has anyone done the obvious and purchased a plane ticket early to save a thousand dollars??..i understand you can purchase the ticket now and change the date of flight online..for a fee of course..but how far out can you go with the date?..does this increase the price of the ticket also...thx...

I don't know about changing schedules on a purchased airline ticket, but I know it took Delbros four weeks to deliver my fiancee's visa to her; twice as long as we would have expected and what is normal - and ours was a simple, clear-cut K-1 visa. Glad I didn't buy hers early!

In general an airline ticket that has already been purchased is valid for one year. Of course you would have to confirm this with the airline. Then, if you make changes, you pay a change fee (usually $100US) as well as any fare differene between the ticket you already purchased and the current fare available for the date you want to fly.

The VN consulate gives a stern warning against buying tickets in advance of receiving the Visa. However, most of us are only planning a 1 -way ticket. The one way overseas tickets I asked about are open tickets. Of course the cost is more than 1/2 of a round trip ticket, and with the carrier, I will use, the guaranteed max on an open ticket is 35 $ to change the flight - up to 1 year.
( With the same carriem, and a discount ticket RT , the price would be 200 $ for changing flights)

You should check with the specific airlines. Hope that helps.

I booked my fiancee on a flight before we knew her interview date. I used a travel agent in Seattle that I had used on several occasions in the past for travel to 'Nam. He was able to book her without paying on a couple different flights, then, once I knew the date of her interview I just called him and confirmed. Definitely book before, especially if her interview may be around Tet, right now its mid march before any bookings can be confirmed. Good luck.