Making Travel Arrangements: Preparing for Your International Move

Congratulations on your exciting decision to move overseas. Not only will you have to pack up your belongings and locate an international moving company, you will have to plan ahead. This may include anything from choosing a school for your kids to making travel arrangements.

The general rule of thumb when moving abroad is that it is always best to book early. Unlike most domestic flights, there are usually only a limited number of flights each day to international destinations. For some less traveled destinations, the flight schedules may be limited to only one or two flights per book. 

Booking early will ensure that:

1. You are able to travel on the date you desire.

2. You have a set date to plan everything around, including the moving of your household goods.

3. You will generally get a better price on the ticket

4. You have a higher likelihood of getting the seat assignments that you want so that you can travel together with your family 

In some situations booking late could mean you can get a better price but this doesn’t happen very often. The cons of booking late far outweigh the pros. 

Depending on the time of airline that you book with, you may need to actually receive physical tickets for your international flight. Some international airlines do not offer electronic tickets so you will want to give yourself enough time for your tickets to be mailed to your current address so that you will have them in time for your flight. As an alternative, you may pick up your physical tickets from airline offices either in major airports or if you live in major cities such as New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago, you can pick up your tickets at metropolitan ticket offices maintained by the airlines.

Even if you are unsure of how long you will be at your new destination, most airlines do not offer discounts for one-way tickets. You will likely be better off to purchase round trip tickets with a very long off return date. You can always pay a small change fee once your travel plans firm up but at least you have already purchased the return ticket and have as needed.

Finally, if you have any questions about required documents or other items related to your flight, you should contact your airlines 800 help line or visit their website and they will be happy to assist you.