Plane ticket help

[lucybelle]

I'm moving in with my SO this summer to his country. One of the rules with his country is you have to have proof that you will be leaving the country when you enter. So I want to buy a plane ticket with a return date to the USA that I can use. My mom is planning on marrying her boyfriend next spring and my brother is graduating from college. Two events I need to be at and a perfect time to come home. The problem is-- how can I buy a return plane ticket for April 2012? Most sites aren't letting me even search for planes! Should I get a travel agent?

I've also thought about buying a 1-way ticket and then buying a bus ticket online to a neighboring country to show evidence of leaving. But 1-way tickets are EXPENSIVE! For whatever strange reason...

[snow_girl]

What country are you going to?

[13000km]

Is there a possibility of getting one of those open tickets that last for a year for your return? Or do you need a date on your tickets?

[books]

I had a similar situation and what I wound up doing was buying a round trip ticket and then just changing return date when I was there. I booked a round trip to Nica with the return date falling within the 90 day timeframe (for visa purposes), then just did a visa run to CR plus a 60 day extension in immigration giving me 8 full months there. The only thing is you need to check beforehand to make sure the airline will let you change the ticket. One airline (I think AA) said they wouldn't let you rebook the return trip past the 90 day timeframe cause that would mean you'd be overstaying your visa there. I booked Continental and had no probs. You do have to pay the change fee which averages around $125, but even the round trip ticket with the change fee was still significantly cheaper than two one-ways.

[mllebamako]

I agree with books. Find an airline that doesn't have a huge fee for changing tickets and then book round trip (it's always cheaper) and then change the return date later.

[Joyce:)]

I'd say a travel agent is the safest choice. I go to a travel agency whenever i have to book a flight to the states, they help me also with my health insurance and with whatever visa i need, plus they are quite good at finding the best offers and so on.

[lucybelle]

The problem is not so much changing the date (though I really wouldn't want to do that either), as it is not being able to buy a ticket for a year+ down the road. I plan on being there more than 3 months so I would have to change it after the 3 month period. Am I making sense...? hehe

PS- I lived in CR for a year just doing border runs every 3 months so I'm fine doing that. If I get a work visa- sweet. If not, I get an excuse to travel to Panama or Nicaragua every 90 days!

[lucybelle]

The problem is not so much changing the date (though I really wouldn't want to do that either), as it is not being able to buy a ticket for a year+ down the road. I plan on being there more than 3 months so I would have to change it after the 3 month period. Am I making sense...? hehe

PS- I lived in CR for a year just doing border runs every 3 months so I'm fine doing that. If I get a work visa- sweet. If not, I get an excuse to travel to Panama or Nicaragua every 90 days!

[books]

yep, you're making sense and timing wise I think it could work out. So say you are flying there in July...book your ticket now to return in Sep/Oct..by that time there will definitely be tickets up for spring flights. The catch is you would have to know more or less when you wanted to return. So then a week before you fly back, just rebook the return ticket. The other option I guess would be to buy the open ended ticket (this is insanely expensive tho...I looked into it once and my jaw dropped) and book the bus to show the trip out of CR for visa purposes or the two one-way tickets. I'm not sure what a travel agent can do...I imagine they have to work around airline restrictions as well which is always limiting in situations like these.

[bluepotato1236]

I bet there are some airlines that will do that for free or even with a very small change date fee.. Like my SO, we call the airlines and they allow us to change the tix date free for the first time.... Im sure most airlines do that too, especially when the plane tix is so expensive..

[Thad]

Not sure what to suggest about trying to book something so far out. However, I'd wonder if they would even consider it valid since it was so far out. I'd be interested in knowing the exact detailed rules on this. You don't want to screw it up because you could be denied entry for life. I recommend reading the book Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (same author of Eat, Pray, Love). She was in a similar situation. She was from the US and her SO was from Brazil. He was doing the border hopping thing every 3 months until customs said you're just skirting the visa. Either get married or you're banned for life. Interesting book. It deals with that situation as well as marriage in general.

Good luck!

[lara]

I know a travel agent can do it, when i left tunisia in june they booked me back in tunisia for march. if u havent tried airlines specifically try that. idk what country you are going to but if someone pulled that in the US they would be denied permanent residence on the basis of dishonest character. be careful.