interview in june,

[hunter]

Hi everybody. I wonder, can my wife buy her ticket now. Then if she gets visa be ready to go? Or does she need a visa first to buy a ticket in china?

[LeeFisher3]

Hi everybody. I wonder, can my wife buy her ticket now. Then if she gets visa be ready to go? Or does she need a visa first to buy a ticket in china?

211955[/snapback]

You can definitely buy a ticket for her before she has the visa, they will require passport information for a one way ticket. If you purchase through one of the brokers like USChinaTrip.com they will send the ticket directly to her by EMS, but the passport info is required.

 

You need to consider the change fee's in the event you are asked for additional information and need to change the date on the ticket. Also the airlines are in the process of adding another fuel surcharge and I was told we could see an $80 increase for a one way ticket in the next few weeks by the Chinese airlines. Some of the US airlines already did this on Friday.

[IluvmyLi]

Hi everybody. I wonder, can my wife buy her ticket now. Then if she gets visa be ready to go? Or does she need a visa first to buy a ticket in china?

211955[/snapback]

I would not and will not buy my SO's ticket to the USA until she has visa in hand. Too risky.

[Guest pushbrk]

Hi everybody. I wonder, can my wife buy her ticket now. Then if she gets visa be ready to go? Or does she need a visa first to buy a ticket in china?

211955[/snapback]

I would not and will not buy my SO's ticket to the USA until she has visa in hand. Too risky.

211960[/snapback]

Another consideration is that it is often less expensive to buy IN CHINA at the last minute than to buy in advance.

 

Ask Rick and Yanlan how much it cost them to risk buying tickets in advance of the interview.

[david_dawei]

I agree that you can get a good price O/W in china without much advanced notice...

[SallyHon]

I am not going to buy my wife's ticket until her visa is on hand...

[ameriken]

I have watched airline ticket prices change by several hundred dollars overnite.......even a month prior to flying. My decision, is when she got P4, was to choose an exit date and buy the ticket.

 

For one, the odds are hugely in her favor of passing the interview. I guessed 90%, and that was good odds. So I gambled that the odds were in the interviewees favor she would pass. Second, if she did not pass, I only risked any fee to change the ticket, plus I would have paid the current fare...the fare I would have paid if I waited anyway. I also believe United does not have a fee for international changes. Third, on United, the SFO-DEN flight is usually overbooked by 50 to 100 people (so I was told by United) and I wanted to guarantee our seats.

 

Luckily, it worked as planned.

Edited May 3, 2006 by ameriken (see edit history)

[change2marrow]

I would recommend that your SO buys the ticket in China. I was told and when I visited the states, that there are price breaks when buying advanced tickets 45days plus. Of course this might not apply in your case. Your SO can call, most likely Air China, to get quotes even though they won't always be accurate. It would be really difficult to gauge the pricing, so have your SO look into it.

 

Good luck.

[Stone]

Any large movement in oil prices will have an impact on airline ticket prices. Consider hiring a wall street analyst for a report on worldwide oil prices?

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

As you can see from the responses it's a thing of chance. Ken makes a good point that the odds are in your favor of passing without problem, but still, denials and requests for more evidence do happen.

 

Ticket prices are high right now, and it's not likely for them to get lower anytime soon. I think buying a ticket before the interview adds a huge emotional boost that our partner is actually coming. Nothing wrong with that at all, in fact I've considered it myself with my interview approaching soon.

 

I will likely make my decision after watching the ticket price fluctuations in the coming weeks. If they are realtively stable, I see no need to buy the ticket in advance. But heck, as Stone mentions, trying to predict airfare is nearly impossible. I suppose if you buy the ticket in advance you must be emotionally ready to accept that your partner's visa might be delayed. And, if a 50-100 penalty to reschedule may be a simple formality compared to the excitment of bringing her home....

[johnxiaoying]

I purchased my wifes one way and allowed 10 days after the interview before the flight. The plan was to get the VISA and then go visit the family, or have the time in GZ to clear up any problems. Also there was a $100 or $200 fee if we needed to change the date of the flight.

[ÕÔÙ»ºÍ³Î°ÛÀû]

For domestic China travel, it's definitely best to buy in China and last minute fares can be great.

 

My experience with international fares, though, is that they are often cheaper if you buy in the US at least 7-21 days in advance. Be sure to price out a round trip ticket as well, even if you don't plan to use the return. It could end up being cheaper.

 

If you know Chinese or are good at faking it, ctrip.com can give you an idea of what travel agents in China are charging. Unfortunately the English version of Ctrip doesn't support international tickets.

[rlheim]

Yea I wouldn't buy a ticket until she has the visa in hand. I screwed up bad. I trusted we had all the things covered for the VO. BUT!

rick and Yanlan

[mercator]

Hi everybody. I wonder, can my wife buy her ticket now. Then if she gets visa be ready to go? Or does she need a visa first to buy a ticket in china?

211955[/snapback]

I would not and will not buy my SO's ticket to the USA until she has visa in hand. Too risky.

211960[/snapback]

I wouldnt want to tempt fate like that!

 

Wait, and if you are still out a couple of weeks, you shouldn't be hammered too much. I'm waiting for visa in hand before I pay for my ticket (though it will be with FF mileage whereever possible).