how to find flight to Nepal for adoption

[mjh8955]

A dear friend is adopting a little girl and needs to travel to Kathmandu in Nepal to get her, possibly as early as August 15th. She is up to her ears in red tape and I volunteered to help her out by doing some legwork tracking down a flight. Every search engine I try comes back with an error and doesn't seem to acknowledge Kathmandu airport. I'm hoping someone out there can give me a suggestion on how to proceed. Is there another airport I should be using? I know there is unrest in Nepal right now. Is it possible that there is a no-travel thing going on for Americans?

 

[prncess674]

The three airlines I would trust that fly to KTM are Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and British Airways. Singapore and Thai are partners with United and BA partners with American. Those tickets are going to be big $$$$ with that short of notice.

 

[mjh8955]

Thank you for your help!!

 

[DisforXmas]

My son is heading to Nepal in Sept. to work with Habitat for Humanity. He is flying AA to London and the connects to Jet Airways into Kathmandu. You can find flights by going onto AA website.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I was able to run the request through Expedia from Chicago O'Hare with no problems. I just put the airport as Nepal, and then selected Kathmandu airport.

Yowza on the prices, though!

Best wishes for her adoption!

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

We traveled to Korea to bring home our youngest son a few years ago. If your friend doesn't have much experience with international travel, in cases like this I would highly recommend consulting with a travel agency. Our adoption agency gave us a few options of travel agencies they've worked with in the past and which had a high level of experience in booking international travel for the purposes of adoption.

Some airlines offer adoption fares which you may want to research and see if that would be cheaper or not depending on what restrictions are involved. I also remember there was an issue in that we had to purchase our son's one-way ticket home before we began our trip but the details escape me... and I might be remembering incorrectly but there was some sort of issue which I would never have imagined.

You can use the web search engines to get a ballpark figure of airline travel, but I personally would suggest using a travel agent to see if they can get you better deals and to also talk to the adoption agency to be sure there are no restrictions on the kind of ticket she'll need to get for her little one to fly back to the U.S.

We're in NJ but we used this travel agency based in OR as so many folks from our agency recommended them and they were FABULOUS to work with:

http://www.azumanoforbusiness.com/about/adoption_travel.php

Oh, and whatever airline she ends up using, be sure to sign up for their frequent flier program as you'll get a whole slew of miles from this trip! You need to sign up before buying the tickets but it only takes a few minutes and then everyone who flies can claim the miles (even minors). You may be able to use them for something eventually.

 

[bettymae1121]

The three letter airport code is KTM, all internet travel search engines should recognize the three letter code of any airport so that should get you around that problem.(it's a nice short cut vs. the drop down box or trying to remember how to spell "albuquerque").

I'm sure she's aware of this already, but she'll need a visa to enter Nepal in addition to her passport. Also pay attention to where she connects through, it's unlikely but if she connects in an off-the-wall place she may need a transit visa.

When you (or she) books the ticket make sure the name on the ticket matches her passport including any middle name/initial, TSA here in the US wants everything to match now.

ETA: Oh, and the above advice about the frequent flyer miles is great, many foreign carriers partner with US carriers, so don't have her discount the miles because she won't ever travel with that foreign carrier again. Check out who they partner with, if she's going to pay $$$ she may as well get halfway to a free ticket while she's at it.

 

[crashbb]

ETA: Oh, and the above advice about the frequent flyer miles is great, many foreign carriers partner with US carriers, so don't have her discount the miles because she won't ever travel with that foreign carrier again. Check out who they partner with, if she's going to pay $$$ she may as well get halfway to a free ticket while she's at it.

To further that thought. You don't have to sign up with the foreign carrier - sign up with a US carrier in the same alliance. For example, sign up with United (or Continental or US Airways) if you are flying Lufthansa. They are all part of Star Alliance, so the Lufthansa flight will get you United Miles. These are likely of more use to you. Collecting points within a single airline's program is generally better than collecting a few points in a couple of programs (and she may end up taking multiple airlines on this single trip).

 

[mjh8955]

Awesome advice from everyone - thank you so much!! She is indeed working on the visa, and vaccinations, and will contact the travel agency that was recommended. Wow what a help! I'm getting way more posts on this topic than when I asked for advice on a travel hair dryer with diffuser!!

I wondered if a more expensive ticket might allow her the flexibilty of changing dates since she the actual dates she will be told to go will be out of her control. A travel agency should be able to help figure that part out.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Awesome advice from everyone - thank you so much!! She is indeed working on the visa, and vaccinations, and will contact the travel agency that was recommended. Wow what a help! I'm getting way more posts on this topic than when I asked for advice on a travel hair dryer with diffuser!!

I wondered if a more expensive ticket might allow her the flexibilty of changing dates since she the actual dates she will be told to go will be out of her control. A travel agency should be able to help figure that part out.

Yup! Adoption travel is almost always last minute. We contacted the travel agency a few weeks before we figured we'd be going and got all our info and documentation on file with them when there was no "rush". Then, the day we got our travel call I called them and they put our previously agreed upon plans into motion very quickly. You're supposed to travel within a certain period of time after getting your travel call and it was so nice to be able to have everything set up and waiting for that one phone call to trigger all the final travel purchases.

In some cases it would be cheaper to buy advance tickets which can be changed as necessary and in some cases it would be cheaper to buy when you have firm travel dates. Using an agency that knows the ins and outs of adoption travel really made a stressful situation much easier.

Good luck to your friend!

 

[crashbb]

What city is she flying out of?

 

[shortbun]

I'd call a travel agent with some indepth international experience. Call an old agency in your area and ask for their international specialist. If the person answering the phone doesn't know where Kathmandu is, hang up and I apologize. Year ago, when I was an agent, there were a handful of us who could put together good tickets for things like this and we loved the challenge.

 

[JB2K]

What city is she flying out of?

As her address is central Illinois, I suspect she would use Chicago O'Hare (ORD) since Lambert-St. Louis International (STL) is something of a joke for direct, international flights.

As for the PP who went to Korea, it is noteworthy to mention that direct flights to/from South Korea are far more plentiful to most major business centers in the U.S. than from Nepal.

 

[crashbb]

As her address is central Illinois, I suspect she would use Chicago O'Hare (ORD) since Lambert-St. Louis International (STL) is something of a joke for direct, international flights.

As for the PP who went to Korea, it is noteworthy to mention that direct flights to/from South Korea are far more plentiful to most major business centers in the U.S. than from Nepal.

I wasn't sure if the friend (the one traveling) lived in Central Illinois.

 

[DawnM]

Did she say how much advanced notice she would be given?

I had to book our flights into China, but the agency handled on the in-country flights. I was given about a 3 week lead time so I was able to firm up dates then.

Dawn

Awesome advice from everyone - thank you so much!! She is indeed working on the visa, and vaccinations, and will contact the travel agency that was recommended. Wow what a help! I'm getting way more posts on this topic than when I asked for advice on a travel hair dryer with diffuser!!

I wondered if a more expensive ticket might allow her the flexibilty of changing dates since she the actual dates she will be told to go will be out of her control. A travel agency should be able to help figure that part out.

 

[mjh8955]

Paperwork is snagged at the moment but she is thinking she will need to be ready to go mid to late August.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

As for the PP who went to Korea, it is noteworthy to mention that direct flights to/from South Korea are far more plentiful to most major business centers in the U.S. than from Nepal.

Most definitely! I would imagine that the OP's friend's agency has a short list of travel agencies they can recommend who have handled arrangements for adoptive parents in the past and that's really the best place to start. Arranging last minute travel to distant lands when you're under the stress of an adoption is not for the faint of heart and that's when an agency experienced in both international and adoption travel is a major asset. Taking a domestic short hop to a major hub is a definite possibility, esp. if it means getting a (more) direct flight to Nepal.

 

[mjh8955]

She thinks she may need to be ready to go mid to late August, flying out of O'Hare. I did find an extraordinary deal on American Airlines with only one stop each way, however the advice about working with a travel agency that specializes in foreign adoptions and travel seems to be the very best way to proceed.

I am always amazed at the depth of knowledge, advice and support I can find on this board on just about any topic.

 

[mjh8955]

MyDizneyBoyz, I just sent you a PM.

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm a long time dis lurker, but registered just to respond to this post...
I STRONGLY agree with those who suggest using a travel agency specializing in international and adoption travel. A few months ago we adopted our son from Korea. My husband and I have both traveled a lot internationally, and my mom works with United Airlines. Our adoption agency recommended using a travel agency, and I just rolled my eyes - figuring I would totally be able to handle the plans myself.
Last minute international travel, while dealing with all the emotions and logistics of adoption, is really more complicated than most travel. When trying to do the flights ourselves, I ended up talking to three different people, all of whom were unable to issue the one way return ticket for our son (seemingly for all different reasons). We finally broke down and called the travel agency our adoption agency recommended. We told the agent what we wanted, and within an hour she called back with our confirmation numbers and tickets for less than anything I'd seen online. I so wish I hadn't wasted the hours I did trying to do it myself!
Good luck to your friends on their wonderful new adventure!