Flight booking tips!

All participants are responsible for their own flight costs, we aren’t able to support you with funding. You may know past participants that had funded flights, but we no longer receive external funding to cover this cost – although if you're a university student, you may be able to access funding from your university. This is the case regardless of the programme type, whether you’re on a free programme or are joining a fee-based programme. 

Once your exact placement is confirmed, we’ll provide you with all of the travel information that you need, such as the relevant airports, dates, etc. Please don’t book your flights until you receive this email from your programme coordinator!

Here are our top tips for finding the best flight route for you:

1. We encourage layovers! Direct flights are often significantly more expensive than flights with a layover, and we’d always recommend putting that money towards travels pre/post-programme or on your weekends instead of handing it over to an airline. You’ll save money and get to stretch your legs with a few hours in an airport. You may even find that booking two singles is cheaper than a return flight.

2. Why not pick a longer layover and take a quick day trip to Istanbul, Beijing, or elsewhere? Most countries (including China - which shocks many) allow you to explore your arrival city for a day or two so long as you can show the border officers your outbound flight ticket. Turkish Airlines even offer a free bus, short city tour, and dinner to anybody with a 6+ hour layover in Istanbul!

3. Book a one-way ticket to leave your return date open. This is usually slightly more expensive than booking a return, but many participants find themselves reluctantly boarding the plane home or paying lots of money to change their ticket to extend their travels – avoid this by booking your flight home once you’re settled here! And be wary of airlines offering 'free changes' – you'd still usually need to pay the difference in ticket price for the change. However, the cheapest option will usually be to book a return flight with fixed dates – the best option depends on your budget and travel plans.

4. Check multiple Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to find the best price. We recommend trip.com, kayak, kiwi, and skyscanner. Once you’ve found the best route, double check if there’s a better deal available by booking directly with the airline – some airlines give extra baggage or flexible tickets when booking directly.

5. Check visa requirements. While many countries allow visa-free transit, make sure you check this before booking a flight with a self-transfer. You may need to acquire a transit visa, particularly if your flight routes via India.

6. Check layover time. Self transfers require you to go through immigration, get your bags, then re-check in, so don’t cut it too short. We generally suggest a minimum of 3 hours, although if you have the option for 4 or 5 hours we’d recommend taking it to be safe.

7. Consider an eSIM to ease your layover. If you’re stopping to explore a city for 12 hours, it’ll be easier to make the most of your time if you have mobile data.  

8. +/- 3 days on Kayak. If you’re not tied to a specific date for your flight home, make use of this feature. Flight prices can vary wildly from one day to the next, and Kayak makes it easy to search for the cheapest day.

9. Pack light! No participant has ever said “I wish I brought more clothes.” You’re likely to pick things up as you go, and will thank us when you have to carry your backpack from the airport to a train station - even a 10 minute walk feels like a lifetime if you’ve got 20kg on your back.

10. Consider different airports. It’s usually cheaper to take a coach to London for a flight from Heathrow than to fly from e.g. Birmingham, and it could be cheaper to fly to e.g. Shanghai (for China) then take a train to your programme than to fly to the nearest airport.

11. Print your documents. It’s always a good idea to have printed copies of your flight itinerary, visa(s), insurance, and any other necessary documents. If your phone runs out of battery, then you’ll regret not printing them!

Note: There is a widely held belief that clearing cookies/using incognito mode helps you avoid airlines raising prices based on your search history. There is debate about if this is true (e.g. https://www.going.com/guides/you-dont-need-to-search-incognito-for-flights), but there’s no harm in trying it!