İnternational Travel to visit-experiences?

[zebracolors]

I have a chance of being able to go visit my SO this summer, to my astonishment. We'll have been together for a year by then in August :love:and it will be our first visit (have to start sometime right?) And Im not real familair with travel in general nor to other countries.

 

My questions are for those who have been regularly traveling to another country to visit their SOs. As far as air line rates, is it a little less expensive to book fairly far in advance or wait until closer to desired travel dates? Because I could in theory book right now and İ'm so tempted to but if I can have a chance to save money I'd like to.

 

İs it better to go with arranging the round trip with a travel agent? Or through the airline directly? Ive already gotten a preliminary figure from Orbitz but that was just for the one month/weeks I set.

 

And of course before I book anything I will discuss it with my SO, and have to make arrangements with my work and my design school for the time I will be away. And if any one wants to share, what is international travel like these days? Any advice and wisdom is appreciated thank you LS:)

[aerogurl87]

When my boyfriend and I were in a LDR I always tried to book my tickets months in advance, about 1 month in advance being the latest. The longer you wait to book them, the more you risk the prices being higher when you purchase them. Granted you may get lucky like I did once, where the tickets magically went down one weekend, but it's better to book in advance from my experience.

 

Also I always used travel sites like orbitz, priceline, or expedia to book my tickets. Shop around and compare prices, don't just take the first price that jumps at you. Check airline sites for fare sales and things like that. Usually if you look hard enough you can find a deal somewhere.

[Citizen Erased]

The earlier the better. I booked mine a few months in advance, given I was spending approx $1700 each time. First time was through webjet, second was through the airline website. They all differ, definitely shop around as they're all different.

 

After customs, buy food to bring with you on the plane. Some sort of MP3 player that will last the distance. And an acceptance of standing in slow moving customs lines is essential.

[creighton0123]

Zebra,

 

Before you book anything, make sure you heed this CAREFUL advice:

 

1. Booking in advance is usually much better. Ticket prices can peak the closer you get to traveling.

 

2. If at all possible, pick your days carefully. You will pay more to travel on a Friday and Saturday than you would on a Sunday - Thursday.

 

3. Do not go for the super economy class ticket (the base cheap tickets you get from Expedia, Orbitz, CheapTickets, etc. etc. etc. Why?

 

If something goes wrong and you have to change the days or even cancel for a travelers credit, many airlines refuse to allow a change, even from one day to another. These no-change policy tickets can cost you an arm and a leg if you so happen to be unable to make the flight or even if the flight is cancelled by the airline.

 

4. Get the cheap travelers insurance. This will cover you if the airline looses your luggage, you get sick or injured abroad, or if you need to cancel the trip due to a family emergency.

 

5. That being said, I repeat number 3. Make sure you get a ticket that is changeable and refundable, especially when booking months in advance. A few extra hundred dollars now can save you up to $2k in the long run should you need to change your travel plans.

 

6. I'd stick with One World Alliance airline travel. They're easier than independent airlines to work with and the options for change are much easier if you need to make an en-route change due to delay.

 

7. If you don't have your passport, get it now. The process for a passport can get costly if you wait too long.

 

8. Make sure to check with where you're going. Where are you traveling from and where are you traveling to? You may be able to get into most countries on just your passport, but some require extra checks. Many require you have a return ticket purchased, so don't try to do the "one way only", even if just staying for a week or two.

 

9. If at all possible, pack to carry on. You're going to visit your SO. If you can, pack the maximum that you can carry on, avoid checking luggage, and do laundry while you're staying there. If you buy too much to carry back, just ship it back to yourself. This is especially true if airlines have checked luggage fees or if you have more than one layover.

 

Traveling is fun. Just make sure that when you do it, you don't lock yourself into an "Absolutely must travel on this day" situation months in advance. You don't know what will change, and having an option to change your booking for a fare difference + small fee is much MUCH better than not being able to change, having to buy a new ticket, or not being able to travel at all because you wasted money on a flight you can't take.

 

All the points above assume a round trip price greater than $1k. If you're flying from Boston or NYC to the UK or somewhere else in Europe, you can be more relaxed since the tickets don't cost as much anyhow.

 

Also, for safety and security, make sure to check the US travel department website or the embassy in the country you're traveling to for any information, travel warnings, travel alerts, or travel restrictions you might face.

 

Where does your SO live?

[carhill]

As far as air line rates, is it a little less expensive to book fairly far in advance or wait until closer to desired travel dates?

Historically, and I've traveled about .5MM miles revenue and another .3MM miles non-rev, I book between 3 weeks and 3 months out. IME, domestic travel appears to be more volatile than international, so I've seen fewer rapid pricing fluctuations on international travel over set periods of time.

 

İs it better to go with arranging the round trip with a travel agent? Or through the airline directly?

Depends. If the itinerary is complex, meaning different carriers, stopovers, open-jaws, etc, then it's better to use a real world (not online) travel agent IMO. Otherwise, the only times I've used a travel agent was when they had the best deal. Overwhelmingly, my bookings have been directly with the airlines.

 

And if any one wants to share, what is international travel like these days?

Pretty uneventful, IME, at least the actual travel part of it. Go to airport, fight crowds, get on plane, sleep. Rinse and repeat at connections/destination. As I like to say, anywhere in the world is essentially one sleep away.

 

My first commercial airline trip many years ago took me from California to New York to, Johannesburg, South Africa in about 27 hours of non-stop flying, all in economy . Never will I do that again, at least in economy. It was my first experience being frisked by guards with automatic weapons (in Harare, Zimbabwe). Now, purely normal

 

Safe travels

[taiko]

Zebra,

 

 

9. If at all possible, pack to carry on. You're going to visit your SO. If you can, pack the maximum that you can carry on, avoid checking luggage, and do laundry while you're staying there. If you buy too much to carry back, just ship it back to yourself. This is especially true if airlines have checked luggage fees or if you have more than one layover.

 

 

Unless you plan on buying from the local economy upon landing this is all but impossible now, especially for someone traveling to meet a potential loved one for the first time and not just going in as a tourist. The weight restrictions on carry ons are just to stringent these days. For follow up trips well you have two homes and your toothbrush is already there.

[carhill]

Yep, even my international (small) sized carry-on had/has to be checked on intra-Asian, Oceanic and European carriers for being overweight, regardless of class of service (first/business/economy). 7-10kg is typical, and the carry-on itself weighs 3kg. That's not much packing. When flying from the US on a US carrier, things are easier, presuming that carrier goes all the way to the destination. TBH, my exW and I checked a lot of luggage while married and traveling to far-flung places and never lost one single item. Some was delayed a few hours to a day (delivered to us) and a few pieces of luggage were damaged (fixable) but no items were ever lost/stolen. I have no issues checking luggage myself and, for now, it's still free for many frequent fliers. YMMV.