making travel arrangements

[irrealised]

For those of us lucky enough to have multiple interviews, or who are hoping/expecting something else to come through, I was wondering how everyone is going about coordinating everything and making travel arrangements.

So far I have made travel arrangements for the earliest interview, but have held off actually booking plane tickets for any others, though I have told two other programs that I would be coming. Even though I'm getting reimbursed, it's still a lot of money to be laying out for these interviews, not to mention time, but I don't want to miss any opportunities. It's so hard to know how I'm going to feel about these places after visiting, and that's making things all the more tough (if I love the first school I'm interviewing at then maybe I won't feel like I have to interview everywhere else and just pick my other top choice(s), but if I don't like the first one then I might want to check out everywhere else).

Plus, I'm not expecting any other invitations, but a number of schools I applied to haven't sent out invites yet, so who knows. And I'm applying all over the country so there may be the possibility of combining visits/interviews if it comes to that, but it's becoming a bit of a scheduling nightmare. And I don't want plane ticket prices to rise while I'm waiting either. Anyone else?

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[cara susanna]

Right now I only have one, and my parents are paying for my plane ticket (I know, they're awesome).

I actually have a free plane ticket anywhere in the US for a year, but I'm holding off on using it in case I get an interview that's further away.

 

[kapinkkidowski]

I know how you feel; this entire process has left me pretty...well, broke. One word of caution, though. Booking tickets for a flight less than 3 weeks in advance makes the cost of the tickets go up by ALOT. I bought tix for one interview one night, and then checked (on cheap tickets) a couple of days later and it went up from 150 to almost 300!!

Another helpful thing is to pay the 13 or 15 bucks for the ticket protector insurance - depending on who you buy it from and the airline, it allows you to cancel the tickets if you need to with no penalty costs, full reimbursement. I had a round trip ticket booked to one interview and then got another one - I changed my return flight to go directly to the other interview just fine (really glad I paid that insurance, the cancellation/change fee was 200 bucks!!). I only had to buy a new ticket to take me home

 

[PsyDr]

you want to have multiple multiple backups.


i know it is expensive, but look at it like an investment: spending money now, improves your chances that you will earn an income next year. not investing may result in you having to come up with living expenses for a year on your own.

better yet: investing now may help you get your degree a year earlier and thereby increase your earning potential.


two words of further advice: TRAVEL INSURANCE. they hated me, but travel insurance paid for a few nights in various hotels, and a new suit (!) during interview season a few years back.

 

[irrealised]

Travel insurance - of course! That isn't something I had even considered, but I think that might be the way to go.

I think my main concern is the sheer amount of traveling that's required (and, yes, that's what I get for applying to programs that are mostly on the other side of the country). I'm looking at 4 weekends in a row of flying to a different state, all at least a 3 hr flight away. None are close enough on consecutive weekends to justify one long trip. I also wish there was a little more time built into most of these itineraries to explore the area a little, since there won't be much time (if any) to go back before April 15th.

 

[pavlove]

I'm in the midst of making my travel plans as well.... and it's really putting a dent in my already skinny wallet. Shop around as much as possible (expedia, travelocity, etc) to find the lowest rates, especially if you have flexible dates of travel. Sometimes this just won't work, though, and you have to cough up the extra money to get a flight specific to special needs. For example, I'm driving about 5 hours up to one interview on Friday and then interviewing there all day, Friday night after the interview "social event" I'm driving over to the local airport and flying (overnight!) to another interview, arriving Saturday morning and then interviewing all day at that institution before flying home on Sunday. I wasn't able to find any deals through the travel companies, and I ended up having to book directly through the airline... complete with a nice big price tag! And then on top of that, I'll have to pay for the airport parking once I get back and then drive the 5 hours to my place.

I keep telling myself that being able to visit and meet with the faculty and lab members is going to be so important when it comes time to make a decision, but the process is going to make me one tired applicant. I never realized this part of the process is just as stressful as the applications