ok I hope it's about that time again. I am planning on habibi's interview date being next month in July. (although has not been confirmed yet) Anyone know any deals on flights to Amman, Jordan? I just did a look on orbitz.com and it's $1500:( Darn summer travel season, not to mention rising cost of gas/fuel/oil it takes to fuel those things:(

Oh yeah and can someone recommend any cheap (not grungy though) hotels/motels/whatever to stay at in Amman just in case I cannot pass through Israeli security at the border?

Well summer is high season, so prices are not gonna be bargain basement. Did you check Royal Jordanian or what ? They may a bit higher than others, but they have that direct flight which is nice.

Most flights coming from the west arrive in Amman in the late afternoon, evening or even in the middle of the night -- making it pretty tough to get to the border before it closes at 8pm (or often earlier, depending on many variables.) It can take an hour or so to get off the plane, get your visa, and collect your luggage, then since the airport is a good distance from the city, it takes the better part of an hour to get to Abdali Station downtown to catch a taxi to the border. After that, it takes another hour's drive to actually get to King Hussein Bridge, and perhaps an hour waiting for the special bus to take you on the 5-minute ride across. The wait can also be quite long at the Israeli border terminal. I've left Abdali at 8 in the morning, and not made it to Jericho until afternoon. So unless your plane lands by 12 or 1pm, you'll probably have to stay the night in Amman anyway.

I will get you the names of some clean-but-budget hotels.

I just don't see a flight for less than that... that's actually really good for prices during peak time. I can ask about budget hotels when Ammar gets home... I don't know if he'll know much about Amman but it never hurts to ask!

"bubbling with excitement and cannot wait for this client to get off the phone, her coworkers to come in, so she can go wake habibi up and scream in his ear again about his itnerview date":)
Thanks for the info. Yes WOM, I've become accustomed to looking at times. Actually I did not do that today but I made sure when I flew into Ben Gurion last time to get one early in the morning since I planned for interogations. It'll be more or less the same when I fly into Jordan.
Hostelling International actually has stuff in Jordan. So If I pay for a yearly membership there, I can get deals. So maybe that is something I can look for when I am there if it's not too much of a hassle.
Geesh the way you made it sound, it sounds like Ben Gurion is easier despite the interrogations:) But if I get deported from Israel, khallas its done and I sent back to US. but if I get turned away at the checkpoint between Jordan and Israel.....i'm floating around in Jordan til habibi's interview and time he can come home:)

It's not so bad -- just a little time-consuming. Amman is really nice -- well worth a night's stay. There's a lot to see if you stay downtown (which is near Abdali anyway.) And the scenery on the drive down to the border is absolutely spectacular.

taht sounds good. well as long as I dont have too many hassles it will be ok:)

If I was to order plane tickets....how long should I stay in Palestine before he gets his visa? I want himt o come back with me. If his interview is on the 8th, can he be almost gauranteed (well consulate permitting anyways) to come back July 15 with me? thats also why I wanna go to Jordan is because he is not allowed to go through tel aviv so I ant him to come back with me;)

How much time off can you take ?

I would suggest getting to Amman 3 days before his interview (this with you staying in Amman overnight) but 2 days could work even though you'll be zombie tired at the consulate. Can your husband meet you in Amman ? Or can he meet you in Jericho at the bus station ? This will make it easier, but if you need to get to Ramallah by yourself you can do it.

This consulate works pretty quickly for MENA. If everything is in order and the consulate official is satisfied with the interview, I think you can expect a visa within a few days. They will send it by courier which can take another 3-5 days if it's going to an address in Ramallah, perhaps somewhat longer if you are further away. It all depends on the situation, and what closures are in effect.

If everything goes very smoothly, flying back from Amman on July 15th *might* be possible, but I really think that would be cutting it just a little too close. We were waiting on an Israeli police certificate -- once it was in the system, the visa was issued 4 days later, and arrived in Ramallah 5 days after that -- that's a 9-day wait. However, yours is already in so I hope your wait will be a couple of days shorter.

Will your husband be ready to leave the day after he gets visa in hand ? A lot of people really need at least a few days to say goodbye. Even though they know the day is coming, it's a big deal to leave your family and your friends and your country and everything familiar behind.

Going back to Amman, the travel time will be longer if you are going through the Palestinian terminal with your husband (it's separate from the one "foreigners" must use, which you will come through coming in.) It's up to the soldiers to decide if you can use it -- depending on the situation and which soldier is there, they may allow it. If they make you use separate terminals, just keep in touch via cell phone or arrange a meeting point.

Your plane will probably leave Amman around 2 or 3am, so it's up to you to either book a hotel there so you can chill or sleep a little bit, or you can even just hang around downtown Amman (or at the airport) until it's time. There is a lot to see and do in al wast al balad so no problem if you and your husband just spend the time seeing the sights, doing some shopping, having a leisurely dinner at a restaurant, or just hanging out. There are also lots of internet cafes if you need.

I wish I am going. You'll gonna have a great time !



-MK

Check out the Zuwar program on the RJ website this might help you if you wanted to stay a few days in Amman. I am ISA flying to AMM July 18 or July 25 from JFK for two weeks. I was given the price of 1480 a few weeks ago. For travel in mid/late Aug the price was 1280. That again is from NY on RJ. If you'd like to talk to my agent I can PM her contact information...it's all e-ticket....and I've booked with her for my last 9 trips to Jordan.

Oh one more thing....buying his return ticket from AMM to the US is cheaper when purchased in Jordan. A roundtrip ticket last week for a stay of 1.5 months to Detroit was only 600JD. I would expect the one way to be approx. 400JD.

How much time off can you take ?

Well, I told my boss July 4-15. However, I'm too excited to think straight, lol If I leave July 15, I told my boss I'd be at work on the 16th if I dont get sick like I did last time coming back. Um..jet lag? Fat chance, lol Well, it's a ball park figure anyways. Even last time when i scheduled to take time off, I changed it a few times before I settled on something.

I would suggest getting to Amman 3 days before his interview (this with you staying in Amman overnight) but 2 days could work even though you'll be zombie tired at the consulate. Can your husband meet you in Amman ? Or can he meet you in Jericho at the bus station ? This will make it easier, but if you need to get to Ramallah by yourself you can do it.

I will ask him tomorrow what he wants. It would be great if he can meet me at the airport simply because I'll have someone to be with.

This consulate works pretty quickly for MENA. If everything is in order and the consulate official is satisfied with the interview, I think you can expect a visa within a few days. They will send it by courier which can take another 3-5 days if it's going to an address in Ramallah, perhaps somewhat longer if you are further away. It all depends on the situation, and what closures are in effect.

DHL I think is how they send it? DHL is wicked quick. In my experience of dealing with them in Palestine, it hangs out in Israel for 2-3 days and once it gets to Ramallah its sent to Nablus same day. But in our case, the mail would be originating from Jerusalem so no need for Israeli customs:)

If everything goes very smoothly, flying back from Amman on July 15th *might* be possible, but I really think that would be cutting it just a little too close. We were waiting on an Israeli police certificate -- once it was in the system, the visa was issued 4 days later, and arrived in Ramallah 5 days after that -- that's a 9-day wait. However, yours is already in so I hope your wait will be a couple of days shorter.

yuck. after all the wait we did for the pal cert they better give us visa quick !

Will your husband be ready to leave the day after he gets visa in hand ?

haha my husband is ready to leave YESTERDAY:) He said as soon as his visa is issued he's heading to America.
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Now I am getting EXCITED!!! Husband's interview AND I get to travel!!:)

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sure I'd be interested in speaking with your agent. thanks! I'm shopping around now and orbitz was $1500 expedia was $1800. I dont think I'll get cheaper than $1500:( Yes I know if you want a one way ticket from overseas, it's cheaper to do it overseas for him. I just hope we can get on the same plane:) Do you or anyone know of any cheap ways to book his ticket when we are ready or can recommend travel agencies over there?

check out cheaptickets.com. That was the best deal I found when I went. I just checked flights last week to Amman and Royal Jordanian's round trips were around 1250.
Good luck!
Lisa

I am excited too just thinking about it !

OK if you can push your trip to leave a day or two later, and also to come back maybe a couple of days later, that would help. 12 days is really cutting it so close -- can you make it 14 or 15 ?

Hopefully his visa will be issued within days after the interview and be delivered soon afterwards. Ours took 5 days to go just from Jerusalem to Ramallah, but it all depends on the situation at the time. It's really best to leave yourself some elbow room -- it's expensive to change your ticket at the last minute.

I'll think about it. I'm too afraid of losing my job if I take too much time off:( Stupid I know cuz I worked for PTO but you know when boss gets fire happy he does nt care:/ And the way he's been the past month...I dont trust him anymore than a box of rats:)

blech cheaptickets boston to amman is $1600:(

Whoa! I guess I lucked out when I bought mine lol I searched every website and they were the best

I want to go to Jordan.

You and me both!

It all depends on the airport you are flying out of. Boston for example is more expensive than NYC to fly out of. NYC I can save maybe 2-300...but then you've got to think of how I'm going to get to NY and then the inconvenience of waiting at the airport. I'm still considering flying out of NYC if I can get the fung wah bus from boston to NY. (I hope fung wah is still $15 with the rising gas prices, lol)
But so far airgorilla.com has got cheapest flight from boston to amman. $1300/$1400 thoughg with tax.
And if you wanna come to jordan join me. The more the merrier:) Of course I'm heading straight into palestne when the israelis let me in though, lol
And yep wom you are right. All flights nto amman are going in at 9 at night:( So yep I will be staying in a hotel the first night.

ok looks like cheapest I can find is airgorilla flying out of nyc/jfk to amman. Around 13-1400. And even...I can take a bus from nyc to boston for $5! http://www.megabus.com
Can't beat that!!!

Not with a stick!

The only drawback is if my sister in law makes me take 5 million gabs with me....NO WAY am I doing that on a bus, LOL

Good Luck! and the minute you want to pay for company on this trip.... I'm available.