Accept a contract that doesn't include free flight?

[ange]

I have been offered a job teaching at a university in Korea, which was set up through a friend with previous experience working at the school.
It sounds like a good contract ( 2.5-3 million won/month, 15-18 hours per week, the fall and spring semesters run 15 weeks after which I will have a 2 month vacation in both summer and winter (during vacation I am paid 1.5 million won/month), an apartment (but must pay own utilities)), however, they don't pay my airfare.
I know most places cover your air fare and people suggest that you shouldn't even bother considering to work for someone who doesn't, but I thought that since I get much more vacation time and because I work fewer hours that it may be a fair trade.
Does anyone know if this is common practice for university teaching?

[eslweb]

It can be quite common not to include your air-fare if they want to hire somebody locally or they do not often hire expats from abroad. The key thing is, are they a good place to work for and reputable.

Personally I like to add all the benefits together as a lump sum. Your air-fare will cost you money, so do the other benefits make up for it? Also if you are paying for your air-fare then you can leave when you want to...

James

P.S. A lot of places will only pay for your air-fare after successful completion of the contract and will use it as leverage.

[walrus]

Take the money! While your employer may be honourable, I've heard of too many cases where for some vague excuse your employment is terminated two weeks before the airfare is due.

Always evaluate the total package. I successfully used this to get a much better deal on an internal contract. I merely added up all benefits, divided it by the hours expected and totally surprised my guy at the university foreign affairs office (China). I got my rate - 150% higher than offered.