Students join our programs from almost every state in the United States and from many countries around the world. Every student originating in North America must be ticketed by Rustic Pathways on our overseas, escorted group flights, which depart from each program’s appropriate gateway city. The gateway city is the meeting point for all of our students originating in North America before heading overseas together with a group and a flight leader. Please click on the maps above for more information about gateway cities.

Rustic Pathways flight leaders escort our group flights from each gateway city. This ensures that all students are accounted for and escorted out of and into the United States on a Rustic Pathways
group flight and by a Rustic Pathways flight leader. On some specific routes, students may not be escorted on their flight. Students traveling on unescorted flights are always checked-in for their international flight by a Rustic Pathways staff member and met by a staff member upon arrival at their destination after clearing customs.

Within 24 hours of reaching the program destination, a safe arrival e-mail is sent to parents confirming the students’ safe arrival overseas.

Rustic Pathways works hard to accommodate late-season applicants whenever possible. Quite often, low-cost group seats on our flights are no longer available when bookings are made late in the season. In this case, Rustic Pathways offers parents the option of accepting higher airfares or making their own flight arrangements and paying the standard $ 100 deviation fee. Please apply for your summer program as early as possible to avoid higher airfare costs. Late sign-ups may also incur additional fees for overnight shipping of items such as T-shirts.

Changes in fuel prices impact both the airfares published on our website and the fuel surcharges imposed by the airlines. Most of the parents of our students are also travelers and appreciate how difficult it is to estimate airfares a year ahead of travel. While we try to hold our prices whenever possible, we reserve the right to increase our prices, fuel surcharges, and taxes where this becomes necessary.

One of the coolest things Rustic Pathways offers is the opportunity to visit multiple countries during the same summer. Many programs have been specifically designed to interconnect, while others take a bit of work. Almost all of our trips do connect together. If it’s possible, we’ll make it happen. Please contact us if you have any questions about combining programs.

Please click on the maps above to view estimated airfares, which are subject to change without notice. All of the prices shown exclude international taxes, airport taxes, and airline fuel surcharges as these can change quite often. Your acceptance letter will show the international tax component of your trip. In the event airlines raise taxes for fuel, security, or any other reason, you will be responsible for the increased costs.

Most countries charge a departure tax or an immigration fee. This is shown as part of the international taxes on your acceptance letter and will be paid by Rustic Pathways on behalf of students.

If you begin your travel from outside North America, please contact us for information on arrival times into your destination and departure times from your program. If special pick-up and drop-off arrangements outside these time frames are required, a minimum fee of $ 120 will be assessed each way.

Please visit rusticpathways.com/flights for information on international travel costs. The airfares listed on the website are estimates only, and all airfares, taxes, airport fees, and fuel surcharges are subject to change without notice. These prices vary according to airline and destination. Due to the strain the airline industry is experiencing because of high fuel costs and oil price volatility, we reserve the right to pass along any increases in costs associated with the airline ticket, fuel surcharge, or taxes should this become necessary.

To ensure that our programs operate in a safe and orderly manner, Rustic Pathways makes all arrangements for students’ international air travel from the time they leave North America until the time they return at the end of a successful adventure. There are only two exceptions to this: Students who live outside North America may be asked to arrange their own international air travel, and students who apply very late in the season may be required to make their own airfare arrangements when group seats on escorted flights are no longer available. Our programs span the globe, and the logistics of moving groups of young people safely and efficiently around the world require that we control their flight arrangements in all but exceptional cases. The safety of our students is always our primary consideration. We do not allow parents to make air travel arrangements for their children as this causes very real logistical problems for us and puts students unnecessarily at risk.

Rustic Pathways has exciting summer staff positions available in the United States and in our overseas locations, including positions for administrative jobs and airport coordination. We also have full-time and part-time summer positions available leading our exciting programs and working with our students around the globe. We also employ very responsible individuals as summer flight leaders to chaperone our international group flights. Flight leaders receive deeply discounted international air travel in exchange for supervising and escorting our students. We have very high standards and requirements for all of our employees, and we hire only outstanding, highly-qualified
people to work in our exceptional organization. Please visit rusticpathways.com/employment for more information about these positions and other international staff opportunities.