Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cherry Ripe]

Normally I would recommend anyone travelling OS to buy a return ticket. However, in the case of coming to Korea to be part of the EPIK program, it's best NOT to buy a return airfare. Buy only a one-way fare.
The return portion of your airfare must be used within 12 months from the date you fly out of your home country. In the EPIK program you will probably be leaving around the 15th or 16th August. BUT Your contract does not start until the beginning of September. Currently, if you don't plan to renew the contract, you cannot leave the country until 7 working days prior to the end the contract. By that time your return portion of the ticket will have expired.

[crazylemongirl]

or some airlines wil grant extenstions for a few weeks but best confirm this at time of booking.

[Wangja]

An open-return ticket can be re-validated for another 12 months.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Does EPIK make you pay the flight yourself?

I applied to EPIK but I'm 99% sure I'll take a different job I've been offered - just using them as a fall-back incase something goes majorly wrong. Anyways, today I get a call saying they'd like to currier the contract forms for me to sign ... payed cash on delivery. i.e. I'm supposed to pay the currier W4,000 when it arrives at my friend's place. Can they really be so cheap? When I sent off the forms for the job I did take overnight express mail with Korea Post only cost W1,300.

If no one's home to pay the currier all the more excuse to stall them while I make sure the visa goes through for the other job.

[ulsanchris]

i've never had any luck in getting even a few days extension on a round trip ticket.

[deessell]

I have been able to obtain a refund on the unused portion of the ticket, I think thats the best you can hope for.

[Dawn]

[StephPoet]

Yes, EPIK does make you pay for the flight yourself, something I didn't know until just now. They claim they'll "apply for the refund with the receipt" upon my arrival.

WTF? is this standard? If I had known I'd need $1000, I wouldn't have arranged a dental trip to Costa Rica...which now I can't cancel. Sigh.

[schwa]

This from the epik website:

"By the end of the orientation period, airfare from your country to Korea will be provided by EPIK. Airfare will be in a form of a loan to the employee by the employer, to prevent early termination of contracts.

"The airfare loan will be in the amount of your actual purchasing price of an economy class airfare on the most direct flight available from the Korean Embassy/Consulate to which the employee submitted his/her application, to Incheon. In order to get this loan processed during orientation, you will be required to submit your passenger ticket copy, boarding pass and the receipt of purchase (or invoice) from the vendor (without all three items, your loan can not be processed).

"If you satisfy your contract term, this loan will be waived and the refund for your return ticket home will be provided.

"If you purchase a round trip ticket, you will be reimbursed for half of your airfare by the end of the orientation period and the other half will be paid when your contract ends. It is advisable to shop around for the best fare and to purchase your ticket in advance. Please consult with the Korean Embassy/Consulate where you applied for the best possible routing and fare."

The business about the "loan" just means they can claim the airfare back from you if you bail early. Essentially they just pay you for your ticket at the end of orientation.

They reimburse you 100% for a one-way economy ticket but only 50% upfront for a return ticket (the other half at the end of the year). So why bother with the possibility of hassles on extending a return ticket? One-way is more expensive but it aint your dime.

Take careful note of the italicized words in the 2nd paragraph. They will insist on all 3 before coughing up the money.

[StephPoet]

Yeah, I didn't know it was part of EPIK until after she sent the contract to me. It was advertised here and didn't say anything about the program...not sure why. I better come up with the cash, quick, or I'm screwed out of a job.

[Ekuboko]

Do you have a credit card you can clock the ticket up on?

The EPIK will ask you very soon into the orientation for the receipts and things. They will give you CASH for your ticket, converted into Korean won, on either the second-to-last or last day of orientation.

I don't advise you to buy a return ticket, which is what I was told to do by the Korean consulate to which I applied. It not only got the EPIK office's brain's hurting over how much they were going to give me (yeah, wondered why they wouldn't just give me HALF - you will learn about Korean 'logic'), but it is also creating headaches for me now (as I am staying on another year) which I won't go into.

[plato's republic]

Ekuboko,

So you're not heading back to Japan then? I thought you might be looking to return. Anyway, good luck with your renewal.

[StephPoet]

Nope. Had to go into bankruptcy. Wish I had known about working in Korea before...could've paid off the major debts that led to it.

Basically, this is supposed to be a new start for me. The bad news is, I have about $772 and all that would go toward a ticket. I wouldn't be able to get clothes, toiletries, laptop AC adapter converter, contact lenses, anything before going...and I'm still short. Sigh.

Any cheapo travel agents?

[Ekuboko]

[Yu_Bum_suk]