Job Discussion Forums

[sprightly]

I'm filling out an online application with HCT in UAE right now. i'm completely stumped as to what major contribution i could make to higher education in the uae, and so am pondering the benefits package.

i've noticed that they want to know what airport to issue my initial ticket to, and then it seem to suggest that my vacation tickets (part of the pckg) will also be back to this same place.

um. what if i don't want to go home on vacation? is this part of their assumption, or is it a case of "when you get here we'll hammer out those details?"

cheers!

[veiledsentiments]

You have to set a home base for your tickets. For instance, many people who live on the east coast, use a middle US home address so that they get more ticket money. You can make changes to the ticket after issuance, paying the extra money required. For instance, if you are from the UK, you would use a UK address. (yours, parents, sister, friend...) If you will be coming from your country of previous employment, make it clear that it is only your first ticket from this address and tell them your 'home' for the summer tickets and final ticket at end of contract.

I can't help you with the major contribution you will make. You're an English teacher, you should be able to... err... elaborate and fluff that up on your own.

VS

[Sand Trapped]

[sprightly]

i'm not actually from the uk--i'm just here at the moment. i'll be home before i start work, though.

yeah, i love my family and all, but really, the world is a small place. if someone's going to give me a free ticket for vacation, i'll be going somewhere new. all these little details make me worry.

now, if i can only log into my lovely profile, i'll upload my fluff.
the third party question i found quite easy--really just a variation on 'what are you strengths and weaknesses.'

[veiledsentiments]

Sand-trapped,

I don't know if they will give money these days. Travel rules tend to have regular minor changes. HCT has no specific airline as far as I know. My guess is that they still work with a travel agent or agencies who run down the cheapest ticket for a route back to your 'home base' stated in your application. No one really cares whether you go there or not... least of all the travel agency. Then you go to the travel agency and they give you credit for the value of that ticket against the real route you wish to fly.

In my 15+ years of doing this, I rarely - probably never if I think about it - used the original ticket and route any employer supplied.

[Tuttifruitti]

Hi all,

When you come first, you get the ticket, but from then on you have a choice. You can either take the ticket, or the money in lieu which they add to your salary the month before you go on leave.

As VS correctly said (as always!) they don't care where you go, but whatever airport you write in the application form reflects a certain allowance, and this is what you will get every year for your ticket. If you decide to go elsewhere you add to the allowance, or keep the balance, depending on the cost of the ticket you choose to get. If you are married, your spouse gets the same allowance, regardless of his/her nationality. It's a good system and you can usually get cheaper flights than the allowance, so you have some extra spending money for the hols!

[veiledsentiments]

Well, tutti, if you look around on here, I expect you could locate a few errors on my part, but I do try to say when I am sort of speculating.

When I was first in the Gulf, I would go back to the US every other year and had a running balance at my travel agency. I could do summer travel to somewhere close and cheap like Egypt, Syria, India, or Thailand - since I like to spend a month or more in the same place. That would leave me with a nice balance for the next year to be able to up my ticket that year to business class since flying from the Middle East to 'middle' America is an awful long slog. Sometimes I even had some left for a mid-semester hop somewhere.

One of my favorite Gulf perks!!

VS

[scot47]

Find that spot on Planet Earth that is furthest removed geographically from where you are working and make that your "point of origin" or "home of record"

[veiledsentiments]

But, Scot... could you choose a country that doesn't match your passport? Americans normally try to use some spot in the middle of the US that has a decent airport, which can add up to US$500 to the price of a ticket to a major urban airport. I always used my parent's address.

I expect that it would look suspicious if we all started using Antarctica as our home base.

VS

[Gordon]

Pick Vancouver or anywhere on the West Coast. It is exactly 12 time zones from much of the Middle East. I think Antarctica is closer anyways.

[sprightly]

i live in a small east coast city. i can't think of anywhere i want to go that would cost too much more.

except the sub-artic maybe.

thanks for the tips. now, off to apply for jobs in kuwait, doha, and dubai. my life. all i do is sleep, eat, apply for jobs and procrasinate on my dissertation.

[veiledsentiments]

You sound perfect for EFL...

Places like Rapid City, South Dakota or Billings, Montana get a nice rate jump... about any connection out of Minneapolis or Kansas City is good for another $500.

VS

[Gordon]

What do you think Anchorage or Whitehorse would run you from the ME?

[scot47]

Most Saudis have a pretty poor grasp of Geography. Tell them you are from Alpha Centauri.

[veiledsentiments]

Yes, but Scot... the OP is talking HCT in the UAE. None of the decisions in this area probably get near a local.

Hey Gordon... as to using Alaska, I never ran into anyone who had used it. You usually need someone to use as an address... Don't assume that distance is a major effect on ticket prices. Major airports have cheaper prices... the key is small seldom used airports that still get flights on an established airline.

VS