How to plan a surprise visit

[amelialightly]

Hello,

My boyfriend and I have been doing the long distance thing for almost two years while he lives in NYC and me in Australia.

I have a visit (the last before I finally move to NYC in Feb 2017- thank goodness!) planned in November, but I want to surprise him.

He knows I will be coming at the end of November, but I want to fly to NYC a few days early and surprise him! We haven't seen each other for eight months and I am desperate to see the look on his face.

I'd love to know if anyone has pulled this off before.... The main issue I can see is that the flight from Australia to NYC is 24 hours, which is a long time for him to not be able to message me- something I think might give the game away.

Has anyone successfully pulled off an international surprise and can tell me how they managed?

Thanks!
Millie

[littlewingxx]

Me!

I surprised my fiancé for his birthday in July, managing to pull it off 100% successfully and definitely giving him the best surprise ever! Like you, we had a visit planned, he knew I was coming out but I deliberately told him my flight was a week later than it actually was. I even went as far as to photoshop the dates on the booking confirmation, and sent him a screenshot showing him I'd booked the flights .

My fiancés mum is living with him at the moment, so I actually sort of planned it with her. I emailed and text her all my plans, and she kept the surprise a secret and even came and picked me up at the airport. I was also worried about the length of the flight and thus the length of time we'd be out of contact for. We text regularly every day, so if I'd gone for an extended period of time without talking to him, he'd definitely be suspicious/worried. It wasn't quite as bad for me - only a ten hour flight - but it was still too long a time to be out of contact. So, I made sure I booked with an airline that offered inflight wifi! I also told him that I was working that night (I work in a respite unit for children which requires nightshifts and sleepovers), and that I may not be able to talk as much/for as long.

My scheming all paid off, because when I got to his house and he saw me, he was absolutely gobsmacked! It was amazing, and he couldn't believe I'd gone to all that effort for him. It's definitely doable if you can plan ahead and are able to hold your water!

Good luck!

[BaconGirl05]

Hi there and welcome to the forums

I surprised my SO for his birthday back in February. We're from the US and Australia as well. There was no visit planned and I really wanted to see him, so I decided I would surprise him. Since the whole trip to Australia was a total of 20 hours, I was worried about what I was going to say to him as to why I wouldn't be messaging. I just told him that I going out of town for a school convention (there was an actual school convention at the time)

I planned the trip in October and had the plane ticket booked by November. Everything was in place by November. I had to talk to his mom about the whole thing and she was on board with everything. She actually arranged for his birthday party to be in another location so that we would be able to pull this off.

A few days before I was leaving, I told my SO that I had to leave for the convention (that way he didn't think it was weird that I wasn't talking to him right before his birthday). So we didn't talk until I saw him. When I got there, his mom picked me up and we headed to the party. My SO was too busy talking with his friends that he didn't notice me walk in. I chatted with his parents a little before he was called over. Then he saw me and was really shocked that I was there.

Is there anything you can tell your SO as to why you wouldn't be messaging for awhile? Or what about messaging during your layovers so it doesn't seem strange that you're not messaging at all. I'm sure there are also other threads on here about surprise visits. I would definitely take a look at those!

[amelialightly]

Thank you so much for your advice!
I was thinking I could maybe 'break my phone' but I didn't even thing about having someone on the ground I NYC to help pull it off. I might get his housemate involved. Thanks

[amelialightly]

Awesome! Well done for pulling it off. Thanks for your advice

[Chris516]

Hi there and welcome to the forums

I surprised my SO for his birthday back in February. We're from the US and Australia as well. There was no visit planned and I really wanted to see him, so I decided I would surprise him. Since the whole trip to Australia was a total of 20 hours, I was worried about what I was going to say to him as to why I wouldn't be messaging. I just told him that I going out of town for a school convention (there was an actual school convention at the time)

I planned the trip in October and had the plane ticket booked by November. Everything was in place by November. I had to talk to his mom about the whole thing and she was on board with everything. She actually arranged for his birthday party to be in another location so that we would be able to pull this off.

A few days before I was leaving, I told my SO that I had to leave for the convention (that way he didn't think it was weird that I wasn't talking to him right before his birthday). So we didn't talk until I saw him. When I got there, his mom picked me up and we headed to the party. My SO was too busy talking with his friends that he didn't notice me walk in. I chatted with his parents a little before he was called over. Then he saw me and was really shocked that I was there.

Is there anything you can tell your SO as to why you wouldn't be messaging for awhile? Or what about messaging during your layovers so it doesn't seem strange that you're not messaging at all. I'm sure there are also other threads on here about surprise visits. I would definitely take a look at those!

I have had the guts to do this sort thing. But I certainly like what you did for your SO!! (the violin is for you n' your SO)

[BFG]

One thing worth noting is that a lot of long haul airlines now offer wifi in flight. You usually have to pay about $30 for it but it works well enough for messenger/whatsapp etc

This would help keep the ruse up.

[littlewingxx]

One thing worth noting is that a lot of long haul airlines now offer wifi in flight. You usually have to pay about $30 for it but it works well enough for messenger/whatsapp etc

This would help keep the ruse up.

Yup. I specifically booked my flight with an airline that offered wifi so that I was able to keep talking with my SO, and thereby allowing me to keep him completely in the dark until he actually saw me.

OP, I really hope you manage to pull it off - it's amazing seeing that look of surprise on your SO's face. I get all squishy just thinking about it again!

[sunnymess54]

the first visit my and I had was with me surprising him. I told him the date I was going to be there so he wasn't expecting me until that date. I had a few extra days So instead of flying I took a bus and got there two days before our meeting date.

My orginial plan was to get to the hotel and after getting settled walk to where he worked and surprise him HOWEVER even.though I had confirmed my hotel dates they for some reason didn't have record of my reservation so at the last minute i had to find a hotel. I managed to get one but it was not walking distance to his work and i didnt know anything about the area as far as cabs went and i spent my cash on my ride from the airport and to both hotels. So i ended up taking a picture and saying "Im here" ! Needless to say he was very excited but he kind of knew.

I want to do another surprise visit again but where hes coming out in December so it probably wont be until his birthday in April.