FAQs: Prior to Arrival
Are all Area Teams required to have a Travel Representative?
- Yes, Area Team Travel Representatives (Travel Reps) help plan, coordinate and support day-of travel for participants hosted in the Area Team.
- Area Team Travel Reps work closely with the Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator to ensure that the logistics of travel can be coordinated with the Arrival Orientation plans.
- In smaller Area Teams, the Area Team Chair may decide that the Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator and the Travel Rep may be the same person.
- However, larger Area Teams are encouraged to identify a separate Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator and Travel Rep because day of travel planning will require significant bandwidth.
- Travel Rep Trainings for Arrivals will be provided around the end of June/early July.
- Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinators and/or Orientation Coordinators are also welcome to join this training.
How can our Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator properly complete the Activity Module with our Arrival Orientation plans in Global Link?
- Information about how to complete the Activity Module “Shell” which has been created is available here.
What if my participant’s travel not visible in Global Link (GL)?
- Participant travel information will be available in GL approximately 10 days before the scheduled arrival date.
- To identify a participant’s approximate arrival date and find travel information when it becomes available, please see this Help & Learning page
- If exact flight detail info is not yet uploaded to GL by the AFS Sending Partner in the participant’s home country, please rest assured the Sending Partner is working to finalize the participant’s travel
- Some Sending Partners wait until the student receives their visa (or until the sending. parents/guardians complete payment of their program fee in full) in order to purchase tickets
- As flight details are being finalized by the Sending Partner, you can determine your participant’s approximate arrival date (see this helpful MyAFS article).
Our host family’s schedule will not allow them to pick the participant up at the airport and we cannot find a volunteer either, how can we proceed? /
The domestic/international flight arrives late in the evening and the host family cannot pick up the participant upon arrival, can the flight be re-booked to arrive earlier? /
The domestic/international flight arrives too late, can AFS overnight the student by the international arrival airport and fly them domestically to us the next day?
- If the host family schedule will not allow them to pick up the participant upon arrival, the host family should be asked to identify a family member or friend to welcome the participant as an Event Family.
- This family must (1) complete an AFS host family application, (2) be screened/approved as an Event Family and (3) be linked to the participant’s service case in Global Link as a confirmed placement so the information can be shared with the Sending Partner/participant/parents in advance of arrival to the USA.
- Ideally, this Event Family will be able to connect via zoom/phone with the participant before arrival so both parties are comfortable when they arrive.
- Participant travel cannot be changed due to inability of a host family and volunteers within an Area Team to pick the participant up at the airport.
- Domestic flights, in most cases are part of the international ticket and no changes can be made
- Additionally, AFS-USA is no longer operating large arrival/departure gateway events and therefore cannot accommodate overnighting of participants at international/gateway airports.
- Lastly, AFS-USA highly recommends that volunteers accompany the host family in the pick-up of their hosted participant(s) at their arrival airport.
- This volunteer may also wish to serve as an Event family, but must also complete a host family application, be fully screened/approved by AFS-USA and linked in Global Link.
Can we change the arrival airport for our hosted student because the host family will be on vacation in a different city?
- No. Domestic flights, in most cases are part of the international ticket and no changes can be made. A Welcome or Event family should be identified to welcome the student until the permanent host family returns from their vacation.
- This host family must (1) complete an AFS host family application, (2) be screened/approved as an Event family and (3) be linked to the participant’s service case in Global Link as a confirmed placement so the information can be shared with the Sending Partner/participant/parents in advance of arrival to the USA.
- Ideally, this host family will be able to connect via zoom/phone with the participant before arrival so both parties are comfortable when they arrive.
How far are host families being asked to drive in order to pick up their student at the airport?
- Host Distribution Site (HDS) airport(s) for each Area Team were finalized with the respective Regional Directors and Regional Field Specialists with the understanding and expectation that host families (and accompanying volunteers) will in some cases need to travel up to approximately three (3) hours to pick up their participant(s).
- It is critical to set expectations with host families from the start regarding the expected airport pick-up.
- If a family is reluctant to drive to the airport, carpooling with another family or offering to meet the family half-way are both potential solutions that have worked for Area Teams.
- Reasonably priced tickets to most tertiary airports from international destinations are generally not available (in some cases, thru-ticketing to these smaller airports is not even possible).
- Therefore, the approved airport(s) for each Host Distribution Site (HDS) is often a primary or secondary international airport.
The host family won't drive to the Host Distribution Site (HDS) assigned to our team, can we change the arrival airport to another airport?
- No. Host Distribution Site (HDS) airport(s) for each Area Team were finalized with the respective Regional Directors and Regional Field Specialists with the understanding and expectation that host families (and accompanying volunteers) will in some cases need to travel up to approximately three (3) hours to pick up their participant(s).
- AFS-USA is not able to accommodate special requests for airports other than the airport(s) agreed upon for each Area Team’s Host Distribution Site (HDS).
- It is critical to set expectations with host families from the start regarding the expected airport pick-up.
- If a family is reluctant to drive to the airport, carpooling with another family or offering to meet the family half-way are both potential solutions that have worked for Area Teams.
Our participant would like to try out for a sports team, but the tryouts are happening before the planned arrival date, can we change the arrival date so they can try out? /
Our participant has been accepted to a sports camp (or similar) that extends beyond their scheduled return date, can we change the return date?
- Participants may not arrive early nor return late for personal reasons nor for sports tryouts.
The host family would like to take their student to XXX city on a vacation before they leave, can AFS change the departure airport?
- No. Tickets may not be changed for personal reasons.
FAQs: Day of Arrival
What happens if a participant misses their connecting flight and the participant is re-booked on late night flight?
- If AFS-USA staff are notified of a change in domestic flight rebooking, we will contact the Travel Rep for your Area Team.
- In turn, the Travel Rep should notify the respective Airport Volunteer and Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator.
- Note that, in some cases, participants may call their host families directly to inform them of the change.
- More information about Arrival communication channels and procedures will be shared in the Travel Rep training being scheduled for end of June/early July and in the weeks leading up to arrivals.
- AFS-USA staff and your Area Team’s Travel Rep will be tracking all participants’ inbound flights – including the international flight to the USA.
- However, since AFS-USA does not book the international flights, AFS-USA does not have access to reservations. So, unless the participant calls our emergency phone, we may not know in advance.
- All Area Teams should be prepared for late-night arrivals
- Even if a late-night arrival is not scheduled, it will be prudent to prepare for the possibility that a participant’s flight will be re-booked due to cancelation or delays
- Preparing for this possibility can be as simple as having your Travel Rep identify an on-call volunteer (or themselves be available) if a scenario such as this occurs.
Will students arrive by country as they have in years past? (i.e., all Italians together). Or will they travel individually? (E.g., Marta from Italy could arrive in the morning, Guido from Italy at night)
- If partners have several participants placed in the same area, they will try to coordinate arriving flights to the same Host Distribution Site (HDS).
- However, some partners will purchase tickets as students are placed or receive their visas. In the case of students that are placed later, the initial flight may not be available so students would arrive separately.
Do volunteers have to be at the airport for arrivals?
- AFS-USA strongly recommends that a volunteer be at the airport to facilitate the meeting between the host family and the participant and resolve any issues that may arise.
- Our decades of airport pick up experience suggest that it is significantly easier to resolve problems when a volunteer is physically present at the airport for pick-up.
- For example, if the host family is delayed for some reason, and a volunteer is not also scheduled to facilitate the meeting of the host family and the student, the student will be alone.
- If a volunteer is unable to be at the airport to facilitate the meeting, Area Teams are still responsible for communicating with the host family regarding pick up rules and must also act as the emergency contact for both the host family and the student.
- While AFS-USA provides participants with our emergency contact/duty officer number, should the host family not be at the airport or they cannot find the student, we will contact the Travel Rep and/or the Hosting Arrival Orientation Coordinator to manage and resolve the problem.
How soon after Arrival does Arrival Orientation have to take place?
- As in years past, Arrival Orientation must take place within 7 days of a student’s arrival, for all participants – core and Sponsored Programs.
Please see the Arrival Orientation page on Help and Learning for more information.