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  • 1.  International Trip Airline Ticket Purchase

    Posted 22 days ago

    Hello all,

    I would appreciate your insight on how your institution handles airfare purchases for your international residency program.

    Since airfare is not included in our program cost and it is the responsibility of each student to purchase their own air ticket, our current practice is to advise our EMBA students not to purchase their airline tickets until the program contract is fully executed and finalized. This practice has created some challenges, as students are often eager to secure lower fares early, and delays related to contract approvals can lead to increased costs and frustration on the part of the student.  What is your policy on advising students when to purchase their air tickets for your international residency? 

    Thank you for your insights.



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    Robin Hofler
    EMBA Director of Admissions
    University of Central Florida
    Orlando FL United States
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  • 2.  RE: International Trip Airline Ticket Purchase

    Posted 21 days ago

    Hi Robin,

    We have a similar situation with our students, but we make it very clear to them upfront that they are responsible for the choices that they make where it comes to the consequences of when they buy their flight tickets, and any costs that might arise from them having to make changes to those tickets.  We make this known to students when they are signing up for the programme and also remind them of this several time during the programme. 

    I think that our situation would be slightly different as, in our EMBA programme, students need to make a selection of which international residency (or study trip) they wish to attend as we offer a selection of up to 8 trips which all take place at the same time, with different themes, and in different parts of the world.  Due to to that, students can only purchase their tickets once they have made their destination selection and the residency has been confirmed to take place.  

    We do know that, despite the reminders that we give, we will always have that "one student" who does not read or listen, and who will be upset with us when there is a issue with the flight ticket that they have bought and nothing that we say will get them to accept the consequences of their own choices.  We are dealing with this at the moment as we have some students who wish to join our Washington trip but they come from countries that are currently on the "persona non grata" list for US visa's so why they selected Washington as a destination when they had 7 other destinations to choose from remains a mystery.

    Best

    Sonja



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    Sonja van Staveren
    EMBA Content Planner
    RSM Erasmus University
    Rotterdam Netherlands
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  • 3.  RE: International Trip Airline Ticket Purchase

    Posted 15 days ago

    Thank you for your response. I appreciate the feedback!



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    Robin Hofler
    EMBA Director of Admissions
    University of Central Florida
    Orlando FL United States
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  • 4.  RE: International Trip Airline Ticket Purchase

    Posted 18 days ago
    Edited by Ramona Howard 18 days ago

    Hi Robin, 

    We strongly encourage our students purchase non-refundable tickets. We don't mention that contracts are finalized yet, but rather events in the world are uncertain and they should consider insurance or a refundable ticket to protect their investment. Like many, we experienced loss during 2020 and some student flights were cancelled because of CrowdStrike 2024. Additionally, we've had at least one student each year who experienced a personal or family hardship that prevented them from traveling and the purchase of a refundable ticket put them at ease when they had to pull out at the last minute. 

    I hope this is helpful. 



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    Ramona Howard
    Academic Program Manager
    Georgia Institute of Technology
    Atlanta GA United States
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