Flights

Most schools reimburse teachers for the full cost of economy round trip ticket to the school location. However, some schools will submit reimbursements only up to a certain amount and the teacher is responsible for the rest. Here are some things to keep in mind when planning international flights.

Booking
When you're living overseas or traveling through a foreign country something as simple as buying a plane ticket can be a hassle, particularly if you don't speak the language. The easy, cheap option of purchasing online becomes nearly impossible when the entire website is in a foreign language. For international flights and domestic travel within a country, expats living abroad rely on Kayak - the best (and one of the few) international travel website in English. In addition, be sure to check for flights on various different days, as airlines price their seats according to demand so the less popular days (like Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday) will have cheaper tickets. Whenever you book, be sure to sign up for the airlines frequent flier mile program (or check to see if the airline accepts a program you already have) and earn frequent flier miles for your flight--the free upgrades and tickets are worth it!

Documentation
You should apply for a passport well in advance of international travel, as processing times can take up to several months. If you're in a hurry and can't wait, U.S. residents can pay a fee to a passport expediter and get their passport back in as little as a few days. In addition to requiring a passport, your destination country may require a visa upon arrival. So before getting in the passport line make sure you check with the visa counter first for any necessary visa stamps. A country's visa authorities are generally always located immediately outside the immigration area of an airport.

Confirming
Flying in a third world country comes with some unique challenges, so when you're living overseas and flying internationally just know that you can expect anything from a one room airport to smoking on airplanes to no-prior-notice flight cancellations. That's right, in many lesser developed countries airlines reserve the right to just cancel a flight-domestic or international-without alerting passengers. To avoid being the stranded at the airport with no plane to fly on, always call the airline and reconfirm your flight within 24 hours of scheduled departure.