Job Discussion Forums

[RobM]

Are there any schools or programs other than JET and Westgate that will pay one's airfare to Japan? My girlfriend and I both plan to move to Japan in the summer or fall after we complete our current contracts in Prague. Both of us are TEFL certified (120+ hours) and will have one year of EFL teaching experience. Thanks,

Rob

[Glenski]

RobM,

GEOS offers a 100,000 yen bonus if you complete your contract. You could use that any way you like, including airfare home.

AEON promises a return ticket or equivalent cash after you complete a contract.

NOVA and ECC merely offer discount tickets to Japan.

By the way, having TEFL certification doesn't mean you can get a work visa, let alone a job in Japan. Depending on your nationality and what kind of job you are looking for, you may need a bachelor's degree. Where are you two from (and what are your ages)?

[Sunpower]

Hello:

I recently exchanged mail with a member of this board re Nova Air Fare. My experience was something like this:

When I was contracted in Canada to come work for Nova in Saitama, Japan, I was automatically scheduled for a flight with one of their travel agencies.

It seems that NOVA is some sort of a conglomerate - Real estate, travel agencies, loans, collection agency, English school, etc, etc.

In fact, I had to call their travel agency in Toronto to cancel the flight. I was booked on one of their flights without asking to be booked on it. It was automatically done after I was hired by the company. Again, I didn't ask to be booked on a Nova flight.

I guess the onus is on the new teacher to cancel the flight. I received a letter in the mail telling me that NOVA booked a flight for me to Japan and that if I didn't want the booking, I had to cancel the flight myself. I was thinking, 'WTF??'

Anyways, I lived in Vancouver at the time and got a cheaper ticket there.

Nova offered a One-Way ticket for about $1,200 Canadian.

A Vancouver based travel agency, sort of like HIS in Japan, sold me a 1 year open Vancouver to Tokyo "return" ticket for about $850 Canadian.

The Nova ticket was only 1-Way!!

SO!

All this *beep* you hear about NOVA jacking up the rent in teacher apartments and over chargin on airfares to Japan appears to be true.

I imagine a lot of Canadain teachers get ripped on the airfare deal if they leave it up to Nova (as well as instructors from other contries) to book their flights for them.

What I really disliked was the aggressive move by NOVA to book me on one of their "flights" without my asking them to do this for me.

For those who are coming to Japan with a Nova contract, I recommend finding your own air line ticket - Go for a 1 year open, return ticket.

Nova overcharges on their tickets and aprtments.

Good Luck!

[RobM]

Glenski,

I forgot to mention other relevant information. My girlfirend and I are U.S. citizens in our early twenties and both have bachelor's degrees from University of Wisconsin--Madison (International Relations and History, respectively). We are not very concerned about where in Japan we would be placed as long as we would be in the same town. Do you think that there is any chance that a private school might be willing to pay airfare for one of us?

Thanks for the help,

Rob

[Glenski]

Rob,

I think it is highly unlikely that a school will pay your airfare, but in rare cases this is done. You'll have to search very thoroughly for such a situation. When it happens, the school may either pay you after you arrive (mine did within a couple of weeks), or they may give you the reimbursement at the end of the contract, only to prove your good faith in accepting the job with them (like I posted earlier).

Best of luck.