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Old Aug 14, 2012, 6:48 am
  #1  
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Booking an Open-Ended Ticket

I need to book an open-ended ticket for my brother. He's coming in September, and is leaving sometime between May and July. Anyone know if that can be booked directly through LY, or if I need a travel agent. If I do need a TA, any specific recommendations?

(Is this offered by other airlines, or just LY?)

Thanks
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Old Aug 14, 2012, 8:50 am
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Josh - thought you fell off the planet there for a second havent seen you around here much...

El Al has been the only airline I am aware of that would book an open ended *student* ticket and you would need to contact them directly or book through a well experienced agent that is familar with El Al. The problem that always comes up is that students tend to wait till May to book for a june return flight and end up stuck with no availablity.

Other airlines such a AC would just have you pick a date and pay the regular change fee + fare difference. (Birthright flights I think get a deal where the flight can be extended upto 90 days, with a change fee but no fare difference costs).
Or book a Latitude return flight which allows for no change fees (but the base price is $$$$$).
If you find something else, I would be curious to know as well.
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Old Aug 14, 2012, 3:52 pm
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From Europe the TA's have a swiss ticket which usually is cheap which offers double luggage allowance and one free change.
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Old Aug 14, 2012, 5:46 pm
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Originally Posted by simba8
Josh - thought you fell off the planet there for a second havent seen you around here much...
Glad my absence was noticed . Ya, I was gone for 5 weeks, and won't be around much for the next week or so, but I will be checking once a day or so (hopefully).

El Al has been the only airline I am aware of that would book an open ended *student* ticket and you would need to contact them directly or book through a well experienced agent that is familar with El Al. The problem that always comes up is that students tend to wait till May to book for a june return flight and end up stuck with no availablity.
I believe I booked a return ticket when I was in yeshiva around April time for June, and had no issue. But I'll make sure to have my brother book early.
Do you know of any good travel agents though? I'll call LY directly, but something tells me the price will be exorbitant.

If you find something else, I would be curious to know as well.
I'll speak to AC as well, and will report back once I have a ticket booked
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Old Aug 14, 2012, 5:47 pm
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Originally Posted by ELAL
From Europe the TA's have a swiss ticket which usually is cheap which offers double luggage allowance and one free change.
Thanks, but I need from EWR (or JFK, if need be).
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 3:25 am
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As of last summer, El Al would book an open ended "young persons" ticket. I don't know if they have a differentiation for students. Booked directly from El Al.
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 9:44 am
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.......

Last edited by LovesTraveling; Feb 12, 2014 at 2:13 am
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 10:05 am
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Originally Posted by AriLovesTraveling
I am a student going from August until May-June and I experinced this problem.

You can use STA travel call them up. Swiss Air will do an open ended ticket with a small fee (50 dollars) for a flight change first time.

You can call STA travel or DOALL travel based in NYC.

You can compare rates between the two.
What are STA and DOALL? Regular travel agencies? Regarding LX, what's the $50 charge for?

In addition, the school your brother is going to (like mine) usually refers a travel agent.
Unfortunately, not in this case. Otherwise, I would've done it that way. He's going to a college that doesn't specifically cater to overseas students.

Hope I helped
Thanks!
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 11:05 am
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Originally Posted by joshwex90
What are STA and DOALL? Regular travel agencies? Regarding LX, what's the $50 charge for?
DOALL is not a regular TA, it's a great ùtraven Agency.
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Old Aug 15, 2012, 7:55 pm
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Last edited by LovesTraveling; Feb 12, 2014 at 2:13 am
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Old Sep 29, 2012, 9:13 pm
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curious to know if this ever got solved.
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Old Sep 29, 2012, 10:40 pm
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Originally Posted by simba8
curious to know if this ever got solved.
Booked through Plane Talk, $1700. He got 2 bags (50 pounds each) included as opposed to one.
Outbound, EWR-TLV. Return he'll set in May for free, and can choose EWR or JFK.
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