Flights

Airline Tickets | Timing | Checking In | Transferring Overseas | Supervision During Flights | In-Flight Services | Luggage Problems | Delays or Cancellations | Missed Flights | Lost Passports | Success Tips

Airline Tickets

We strongly recommend that you make at least three photocopies, preferably color, of your group’s e-ticket information as soon as you receive it, along with your participants’ passports. Keep the group’s e-ticket numbers and flight details in a safe place and bring the photocopies with you on tour. Should an unlikely issue with one of your e-tickets arise, you will need a record of the ticket number and other pieces of information found on the photocopies.

We will send e-tickets directly to travelers who are departing from a different gateway than you are. Note that e-tickets are not included for travelers who have made their own flight arrangements.

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Allow Plenty of Time

As ACIS offers a large number of regional departures, some groups must change planes either in the U.S. or overseas, especially during the peak spring and summer seasons. Timing, therefore, is crucial.

Check online with your airline 72 hours ahead of time to reconfirm your flight numbers and times, and check in at least three hours prior to an international flight and two hours prior to a domestic flight.

Discuss your connection times with your ACIS Program Manager upon receipt of your flight itinerary and keep your group moving between connections.

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Checking In

Packing

Remember to pack lightly! One medium-size suitcase and a personal item is the maximum that participants should pack. We recommend bringing carry-on luggage only. More packing suggestions can be found here.

Luggage

If you are checking luggage, try to check it through to your final destination. Ensure that luggage tags are visible on all pieces of luggage.

To verify the bags have been checked to your final destination, check the baggage tag for the correct airport. If the bags are not able to be checked through, you will need to claim them and re-check them at the next airport.

We recommend that you keep the luggage claim checks for your group members.

Some airlines also require a label with the address of the first hotel. Different airlines and other forms of transportation have different luggage restrictions, so check with your specific carrier or ACIS Program Consultant.

Visas and Passports

Passports are required for all international ACIS trips traveling abroad except those to Canada, where a passport is only required if you are flying into the country or if you are aged 19 or over. Travelers are responsible for obtaining their own passports, so please don’t delay! Visit your post office or a local office of the federal government for an application form.

Note that some countries require that passports be valid for six months after you return to the United States. Please be sure that yours is up-to-date. For more information about obtaining a passport and processing times, visit www.travel.state.gov.

Visas may be required, particularly for non-U.S. citizens, for countries through which your group connects via plane, bus, boat or train. Once you’ve received your full itinerary, contact the embassy or consulate of every country you will travel through to learn if transit visas are required.

Travelers are responsible for their own documentation unless otherwise noted by your program consultant.

Overbooking

During peak travel periods, airlines sometimes overbook their flights and ask for volunteers who might be willing to give up their seat in exchange for a later flight and some form of compensation. Under no circumstances should you volunteer any of your seats. If you do, you will be responsible for participants catching up with the tour.

Seating and Flight Time Requests

Seating. Although ACIS always requests that the airlines seat each group together, this is not always possible. ACIS is not able to accommodate pre-departure seat requests from individuals.

Flight time requests. ACIS cannot guarantee specific flight time requests. Most non-stop flights to Europe depart in the early evening, although some west coast departures may be in the mid-afternoon. Flights to South America, Costa Rica, Mexico and China usually depart in the morning.