Flying Fiance to the US

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Hey Folks,

 

Hopefully someone has experience with this & can give some guidance or at least shed some light on this in case I am reading this wrong. I was browsing through tickets to fly my fiancé from Cebu to Houston, TX. I will likely use EVA Airways as I have used them for my past two trips to visit her. When browsing the prices I noticed that the price for a ticket is significantly more if you are shopping for a one way ticket as opposed to a round trip ticket. What I am considering is purchasing a round trip ticket & then asking for a refund for the return trip. Based on what I am reading, the refund should be for the value of the unused ticket (return trip) minus a "refund fee". Depending on the class of ticket you purchase, the refund fee varies from $50-200. The difference in the one way ticket versus the round trip ticket (if I can get a refund on the unused ticket) is almost double in price...so the $50 "refund fee" would be more than worth it if this works like I think it should. I don't want to assume that I will just get the refunded amount sent back to my credit card...so I figured I would ask here. I've checked their app to look for a FAQ or anything that would verify that things work as I expect it will...but it isn't particularly clear. I wanted to see if anyone else ever used this method or has a better method that I might be able to use.

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

[Timona 3,940]

Buy a round trip. Forgo the return. 

 

You're not getting a refund 

Tickets are cheap Tuesday 

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

1 minute ago, Timona said:

Buy a round trip. Forgo the return. 

 

You're not getting a refund 

 

If I don't get refunded for the second half of the trip, then it is cheaper to just go with a one way trip...so it would make no sense to purchase a round trip ticket & simply throw away the return ticket. Sorry if that wasn't clear in my question above.

[top_secret 2,061]

I think usually if you refund a partially used ticket they first reprice the used part what it would have been anyways so it works out the same cost as a one-way ticket plus the refund fee.

 

Right now EVA has CEB-IAH May 24 (and only May 24) for $772 one way if that works.  That won't last long and It's not going to get much better than that these days.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by top_secret

[Redro 4,598]

1 hour ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

Hey Folks,

 

Hopefully someone has experience with this & can give some guidance or at least shed some light on this in case I am reading this wrong. I was browsing through tickets to fly my fiancé from Cebu to Houston, TX. I will likely use EVA Airways as I have used them for my past two trips to visit her. When browsing the prices I noticed that the price for a ticket is significantly more if you are shopping for a one way ticket as opposed to a round trip ticket. What I am considering is purchasing a round trip ticket & then asking for a refund for the return trip. Based on what I am reading, the refund should be for the value of the unused ticket (return trip) minus a "refund fee". Depending on the class of ticket you purchase, the refund fee varies from $50-200. The difference in the one way ticket versus the round trip ticket (if I can get a refund on the unused ticket) is almost double in price...so the $50 "refund fee" would be more than worth it if this works like I think it should. I don't want to assume that I will just get the refunded amount sent back to my credit card...so I figured I would ask here. I've checked their app to look for a FAQ or anything that would verify that things work as I expect it will...but it isn't particularly clear. I wanted to see if anyone else ever used this method or has a better method that I might be able to use.

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

Generally the "unused return ticket value" is TOTAL PRICE  minus ONE WAY PRICE... so better to purchase the one way ticket... maybe not EVA I'm too lazy to do the research... 

BUT, you might want to consider researching an OPEN FLIGHT ticket (fully refundable return ticket that allows you to change the return date) . I believe  your fiance might be returning to Phils to pick up her son... this way the ONE WAY tickets you purchase for them when they travel together will be the same booking... (they wont be on separate itineraries... )

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by ROK2USA

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

40 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

Right now EVA has CEB-IAH May 24 (and only May 24) for $772 one way if that works.  That won't last long and It's not going to get much better than that these days.

 

Her tentative travel date would be May 12th. One way is $1300+...as part of a round trip ticket I would get that $700+ price for the first part & similar for the second half...which is typically what I've paid in the past $1200ish..I was planning to secure the tickets now instead of waiting until the last minute. Normally the flights I've taken are packed.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Here's what it says on their website:

 

• To safeguard your rights and interests, refunds applied through the website will only be made to the credit card or bank account originally used for the purchase. After submitting the refund application, when you have the information of original payment amended on the issue of credit card lost or eliminated and so on, please contact your credit card issuing banks for further assistance.
   
• If there is any refund value after the value of used portions and refund fee/No Show fee/Booking Service Charge deducted, we'll process your refund back to the original credit card within 7 working days (it should appear on your statement in 1-2 billing cycles). For cash and check purchases, we’ll process your refund within 20 working days after receiving a complete refund request.
   
• Refunds for cancellation of unused segments will be calculated with the value of the used segments deducted, rather than half of the original ticket value (Booking Service Charge is non-refundable). It is possible that only the airport tax is refundable after calculation; if so, no refund handling fee and No-Show fee will be charged. This also applies to non-refundable tickets.

[Redro 4,598]

9 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

Here's what it says on their website:

 

• To safeguard your rights and interests, refunds applied through the website will only be made to the credit card or bank account originally used for the purchase. After submitting the refund application, when you have the information of original payment amended on the issue of credit card lost or eliminated and so on, please contact your credit card issuing banks for further assistance.
   
• If there is any refund value after the value of used portions and refund fee/No Show fee/Booking Service Charge deducted, we'll process your refund back to the original credit card within 7 working days (it should appear on your statement in 1-2 billing cycles). For cash and check purchases, we’ll process your refund within 20 working days after receiving a complete refund request.
   
• Refunds for cancellation of unused segments will be calculated with the value of the used segments deducted, rather than half of the original ticket value (Booking Service Charge is non-refundable). It is possible that only the airport tax is refundable after calculation; if so, no refund handling fee and No-Show fee will be charged. This also applies to non-refundable tickets.

One way flight is ~$1200 but if you buy return trip the flight to Houston is $761… so you would have to pay the difference $500 and the refund charge $100… if you cancel the return ticket (plus the booking service charge… if there is one).

That is my understanding of the issue…

[top_secret 2,061]

12 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

Her tentative travel date would be May 12th. One way is $1300+...as part of a round trip ticket I would get that $700+ price for the first part & similar for the second half...which is typically what I've paid in the past $1200ish..I was planning to secure the tickets now instead of waiting until the last minute. Normally the flights I've taken are packed.

 That $772 fare is gone already.  They really did have one seat available on on evaair.com about an hour ago but didn't last. 

 

Delta (cringe) has widespread availability for $780 one way CEB-IAH flying Korean Air CEB-ICN-ATL, connecting to IAH on Delta.  Not ideal but the Korean Air part is not bad.

 

[seekingthetruth 1,218]

Following.  I will need 5 tix later this year, also to IAH but from Clark or NAIA.  Please update us if you go with the RT and request refund.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

13 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

Refunds for cancellation of unused segments will be calculated with the value of the used segments deducted, rather than half of the original ticket value (Booking Service Charge is non-refundable). It is possible that only the airport tax is refundable after calculation; if so, no refund handling fee and No-Show fee will be charged. This also applies to non-refundable tickets.

 

13 hours ago, ROK2USA said:

One way flight is ~$1200 but if you buy return trip the flight to Houston is $761… so you would have to pay the difference $500 and the refund charge $100… if you cancel the return ticket (plus the booking service charge… if there is one).

That is my understanding of the issue…

 

Well the way I read their guidance is that if you buy a round trip ticket & then decide to cancel the second part of the trip you will only be refunded the cost of the unused (second ticket) portion of the fare & not just half of the total price you paid for the round trip ticket. I figured that this is in place for situations where the first part of the flight may be more expensive than the second part & they don't want to have to pay half of the value of the total fare & end up losing money in the process. Any refund is also subject to the refund fee which varies by the price of the ticket you purchase. Apparently the more you are willing to pay for a ticket, the lower the refund fee, change fee & cancellation fees become.

 

13 hours ago, top_secret said:

That $772 fare is gone already.  They really did have one seat available on on evaair.com about an hour ago but didn't last. 

 

Those one way costs typically get hidden & are only available as part of a round trip ticket package. I figured that out by doing a few searches over time. I've flown the same route the last two times I was in Cebu...leaving there at 11 am...6+ hour layover in Taiwan...and then arriving in IAH at 11 pm on the same day I left Cebu. That's the route I am planning for her to take as well. Most other routes & carriers seem to add another day to the travel time...

[seekingthetruth 1,218]

13 hours ago, top_secret said:

Delta (cringe) has widespread availability for $780 one way CEB-IAH flying Korean Air CEB-ICN-ATL, connecting to IAH on Delta.  Not ideal but the Korean Air part is not bad.

Where can I find that fare?

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

14 hours ago, top_secret said:

Delta (cringe) has widespread availability for $780 one way CEB-IAH flying Korean Air CEB-ICN-ATL, connecting to IAH on Delta.  Not ideal but the Korean Air part is not bad.

 

Wouldn't a route like this also require the beneficiary to do the immigration process at the first port of entry in the US...so in this scenario they would have to go through the immigration process in Atlanta? So we would need to make sure that the layover on the first port of entry is several hours long just in case their processing takes a lot of time.

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

If she flies from Cebu to Manila to Taiwan & then to IAH - Houston...would she be going through the Philippine immigration process in Manila? Or would that already happen in Cebu?

[Carpe Vinum 2,310]

5 minutes ago, Kawika & Michelle said:

If she flies from Cebu to Manila to Taiwan & then to IAH - Houston...would she be going through the Philippine immigration process in Manila? Or would that already happen in Cebu?

Manila. Cebu to Manila is a domestic flight. She will go through outbound immigration in Manila.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Carpe Vinum