Getting Plane Ticket #
While some participants prefer buying tickets before their visa interviews, many students choose to buy them before the visa interview. However, the determining factor for when to buy the ticket largely depends on your budget.
Typically, plane tickets are purchased after students participate in the visa interview and receive approval. The crucial next step for students with approved visas is to promptly secure their plane tickets because delaying the purchase can increase the costs. Depending on the student’s preference, it’s also possible to buy tickets before the visa interview, and doing so earlier may offer cost advantages.
Every Work and Travel student is required to purchase a round-trip plane ticket. Ticket prices vary between $600 and $1200 on average, influenced significantly by factors such as departure city, destination, layovers, dates, and times.
Choosing the right agency when buying a plane ticket is crucial based on your budget. Some companies offer discounted prices, while others may not provide any discounts. Additionally, the company’s reputation and reliability should be researched.
The United States has thousands of airports and every part of the country is served by airlines. Airlines operate just as they do all over the world. Book early to get the best fares. Here are some of the most commonly used sites:
What to Bring With You #
Passport, DS-2019 and J-1 Visa: The three most important things to bring with you to the airport are your passport, DS-2019 and J-1 Visa. You will not be able to get into the United States without these. You should carry these documents with you—not in your checked luggage—and you should also have a copy of each item with you.
You will receive a few forms during your flight to complete by the time you arrive, including your I-94 (Arrival-Departure Record) and your Form CF-6059 (Customs Declaration Form). Once off the plane, you will immediately go to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to gain admission to the U.S. You will tell the CBP officer you are a J-1 Exchange Visitor when you present the following documents: valid passport including your J-1 visa, DS-2019 form, I-94 and CF-6059. You may also be fingerprinted and photographed at this time.
When CBP’s inspection is complete the officer will stamp your DS-2019 form as well as stamp the bottom portion of your I-94 and staple it to your passport.
What to Do When You Get to the Airport #
When you first arrive at the airport you should check into your airline and receive your flight ticket. At the same time you should also check your baggage, if necessary. You will then move on to security. As you come up to security you will need to place all of the items with you on the conveyor belt. Small items should be placed in bins. If you are bringing a laptop with you, you will need to take it out and place it into a bin of its own. Each traveler must remove their quart-sized plastic, zip-top bag of liquids from their carry-on and place it in a bin or on the conveyor belt for X-ray screening. X-raying separately will allow security officers to more easily examine the declared items.
You will also need to remove your shoes, belts, watches, coats or sweaters and place them into a bin as well. As your items are being checked you will go through a metal detector or a body scanner to check what you may have on your body. This requires you to step into an open machine and raise your arms while the machine scans your body. The process is very quick.
If you have a layover to change flights once you have entered the U.S. from abroad, you should remember that you typically need to receive and re-check your baggage before your next flight.
