The AFS-USA Travel Department coordinates the arrivals and departures of approximately 3,000 program participants every year. The majority of our participants arrive and depart during the months of June through September. The arrival and departure airports of our participants depend on their program and country.
AFS-USA relies on volunteers to support the transit of our AFS participants at all gateway airports listed below. The AFS Travel Department will communicate with AFS volunteers and TDS (Team Development Staff) in the teams surrounding the airports for assistant and help as needed.
Sending Students
The AFS-USA sending programs depart and return from one of four different international gateway cities in the U.S. depending on the AFS program and country.
The international gateway cities are as follows:
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- New York, NY
- Washington D.C
It is important to note that Sponsored Programs students depart from different airports
- NSLI-Y students depart from New York, NY
- CB students depart from Washington D.C
- YES students typically depart from regular gateways
Hosting Students
The AFS-USA hosting programs depart and return from one of five different gateway cities in the U.S. Where the host students arrive and depart are dependent on what part of the U.S they are hosted. It is important to note that all YES hosting participants arrive and depart from Washington D.C.
The hosting program gateway cities are as follows for NH17:
- Seattle, WA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Houston, TX
- New York, NY
- Washington D.C (Hosting Sponsored Programs Students)
You can view travel information for our hosting participants through MyAFS.
Departure Day (D-Day)
This is the day/s when all the host students depart the U.S. and return home. All the host students depart their teams and travel to their hosting gateway city. From there the students travel to their international gateway (sometimes their hosting gateway city is also their international gateway) and return home.
Typically the hosting gateway cities in the West (Seattle and Los Angeles) depart on one day and the remaining hosting gateway cities (Houston, Chicago, New York and Washington D.C) depart the following day.