Korean Job Discussion Forums

[aaronvehling]

Hello, I am in the process of signing a hagwon contract and the director for the school into which I will engage in a contract said we need to look at local travel agents because he can't book in Korea. Does this make sense or is there some sort of breakdown in our communication?

Thank you.

[ilovebdt]

I think so. When I got my first job in Korea my director booked me a flight from LHR to Seoul with a Korean travel agent no problem. Maybe you should ask himto clarify what he means.

[sheba]

Ive heard of this before.

My school went through a recruiter and the recruiter booked my flights through a travel agent in my own country.

My Chinese friend wanted to book flights through her agent in China (while she was in NZ) because it was much cheaper, but she had to use a local agent.

Im not sure of the rules.... It seems to be a common occurence though. Besides, as long as your school is paying the fare then does it matter where the flights are booked?

[aaronvehling]

[ilovebdt]

Oh,I see your predicament. Have you spoken to the other foreigners at the school? Did they do the same thing and were they reimbursed within a reasonable amount of time?

[aaronvehling]

[aaronvehling]

[polonius]

There are a couple possibilities to your quandry. First, if it is a rush to get you over here, it will be quicker to have you pay for the ticket in your home country and have the ticket in hand. Korean credit cards do not work overseas unless the card is physically there. So if they want you on a flight next week, this is the easiest way. They could book the flight here, and send you the ticket, but that could take some time.

Second, the school may have been bitten once, by paying for a ticket, then not having the teacher show up. So it might be insurance for them.

The school I work at asks for the teacher to pay for the ticket, then they are re-imbursed once they arrive. Not once have they welched on the airfare.

That being said, ask the other foreign teachers at the school whether they were re-imbursed, which I am sure that they were, otherwise they would not be working there.

[sheba]

Tell your school you simply do not have the cash to pay upfront and they will have to pay it instead of reimbursing. There are plenty of ways to send money internationally.

[plattwaz]

When I originally came to Korea several years ago, my hagwan booked the ticket from a Korean travel agency for me to pick-up in Canada. It was a rather difficult and frustrating process - but it came through in the end.

The travel agent had to book the flight with Air Canada, and the ticket was issued and printed by the AC office in Toronto. Then it was sent to my local aiport for pick up. I was given a confirmation number by the Korean travel agent, and no matter how many times I called Air Canada, they passed me on to Korean Air, who passed me onto AirCanada, 2 or 3 times a day. I finally just went into the airport with my confirmation number and they were able to give me the ticket.

So, the point is - I think it CAN be done, but it can also be a difficult process. It helped probably that my hagwan director's brother was the travel agency owner in Korea, so there's a chance he was willing to do something for his brother that other agent's aren't willing to do?

[plattwaz]

[the eye]

it is much more expensive to book a flight from a foreign country. your direcotr may be trying to save some money on the ticket by having you buy it on your end.

[aaronvehling]

[mindmetoo]

If you have the cash and you trust your school to pay you, booking your own travel agenda is best. If you leave it up to the school, they will book the cheapest possible (ie not the most direct route... Detroit to Dallas to LA to Japan to Korea...)