s777bg

How do you add a stopover in Amman on one way itinerary (630$) ? It reprices over $2k …

cruser1

Try a multi-city search on whatever site you're trying to book with.

Example - https://www.momondo.com/flight-searc...s?sort=price_a

dvs7310

Just because SF uses the E word as clickbait doesn't make it so. RJ has quite a few very competitive fares from the region to Asia and North America both, they've been around for ages so clearly aren't E's in RJ's mind. Remember RJ has an extremely subpar business class product in a region with some of the world's best, if you can't compete on service or product, the only thing left is to compete on price. QR and EY have tons of routes that are $2000-3000 r/t in business from the region as well, so you can't price too close to that or else people will just buy QR / EY. RJ also offers some very competitive fares from Europe to SE Asia from time to time, they've got to fill their ancient 2-2-2 cabin somehow. Heck, even just within this year BA had similar fares to North America as well from that region, it's always been a super price competitive region, hence being popular with mileage runners for many years despite being some of the most unpleasant airports to start a journey in.

danger

I suspect so, yes but, as mentioned, I doubt it would actually do anything. The Embassy had my visa for six weeks before I needed it, then ignored multiple emails and phone messages. I had three business days up my sleeve before I needed to depart. It got to the point where I'd resigned myself to having to take a day off work and fly interstate to the Embassy to collect the visa, rather than risk a mail delay.

dvs7310

I've reached out to their embassy in Tokyo today to see what I can find out here. The Tokyo Embassy actually has a much more modern, up to date looking page compared to the one in the US. So far no reply, but the Tokyo page seems to infer that you have to go through an Algerian travel agency or their legal representative in Japan (sounds exactly like what China started doing here for a while). It also mentions that your application must be approved by the Algerian 'authorities' before the embassy can issue a visa, so apparently this has to get approved first in Algiers which could explain the delays you and others mention.

This is someplace I'd actually like to go and spend a bit of time, so definitely worth looking into aside from the MR potential.

danger

Yes, I do recall the Embassy in Australia saying it was waiting on some kind of approval from Algiers. I don't believe that was the reason for the extended delay but there was certainly a need to check with a higher authority. I also remember being quizzed about my occupation.

ajamieson

That was exactly my experience - needed approval from Algiers, on an open-ended timescale, and eventually required a letter from my employer stating clearly that I was not travelling for work purposes even though that's not a stated requirement for a tourist visa. Total visits to Embassy in London: 4.

I can't praise Algeria enough as a great destination but my goodness they make it hard to visit.

captainarabiia

Nice find OP!

Trying to find an itinerary to JFK/ORD etc, even with a stopover, so I can be back by 23rd December but having a hard time. Out of luck

salut0

What did you spend time doing and seeing in Algeria? Were you solely based in Algiers or did you travel elsewhere too, and for how long?

ajamieson

Only Algiers, Oran and the coast between them - but I have vowed to return one day and do the deep Saharan end of the country. Loved Oran, especially the colonial Fort of Santa Cruz, and the beaches, the rai and chabbi music clubs. Randomly got drunk with some Kabyle guys in a bar, great fun. The train was spotless and ran on time. Currency changing is more of a chance to meet some interesting characters than a reliable transaction, but all good BA direct from London outbound, ORN-MAD-LHR on IB return. Unedited album here https://photos.app.goo.gl/TZup7MbwH1DoXfor5

cruser1

Thanks for sharing! Would be interesting to visit.

Abstract1

Sounds like Ex-TIP all over again!

Perhaps you can transit without visa as long as you are on the first available connecting flight out of ALG?

trooper

I'm confused by this in reference to the reciprocity fee. Aren't such fees just a tit-for-tat imposed because of the USA's high visa fees for ALGERIAN citizens? Hence...reciprocity?

tkelvin69

there was much misinformation and opinion in the post you referenced. Yes, visa fees are mostly in response to the United States expensive and cumbersome visa standards.

dvs7310

It just something each country has to weigh the cost / benefit of making such a political statement. Obviously Algeria isn't a country high on the bucket list of the majority of Americans so was probably not losing out on much by charging $160 to the few who want to go. Other countries that do it though are a bit of a head scratcher, like Brazil going back to it again now. It certainly costs a country like Brazil far more in lost tourist spend than they generate with the visa fee, so that's a political statement, perhaps feeling that their citizens should be trusted not to overstay in the US and be put into the visa waiver program.

For the most part now, the reciprocity fee has gone away in most countries that rely on tourism as a significant source of income, so it's of course quite popular in a lot of Africa. The few countries that do rely on significant tourist income and still require a visa for 1st tier passports (Indonesia and Egypt for example) charge a flat nominal fee to all tourists from all but a handful of countries. Even Paraguay got rid of theirs a few years ago and that's far from a typical tourist destination, so they must have decided the cost / benefit of the protest still wasn't worth it. Bolivia was really the last holdout in South America (Venezuela excluded) until Brazil suddenly decided to restart visas. I still have 1 more year on my old Brazilian visa right now, but instead of renew it will probably take the opportunity to explore more of Argentina after it expires, I used to go to Brazil at least once a year and their tax revenue from my spend was FAR more than the $160 visa fee, but the country lost a lot of appeal with that decision. They are far from the end-all, be-all in the region. Uruguay is wonderful, Argentina has a lot of offer than I haven't seen yet, as does Chile despite being relatively expensive. So it's easy to point fingers at America and say oh, your visa process is too difficult and too expensive but it is for a reason. Canada, Australia, and EU Schengen aren't handing out tourist visas like candy either but don't get nearly as much international grief as the US.