How do you buy airline tickets for spouse?

[Bassi and Zainab 1]

Personally I would only purchase the tickets from a US Airline.

That's a pretty odd statement to make. Depends greatly where you travel, doesn't it? Besides there not being any US carriers going there, I've had fantastic travel experiences flying Ethiopian Airlines. While One can take KLM, Lufthansa or British Aiways to get there, I always flew Ethiopian and plan to do so in the future. Most certainly after they take their 787 Dreamliner's into service later next year and offer IAD to ADD non-stop.

As to OP's query, we went to Ethiopian Airlines a week prior to our scheduled departure - we did not have the visa yet - and put a ticket on hold. This was on a Friday for departure the following Friday. We got Nani's visa that next Wednesday and went and purchased the held ticket then. They were really easy about it. Not sure whether that works in other places.

Well the statement may seem odd, but I flew from Seattle to JFK on Delta. When I arrived at JFK, a Delta Representative was waiting form me at the plane and informed me the South African Flight had been cancelled. I asked her if she knew why and she said it said public strike. She then checked Delta's records and learned they were still flying. I was sent to an international terminal and South Africans Airlines had already gone home. I called their 800 number and they told me they could rebook me for about 1 week later. They did not provide hotel accomodations and would not provide a return trip to Seattle. I went to Delta airlines and purchased a Delta ticket throught Paris to Africa. I did not receive my bags from South African Airlines (Because the bags were locked up and they would not release them to Delta) for 5 days. The Airline was not accomodating in any manner.

Let me retract what I said, I would fly Air France, British Airways, KLM and some others, but I would NOT ever fly an airline like South African ever again. If I had not had the ability to purchase a ticket, it would have been a major problem as I would not have even had a place to stay in New York. I fly extensively for my job and I am very confidant in American airline companies. That experience was just a reminder to me of how happy I am I live in the USA.

I can imagine your frustration. It is however important to realize personal perspective. I've had a similar experience with Delta airlines right here in the US. I was going from Atlanta, GA to Upstate, NY and it took 22 hours to get to Newark, NJ and finally I threatened to call the police if they didn't give me my luggage and I rented a car and drove to NY. I now avoid Delta like the plague. They have started direct service to Accra and had great prices to introduce the route. I wouldn't dare take part because I was afraid of getting stuck with that horrible company. But I am aware that it's my reality and many people have had wonderful service from Delta. I've only experienced late flights, missing luggage, or gotten stranded hundreds of miles from my original destination. The airline industry seems to have declined significantly in the level of service provided and the consistency of product. I find the whole industry a disappointment, but can't say in a broad general sense that airlines by nationality are better or worse. They all suck and it's a roll of the dice.

[Perseverance 1]

I used North American Air, I went through a travel agent here in the US, they were e tickets, I then just emailed him the info when it was time for him to travel here. He printed out the e ticket and away he went. It was fast and easy, I did have to use the agent though I could not purchace them myself through NAA, but no biggie.