Flight System Overview

Your roundtrip international flight from the U.S. group departure airport to the country you’re volunteering in is included in your ILP program fee. Transportation to the destination country often isn’t included by other volunteer programs, so we’re pretty proud of this one! Here’s how it works:

You will fly from your group’s U.S. international departure airport to your assigned country (and back to this airport again when you return home). ILP will arrange and purchase this roundtrip international flight for you.

On departure day, you will meet up with others in your group, either at the departure gate for your international flight at the group departure airport or at the final destination airport. Once you arrive at your destination country, there will be a designated local who will be waiting to greet you and your ILP group at the airport. They’ll help you get settled into your new home for the semester!

Travel from your home to the group departure airport is not covered by your program fee. You are responsible for getting to and from your U.S. group departure airport, including both the costs and arrangements. The departure airport is different for each group, largely depending on the country that you’re flying to. To give you an idea of what to expect, it’s often major airports like LAX (Los Angeles), IAH (Houston), MIA (Miami), and JFK (New York).

Getting To + From Your Group Departure Airport

Unless you happen to live in the same city as your group departure airport, you will need to arrange travel to and from that airport (that’s the case for most volunteers). For example, let’s say you’re volunteering in Mexico and ILP purchased international flights for your group that go from Los Angeles (LAX) to Mexico City (MEX). You live in Salt Lake City, so you need to arrange plans to get to Los Angeles.

Once ILP purchases the international portion of your flights (about 2 months prior to departure), you’ll receive that itinerary which will include the group departure airport and the date/time of your international flight. As soon as you receive that email, it’s time for you to make plans for how you will get to that airport.

Consider different options that make the most sense for you:

Most volunteers either drive or fly to the group departure airport, but there are pros and cons depending on your situation. Would your parents rather drive so that they can see you off at the international airport? Maybe you could make a fun road trip out of it!

Would taking a domestic flight be more convenient because your international departure airport is across the country and just too far away? If so, there’s a few scenarios to anticipate when you’re purchasing your domestic flight:

*Quick note for Canadian volunteers — we’re saying “domestic flight” to help differentiate between the flight you purchase to get to the departure airport from your home and the international flight that ILP purchases for the group, but the group departure airport is always a major U.S. airport, so this will technically be an international flight as well if you’re coming from Canada.

• Does your domestic airline include checked bags or would that be an additional cost to consider? Bags fees aren’t covered by ILP for your international flight and you may or may not have bag fees for that portion of the trip (depending on the airline’s policies), and if you have bag fees for a domestic flight there’s the potential that you’re paying bag fees twice. If bags are not included, sometimes it is more cost effective to purchase a higher class ticket that does include bags rather than paying the bag fees.
• What domestic options are available that allow you to arrive so that you can be on time for your international flight departure? That may include something like taking a red eye flight or arriving at the airport even earlier than the recommended time of being 6 hours early. If your international airport departs early in the morning, you may need to arrange a hotel near your group departure airport. Let’s say your international flight is departing from Miami at 7:30 AM, but the only flight you can find to Miami from your home in Idaho gets you there at 9 PM the previous day. Many volunteers opt to be at the airport overnight to save a bit of money, but you might choose to book a hotel to have a better night’s rest. Just remember that you are responsible to make these arrangements and cover any related costs like hotel room, Uber to the airport, etc. Also, most hotels require that you be at least 21 to check in, but if you check around you may find some hotels that allow for 18 year olds to check in.

A common question we get is, “Can you purchase a roundtrip flight from the airport where I live to the country if I pay the difference in the higher costing flight?”. While we would love to be more accommodating if that makes things easier on you, we arrange flights for multiple hundreds of volunteers every year and we just don’t have the bandwidth to make custom flight arrangements. Our flight team works hard at finding the best routes so that your group can arrive together at the final destination airport — because we have volunteers coming from all across the U.S. and Canada, it works best to have everyone departing from the same international airport (rather than juggling custom requests).

If You’re Driving To The Group Departure Airport

Plan to arrive at the group departure airport 3 hours prior to your international flight’s boarding time. After checking your bags in, head to the gate where you’ll meet up with any other ILP group members who may be on your flight.

If You’re Flying To The Group Departure Airport

Plan to arrive at the group departure airport 4-6 hours early. And honestly … we recommend that you aim closer to arriving 6 hours early. We’ve seen so many situations where after all flights were purchased, the airlines rescheduled the volunteers’ international flight to depart a bit earlier and then their domestic flight was also unexpectedly delayed. When that happens and you’re cutting it close, you’ll be glad for every extra minute you have. And that’s the case for both your departure flight and your return flight.

Airlines typically recommend that you check in 3 hours early for an international flight, but because you’ll be taking a separate flight to the airport, you need to give yourself extra time beyond that just in case something unexpected delays you, which is so common with flights. It’s important to plan for unforeseen circumstances — flight delays, weather cancellations, changes to flight times (occasionally airlines change flight times even after they’re purchased), etc. We recommend that you plan to arrive at the departure airport about 6 hours before your international flight and that you obtain trip insurance. Those precautions come in handy when the unexpected happens.

So back to our example, if your international flight from LAX – MEX departs at 4 PM and you want to fly to the LAX airport, choose a flight that arrives ideally around 10 AM, but no later than noon.

If you miss your international flight for any reason (even if it’s not in your control), you are responsible for any costs associated with getting you to meet up with your group, including overnight stays at a hotel, flight change fees given by the airline, additional flights, transportation, etc.

Please note that airlines sometimes change flight times and schedules on international flights after the ticket is purchased. For this reason we strongly encourage you to buy a changeable ticket or travel insurance to cover any cost associated with changes, delays, or other travel problems that could cause you to miss the connection with the flight that you purchased (especially on your return at the end of the semester).

An extra tip: Check to see if it’s an option to purchase your domestic flight with the same airline as your international one. There can be advantages to flying on the same airline, even if the two flights were purchased separately. Let’s say you’re flying American Airlines to Miami for your domestic flight and then flying American to the Dominican for your international flight — If you have any delays on your first flight caused by American, they may be easier to work with since they’re more motivated to help you make that next flight, if they can. If your international flight is on an airline like American Airlines, United, or Delta, you may want to opt to do that. We just wanted to throw that out there because it’s something that not many people know about and if you happen to have similar options on two airlines but one is the same one you’re flying internationally with, then we’d suggest going with that one. But if you’re able to find a much better price or travel time on a different airline, that might just still be the better option for you! Many of our volunteers are flying international airlines that are not local (like Fiji Airways, Qatar, Phillipines Air, etc), so if that’s the case don’t worry about it. Your international airline varies depending on which part of the world you’re flying to, so this tip works for some volunteers but not all.

To sum up our domestic flight recommendations:

• Arrive at the airport 4-6 hours early, ideally 6 hours
• Purchase a ticket that includes changeable options like flight time changes or separate trip insurance that covers delays or missed connections
• Purchase a ticket that includes bags
• If possible, purchase your flight through the same airline as your international flight (not an option for all volunteers)

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I find out my flight itinerary/the dates of my semester? By the Travel Info Date for your group (location + semester), we will purchase the roundtrip international portion of your trip and email you that full itinerary. The Travel Info Date is different for each group, so you’ll get that information after you’re assigned to a location, but in general terms, it’s 2 months prior to the typical departure date range. So for example, if your group normally departs in May, you’ll get your itinerary in March.

If I’m flying to the group departure airport, when should I buy that flight? As soon as you receive your email from ILP with the itinerary for your international flight, we strongly recommend purchasing your domestic flight soon after. That happens about 2 months prior to departure.

What happens when we arrive in the country? Your group has a Local Coordinator who lives in your country and is there to assist with your needs in country. They’ll be arranging transportation from the airport to your new home. After you land, your ILP group will go through immigration, pick up your bags at baggage claim, and head out to the waiting area to find a local with an “ILP” sign waiting to greet you!

Instead of flying from the group departure airport, can I have ILP purchase my flight from my home airport and pay the additional costs? Unfortunately we don’t have the bandwidth to make custom arrangements for each volunteer. Our flight team works really hard to find the best routes for each group so that you’re all arriving in country together (or close to the same time together). Because we have volunteers who live all across the U.S. and Canada, it works best to have everyone meet at one U.S. departure airport to start your adventure.

What if I need to get a hotel to stay at overnight before my international flight, but I am not 21 yet? Most hotels do have a requirement of being 21 in order to check in, but not all. If you’re under 21, check around and see if you can find another hotel in the area with and age limit of 18 years old for check-in. Also, know that many volunteers opt to be at the airport overnight instead of getting a hotel. There are pros to this: you won’t have to worry about getting around a city that you’re not familiar with by yourself, often in the night time (which means the airport may be a bit safer). And it does save money as well. It won’t be the best night’s sleep, but every semester we have volunteers who prefer to find a quiet corner of the airport for the night to wait for their flight.