I honestly was not expecting to get my ticket hours after my last post, but I did. I was able to purchase my ticket from IACE travel located in Atlanta 1888-280-4223. I purchased my ticket for the grand total of $1513. I now officially am going to Japan.
Now, if you recall from my last post you may be asking yourself, "didn't your account only have $1200?" Well, you're not mistaken, I was able to receive some help after my post and immediately purchased my ticket. Needless to say I'm very happy. Here's the schedule.
Depart Tuesday Aug 26, 2008 @ 5:45am from Pensacola, FL
Arrive " " " " @ 7:35am to Atlanta, GA
Miles: 278 Hours: 1.08
Depart Tuesday Aug 26, 2008 @ 10:15am from Atlanta, GA
Arrive Wednesday Aug 27, 2008 @ 1:25pm to Tokyo- Narita Airport, Japan
Miles: 6885 Hours: 14.10
Depart Wednesday Aug 27, 2008 @ 5:55pm from Tokyo- Narita Airport
Arrive " " " " @ 7:10pm to Osaka- Itami Airport
Miles: 251 Hours: 1.15
So, as you can tell the total hours of time spent in an Airport or Airline establishment is about 24 hours!!! Oh, and I can't sleep on planes...
Also, real quick. I wanted to tell all of you about my friend Josh, who is also going to be studying abroad. He'll be studying in Tokyo at Daito Bunka. Check his blog out too. I have a link to his blog located to the right ---->
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
VISA Application
OK, today I spent my morning calling multiple travel agencies to get quotes on tickets... here are the prices I've received.
$1597 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
$1639 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
$1531 Depart New Orleans - STA travel
$1513 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
The amount in my bank account currently?
$1253
I would say I'm a little short of the price... future updates on the air line situation to come.
VISA application. OK, for those that will be studying abroad let me say one thing. DO NOT WORRY... trust me... after receiving my acceptance I was told that I would receive a "Certificate of Eligibility" from Japan. This lovely little certificate took about two months to arrive, after receiving notice of my acceptance into the program. Oh, did I get worried... I'm the type that likes to get things done right then and there, and this completely prevented that, so I was calling, e-mailing, and calling some more to get an idea as to when it'd arrive. Eventually I just gave into having to just sit and wait. Well, I literally just received my certificate yesterday. It doesn't end there. You must call your closest Japanese Consulate and ask how to apply for a visa. They will tell you to download a visa application, fill it out, and send your passport, Certificate of Eligibility, and the application to your consulate. THEN you can get your student visa. How long will that take? I think the man on the phone I spoke to said about 6 days... I'm not sure. Oh, don't freak out if you call any of the travel agencies I've spoken of and the first thing you hear is a nice japanese lady speaking to you in Japanese. The same goes with the Japanese Consulate. No worries they can speak english fairly well.
Until next time.
$1597 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
$1639 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
$1531 Depart New Orleans - STA travel
$1513 Depart Pensacola -IACE travel agency
The amount in my bank account currently?
$1253
I would say I'm a little short of the price... future updates on the air line situation to come.
VISA application. OK, for those that will be studying abroad let me say one thing. DO NOT WORRY... trust me... after receiving my acceptance I was told that I would receive a "Certificate of Eligibility" from Japan. This lovely little certificate took about two months to arrive, after receiving notice of my acceptance into the program. Oh, did I get worried... I'm the type that likes to get things done right then and there, and this completely prevented that, so I was calling, e-mailing, and calling some more to get an idea as to when it'd arrive. Eventually I just gave into having to just sit and wait. Well, I literally just received my certificate yesterday. It doesn't end there. You must call your closest Japanese Consulate and ask how to apply for a visa. They will tell you to download a visa application, fill it out, and send your passport, Certificate of Eligibility, and the application to your consulate. THEN you can get your student visa. How long will that take? I think the man on the phone I spoke to said about 6 days... I'm not sure. Oh, don't freak out if you call any of the travel agencies I've spoken of and the first thing you hear is a nice japanese lady speaking to you in Japanese. The same goes with the Japanese Consulate. No worries they can speak english fairly well.
Until next time.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
update
Let me quickly update my multitude of readers as to my situation with my journey abroad... Since my last post in April, I have yet to purchase my plane ticket, but never fear, I placed one on reserve last week for the wonderful price of ::drum roll:: $1300ish. The very next day I received a phone call from the wonderfully nice lady at Sankei Travel and she informed me that American Airlines would be raising the price of my ticket by $170, which shot my ticket price to $1500ish.
I was also informed that I needed to have my itinerary sent to Kansai Gaidai, to schedule pickup service by July 10th. You might be saying, "wait isn't it July 8th right now." Yes, indeed it is and no, I still have not purchased my plane ticket due to financial difficulties. I do, however, have all the intention in the world to purchase my ticket by next week. The next question that comes to my mind is, how much has the ticket increased since my wonderful phone call last week about the increase in price? The answer... well, I don't know that, but I will be sure to update you all once I've purchased my ticket.
One quick note. I should be fine with the whole deadline thingy. It's only to take advantage of the pickup service. Luckily, I have friends in Japan who'd probably love to come pick me up from the air port... the only thing is they don't know that yet. hahahaha
will write back soon.
I was also informed that I needed to have my itinerary sent to Kansai Gaidai, to schedule pickup service by July 10th. You might be saying, "wait isn't it July 8th right now." Yes, indeed it is and no, I still have not purchased my plane ticket due to financial difficulties. I do, however, have all the intention in the world to purchase my ticket by next week. The next question that comes to my mind is, how much has the ticket increased since my wonderful phone call last week about the increase in price? The answer... well, I don't know that, but I will be sure to update you all once I've purchased my ticket.
One quick note. I should be fine with the whole deadline thingy. It's only to take advantage of the pickup service. Luckily, I have friends in Japan who'd probably love to come pick me up from the air port... the only thing is they don't know that yet. hahahaha
will write back soon.
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