Have you ever flown thousands of miles to surprise a friend or relative? What was their reaction and would you do it again?

I have a friend in Tokyo who is very ill, chances of his survival more than 3 years are 50/50. I plan to visit him in June and would like to tell him of my visit. The one problem is that this trip is unplanned and not in my budget for this year, so I might not be able to afford the trip come June, I won't really know if I can afford it until the day before my proposed departure. If I tell him about my plans to visit and then have to cancel he will be horribly disappointed. Right now I'm thinking of purchasing a ticket and if I can afford the trip in June I could surprise him, if I can't afford the trip he won't have to face the disappointment.

I did this for my sister's high school graduation, flying from LHR to SFO. She has been to my high school and college graduations, and I absolutely had to (and wanted to) be there for hers. Neither she nor my parents had any clue that I was coming -- I simply showed up at the door. It was great! I would definitely do it again.

Surprised my mother and father the year they both turned 70.

Just a ORD/LAS flight, but it was worth seeing my mom's face when she saw me standing in her living room holding flowers.

Flew from Texas to Germany for my grandma's 75 b'day. Was a surprise until 24hours before arrival, when my aunt leaked it (I had to tell her to get me from the airport)...But it was still great,would do it again!

David

brisbane australia to Krakow poland.

Walked into my grandmas house at 11pm, (with my aunts and uncles visiting her too)

Took them abit to recognise me, also they kept comming to check on me all night just to make sure i was realy there.

Not as exotic as some of the others, but I was with a small, struggling consulting firm in TX. I was based in NJ and had been flying in and out of DFW about once a month to work in TX for a week. They lost a major client so travel was cut to the bare minimum. Naturally, people started leaving.

One of my best employees resigned to take a job at a reinsurance company in Barbados. I cashed in some of my AA miles (earned on the job anyway!), checked into the nearby Hampton Inn and rented a car at my expense, and showed up at his farewell gathering at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I'd had to tell a few people since I came in early and wanted them to know where to reach me, but they were good about keeping quiet. The guy who was leaving was stunned and it was well worth the trip.

Just make sure you are not the one who gets surprised. If they don't know you are coming, is there a chance they won't be home?

Very good point, LostInAmerica. ^