The International Schools Review Forum

I have interviewed with a few schools this month thinking they needed someone for August (give or take) but was a little blindsided that they asked if I'd be available for January, some even asking if I could arrive in the country in December.

Part of the issue are flight costs for such short notice. I had a co-worker, in the past, who had her flight paid for before she arrived at the school. My friend was able to negotiate, in his package, flights up-front. I am wondering how common this is or if they were just lucky in those two cases. How would you go about negotiating that? For one specific job, in particular, it would be a huge help.

Thanks.

In my previous schools, we paid for visa and medical costs up front (and then submitted receipts) but our flights were booked ad paid for by the school. At my current school, all costs, including incoming flights, were paid for by us and then everything was reimbursed. It really does add up--I think we had almost $10K reimbursed when we were done! We just put it all on a credit card. Our current school requires reimbursements or benefits to be paid in a certain way for tax purposes.

The better schools will pay for your flights themselves. If they don’t, proceed with caution and definitely talk with an unbiased person who knows the school before you sign.
It is typical to have to cover medical and other local expenses yourself and then get reimbursed, as there is no easy way for schools to cover those from afar. But flights are a different matter.

My school booked us a flight for our preferred dates and airline. No money changed hands. It would definitely be a red flag for me if a school wanted me to shell out $2000+ of my own money before even arriving.

Well, thanks for the info everyone! Food for thought as I enter stage 3 for two different schools.

The "red flag" issue is definitely worth paying attention to. I would definitely know the reputation of the school. We also asked our HR how soon we would be reimburse (interest costs) and then double-checked their information with a couple teachers we had contacts for. The teachers verified what HR was saying so we felt OK putting the $ up front.

Last two schools:

A. Book a one way flight. Maximum amount of refund was decent. Found a flight within parameters. Booked ticket, flew to country, reimbursed within 2 days.

B. School booked, ticket provided, flew.

I guess it depends on the school...

My current school wired me the shipping and flight allowance as soon as the contract was signed and sent back, and then I provided receipts in order to reduce the tax burden.

First school offered to book, second school didn't. Personally I prefer to book myself and then get a refund - I get to choose the routing and if I want to upgrade it's easier, the school then refunds the economy class fare they would have paid (or whatever the deal is.)


My first school, when I left, offered a flight to the UK which involved going east first, then west with a total flying time of about 10 hours. I booked and took another flight, cutting it by half.

The school's offering for you to start on such short notice is a red flag in itself. Suggests to me that something was bad enough to make someone quit in the middle of the year or the school didn't plan ahead very well. I would definitely insist on the school paying for the flight as a condition of going given the context.

It varries by IS and for different reasons. Generally for short recruiting cycle appointments where the cost of flights given the holiday and such short notice you can insist or require the IS directly provide the flight and that doing so is very reasonable. If they wont for whatever excuse they bring up I would see that as a clear red flag. The IS will have no skin in the game if you absorb all the costs and mid year replacements are more often for issues involving a departing IT than they are for growth.

If it's a reputable school, I'd rather book myself and get reimbursed.
Ive encountered both but never had a problem getting back the money.
If it's a school with bad reputation I would def ask them to book it for me. If they say no, then I would ask one of the current teachers there if there's ever been a problem with refunds and would decide based on the answer.