AFS-USA uses a through-ticketing model for our hosted participants. As participants are confirmed (Family Placement Confirm placement status - FPC) in a host family/school placement, AFS-USA notifies the AFS Sending Partner of the Host Distribution Site (HDS) for the final destination airport associated with the Area Team.
The AFS-USA Travel and Logistics Department coordinates the arrivals and departures for program participants every year.
CORE Semester/Year Flagship Participants
For our semester/year CORE (non-Sponsored Programs) participants arriving each summer, in a typical year, the majority of our participants arrive during the months of August and September and return to their home country in January (for semester participants) or in June (for year program participants).
Sponsored Programs Semester/Year Flagship Participants
CBYX year program participants typically align with CORE participant arrivals (see above). For return information, please follow this link .
For more information about our semester/year Sponsored Program participants (YES/FLEX) arrivals and departures, please click here or arrivals and here for departure information
Where a hosted Participant arrives and departs (Host Distribution Site – HDS) is dependent upon where in the U.S they are hosted. Please note that all YES hosted participants arrive and depart from Washington D.C.
AFS-USA hosted participants fly in different ways from their home country to their final destination. All CORE participants are “through-ticketed” to their final destination airport (Host Distribution Site – HDS).
Sponsored Program participants’ travel is arranged contingent upon Department of State requirements for arrival and departure orientations. For more information, see here. Where the host students arrive and depart (Host Distribution Site – HDS) is dependent upon what part of the U.S they are hosted. Please note that all YES hosted participants arrive and depart from Washington D.C.
You can view travel information for our hosted participants through this MyAFS article.
Departure Days
For CORE hosted participants, where possible, return travel will be scheduled approximately 1-2 weeks after the end of host school activities (as defined by the last day of school, last day of exams, graduation and/or prom date, whichever comes latest; potential snow days can also be factored into this end date assignment). Each CORE participant’s return date is indicated by Regional Field Specialist when assigning the school placement in Global Link. For more information about CORE participant departures, please see this page.
For more information about Sponsored Program return dates, please see here