Students join our programs from almost every state in the USA 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 visit rusticpathways.com/flights 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. Furthermore, there will be instances when our students will be taking domestic flights in the countries of their programs while unaccompanied.

If your child is classified as an unaccompanied minor by the airlines (14 years old and under), parents will be charged a fee, the cost of which varies between airlines. These fees will be charged to the family at the time of check-in at the airport. Rustic Pathways is not responsible for assessing these fees. Parents will be responsible for making all unaccompanied minor arrangements for their child’s round-trip (both domestic and international) flights and for paying any applicable airline fees. Parents should make sure that the airline understands that while a Rustic Pathways staff member will be on the international flight, the staff will not be able to take responsibility for the unaccompanied minors until they arrive at their destination.

When students depart their homes and begin their journeys with Rustic Pathways, we understand how eager families are to receive notice of their child’s safe arrival. Within 24 hours of reaching their program destination, a safe arrival e-mail is sent to parents confirming this.. When students are transferring from one Rustic Pathways program to another, parents will not be receiving these safe arrival emails.

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 $ 150 flight 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. It is imperative that late-season applicants complete all of the necessary paperwork prior to their departure for their program(s).

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 go to rusticpathways.com/flights to view estimated airfares, which are subject to change without notice. All of the prices shown in our catalog and on our website 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 covering these 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 the 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 $ 135 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 involved in 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 can place  the 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.

To ensure the safety and well-being of our students as well as the orderly operation of our programs, Rustic Pathways issues group tickets for all of its students on international flights. For the 2011 season, students traveling to Costa Rica, Peru and Panama have the option of booking their own international airfare on the same flights as our groups. The information below is extremely important when considering this option, so please read this carefully.

• If you purchase your own ticket for your child, there are very important safety considerations you will need to evaluate. We strongly encourage parents who do not need to take this step to please allow us to issue normal Rustic Pathways group tickets for their children. When Rustic Pathways issues your group ticket, we are able to track your child’s flight, access their airline records, change their flights in the case of an emergency, and arrange re-routing or assistance should this be necessary. By purchasing your own airline ticket for your child, you acknowledge that you are withdrawing the ability for Rustic Pathways to manage and coordinate your child’s air travel, to access their flight records, to make changes in case of flight delays, to re-book tickets in the case of medical or other emergencies, to pursue or assist with lost luggage claims, and to legally take responsibility for your child while traveling to and from our programs.

• Rustic Pathways has Flight Leaders on our international group flights to and from Central America. This system allows us to coordinate all of our students, manage flight delays, handle lost luggage issues, change flights if needed, and track students through the airline system. By purchasing your own airline ticket for your child, you take responsibility for coordinating your child’s transit through our gateway cities, and acknowledge that these Flight Leaders have no responsibility with helping to facilitate your child’s movements through our gateway airports. Even though you are booking your child on our scheduled group flight, our liability insurance will not allow us to take responsibility for your child until they reach their group in Costa Rica Peru and Panama if we have not issued the airline ticket. Our Flight Leaders and airport coordinators at our gateway cities will still be on-site to provide whatever assistance they can provide given the above restrictions.  Upon arriving into your final international destination and passing through customs, your child will then be met by the staff along with all the other students on the group flight, and Rustic Pathways will then take full responsibility for your child.

• If your child is classified as an unaccompanied minor by the airlines, parents will be charged a fee directly by the airline. These fees will be charged to the family at the time of check-in at the airport. Rustic Pathways is not responsible for these fees. Parents will be responsible for making all unaccompanied minor arrangements for their child’s round-trip (both domestic and international) flights and for paying any applicable airline fees. Parents should make sure that the airline understands that while a Rustic Pathways staff member will be on the international flight, the staff will not be able to take responsibility for the unaccompanied minors until they arrive at their destination.

• When making the decision to purchase your child’s own airline ticket, please be aware that there are also additional fees imposed from Rustic Pathways. There is the $150 Flight Deviation Fee imposed by Rustic Pathways in addition to the Airport Departure Tax, which varies depending on your international destination.

• If you have already requested Rustic Pathways to handle your airfare arrangements and would now like to handle them yourself, you must submit a Revision Request Form at rusticpathways.com/revision, thus indicating that you understand that Rustic Pathways will no longer take responsibility for your child until they reach their group leader in Costa Rica Peru or Panama.

• If you choose to purchase your own airline ticket for your child, they must not arrive into Costa Rica, Peru or Panama on any other flight other than those we have specifically approved, as we have vehicles standing by to transport students away as soon they clear customs and immigration.

• It is the responsibility of the families to ensure that they have the most up to date information regarding all of our Group Flight information.

Parents who arrange their own airline tickets must get their child to our gateway cities with plenty of time (we recommend four hours) for them to connect to their international flight. Please remember that if you arrange the airline tickets yourself and your child misses their international flight we are not able to access their record or help to make changes.  Furthermore, if an overnight stay in a gateway city is necessary, parents will be responsible for arranging all accommodations.