is new again.  Antiquated advice, but definitely make some good ol' fashioned phone calls to Manila ticket offices before booking online. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by top_secret

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

35 minutes ago, top_secret said:

Antiquated advice, but definitely make some good ol' fashioned phone calls to Manila ticket offices before booking online. 

Thanks, will definitely consider it.  All the fare are through the roof until September!

[Commish10 427]

On 4/25/2023 at 4:52 PM, Kawika & Michelle said:

Hey Folks,

 

Hopefully someone has experience with this & can give some guidance or at least shed some light on this in case I am reading this wrong. I was browsing through tickets to fly my fiancé from Cebu to Houston, TX. I will likely use EVA Airways as I have used them for my past two trips to visit her. When browsing the prices I noticed that the price for a ticket is significantly more if you are shopping for a one way ticket as opposed to a round trip ticket. What I am considering is purchasing a round trip ticket & then asking for a refund for the return trip. Based on what I am reading, the refund should be for the value of the unused ticket (return trip) minus a "refund fee". Depending on the class of ticket you purchase, the refund fee varies from $50-200. The difference in the one way ticket versus the round trip ticket (if I can get a refund on the unused ticket) is almost double in price...so the $50 "refund fee" would be more than worth it if this works like I think it should. I don't want to assume that I will just get the refunded amount sent back to my credit card...so I figured I would ask here. I've checked their app to look for a FAQ or anything that would verify that things work as I expect it will...but it isn't particularly clear. I wanted to see if anyone else ever used this method or has a better method that I might be able to use.

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

The fares are usually cheaper to Dallas. Korean air has Ceb-ICH-DFW. No stopping in Manila. 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

This has been our wonderful experience with LBC Express so far:

 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Shipment is supposed to be going to an LBC Office in Toledo City...no idea what is going on with all of that above. 

[Commish10 427]

11 hours ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

Shipment is supposed to be going to an LBC Office in Toledo City...no idea what is going on with all of that above. 

My wife is from Toledo City. Last name Carrozo