Visits

I don't want to be paid if I'm not working ...i just feel like they've already done me this favor by letting me go this last time that I don't want to bother them for another.

One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to a better work-life balance in the UK.  That vacation time is a benefit (think of it as part of your pay) and, yes, they did do you a favor by giving you unpaid time off this spring.  But you should really feel out your supervisor or, if you know him/her well enough, just ask him/her outright if taking your vacation would cause a problem.  They might be fine with you leaving if you work with them to pick a less busy time of year.  But then again, having worked at a supermarket in the US, if you use your benefits they might throw a giant fit and stop giving you hours all together.  Definately try to have a talk with them.

They probably don't want you working overtime because they would have to pay you time and a half.  At my retail job I wasn't even allowed to be scheduled for more than 30 hours a week because it would push me dangerously close to becoming a full-time employee if I did enough weeks in a row (or something like that).  They scheduled people for shifts that I wanted, but that they couldn't work so that I had to take the initiative to trade/take their shifts. 

Have you two started working on a plan to pay down his debt yet?  So that you can be together forever, without a giant ocean (and the continent of North America) between you?

Good luck.

I'll second the airmile thing. Virgin has a good programme - they let you swap miles (fewer than it would take to get an entire flight) for cheaper fares. It's called miles for money. Albeit you do have to accrue some mileage before it's useful, but if you fly a few times a year it adds up really quickly.

I took advantage of long weekends - it's easier to stay for a week if at least one day is a holiday. I also worked some overtime and so had time off in lieu. And then once I'd made the decision to move I quit my job and moved back in with my parents until I made the final move.... Getting the deposit back on my apartment funded one trip and selling my car funded my final trip....

I've got on the miles on aa but I also thought you had to have that credit card (people use it at my work) so I thought it didn't work when I signed up.

We have to prepare better...and make our visits land on holidays or something. I've thought of Christmas time but again I dunno about how they'd react if I asked for more time off. Plus, during christmas we only get christmas day off...it's not like I get a week off anything.

Luckily for most of our long-distance relationship, my husband was a student so he would come over for summer and winter holiday breaks.  Then, I would go over in the spring.   After he started working, he still got a lot of vacation days, so he'd come over for three weeks twice a year and I'd go over for two weeks once a year. 

When we would visit each other one of us was still working, but there was time after or before we went to work.  Then, there was always the weekends.  No matter how little time we spent, its still better than NO time spent together.

I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that anymore as I know how horrible it is, especially when you are dealing with an uncooperative employer.  Are you thinking of marrying anytime soon?  Just asking....

It was really easy when I was in college as I had the summer off and all that lovely time off. The only hard thing during that was I wasn't working and he paid for everything.  "better than no time spent together" << true...very true.

I can't wait till the day I don't have to deal with it either. We have a 2-3 year plan, no more than 3 years because of financial reasons. He has a loan and credit card bills to pay off. Everyone including myself all think it's going to happen sooner as this trip was WAY different than all the other trips. This trip was more intense and we got much closer than any other time. We've always been close but this trip was way different.

We're both students with part time jobs, so it was easy to visit during the holidays, etc.  Last time he came to me while I was actually in school, but we juggled our time between my classes and our together time.  It worked out just fine, because that way we weren't together 24/7 during his visit.

Being a student was easier, I remember when I was a full time college student. I didn't have money lol but I had all the time in the world compared to now.

Luckily I am a student (and he has 23 days holiday/year.) Over the past five months, we have seen each other every 7-8 weeks or so - I visited for a long weekend in late February, and he visited for 10 days in mid-April. He is in NYC for work at the moment, so I am just finishing up finals and am spending the weekend with him there. I also am doing BUNAC from June-December. Basically, we can make it work because of our flexible schedules - lots of time off for me, and time off + a well paying job for him - we are very blessed compared to others! I don't know how you do it, with the longer time apart! Takes far stronger people than us to keep it going.  

The long-term plan is BUNAC June-December, January-beginning of August with the visits back and forth - no more than 8 weeks apart, even if they are short visits, August-February BUNAC again, then the fiancee visa and marriage in summer of 2008.

Flights can be very cheap between LA-London - as low as $400 at times. However, even with that, a LOT of my money goes towards the relationship - as a student I can't work full-time - meaning I make a lot of sacrifices to afford the flights. But its completely worth it!

One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to a better work-life balance in the UK.  That vacation time is a benefit (think of it as part of your pay) and, yes, they did do you a favor by giving you unpaid time off this spring.  But you should really feel out your supervisor or, if you know him/her well enough, just ask him/her outright if taking your vacation would cause a problem.  They might be fine with you leaving if you work with them to pick a less busy time of year.  But then again, having worked at a supermarket in the US, if you use your benefits they might throw a giant fit and stop giving you hours all together.  Definately try to have a talk with them.

They probably don't want you working overtime because they would have to pay you time and a half.  At my retail job I wasn't even allowed to be scheduled for more than 30 hours a week because it would push me dangerously close to becoming a full-time employee if I did enough weeks in a row (or something like that).  They scheduled people for shifts that I wanted, but that they couldn't work so that I had to take the initiative to trade/take their shifts. 

Have you two started working on a plan to pay down his debt yet?  So that you can be together forever, without a giant ocean (and the continent of North America) between you?

Good luck.

The manager that gave me the time off was really nice about it. I told her about it and she immideiatly got on the computer and approved all the days one by one. She is very cool but I don't know (after being back such a short time) if I feel comfortable asking for time off again. I really don't know if we'll do it this year but for sure I'll get next may off and if they fire me, they fire me. I'll find a new job...

There's no plan for paying his debt. He's paying what he can and as broke as we both are right now I doubt he could pay it this month.  I've told him I want to help him pay it off but I think he feels weird taking it from me. It wouldn't be much every month (once it's transfered to £'s) but a little goes a long way in situations like these.  

thank you

Luckily I am a student (and he has 23 days holiday/year.) Over the past five months, we have seen each other every 7-8 weeks or so - I visited for a long weekend in late February, and he visited for 10 days in mid-April. He is in NYC for work at the moment, so I am just finishing up finals and am spending the weekend with him there. I also am doing BUNAC from June-December. Basically, we can make it work because of our flexible schedules - lots of time off for me, and time off + a well paying job for him - we are very blessed compared to others! I don't know how you do it, with the longer time apart! Takes far stronger people than us to keep it going.  

The long-term plan is BUNAC June-December, January-beginning of August with the visits back and forth - no more than 8 weeks apart, even if they are short visits, August-February BUNAC again, then the fiancee visa and marriage in summer of 2008.

Flights can be very cheap between LA-London - as low as $400 at times. However, even with that, a LOT of my money goes towards the relationship - as a student I can't work full-time - meaning I make a lot of sacrifices to afford the flights. But its completely worth it!

Is it cheaper to fly from LA-LONDON?? I looked at flying into NY compared to flying into other cities and the flights seem cheaper. I didn't know the airport had anything to do with the price. I'm in SD so I could in reality drive to LA and go from there. Also, is it cheaper to fly streight through instead of having a stop over?

The sacrifices are well worth it...being utterly broke right now is nothing as I had those weeks with him

I'm not quite sure where this should go. It originally came to me reading about sillysnip's post (by the way

congrats! and it's almost time!! )

I've noticed some of you guys visit like every few months or something for certain periods of time. I'm wondering how you do this financially and getting time off of work.

Thanks Reeeeka, it is almost time 


Here are a few tips on how I manage my visits.

Always watch for air fare sales: I just randomly search and see what I find. Travelocity is a good site to look up deals on. You can do a flexible search where you type in a range of months and find the cheapest flights. I then go to the airline website and book directly though to earn miles.

Travel at off peak times/seasons I have traveled the past few times in March and November. The reason is, November is cheap.. I pay just over $400 to fly in to Gatwick from Minneapolis. Also, November I have my birthday holiday, Thanksgiving, and Veteran's day holidays paid off from work and my office is closed the day after Thanksgiving. This way I maximize how many days I can be gone, so don't need to save as much vacation time up. In March, I have also found good deals for just over $400, and March is tax return time so I take time off without pay for most of my trip. My employer hasn't complained about me asking for unpaid leave, granted I typically work overtime each pay period so more than make up for the extra time I take off. I am also a long term, dedicated employee and they treat me pretty good as a result. 


Check other airports either coming or going to see what kind of deals you can find. This is the first time I am traveling in July as July is a peak travel month, so not affordable for me generally. Well I was feeling blue and did one of my random airfare searches and found a great deal to fly in to Manchester instead of London. So wooo hoo, here I go to Manchester. As long as I get to where I am going, the route doesn't bother me too much.

Frequent Flier Programs I fly with Northwest Airlines as they are based out of Minneapolis and have a direct flight to Gatwick. I used 10,000 miles last Spring to get a discounted ticket, and am now saving toward the 50,000 I need for a round trip ticket to Europe. I am just over half way there now, as a few flights I didn't earn miles. This flight I am flying with American as they had the sale, but enrolled in their program as well just in case I fly with them again. It's definitely worth checking in to and it's free to enroll.

I hope this helps you a little 

Thanks Reeeeka, it is almost time 


Here are a few tips on how I manage my visits.

Always watch for air fare sales: I just randomly search and see what I find. Travelocity is a good site to look up deals on. You can do a flexible search where you type in a range of months and find the cheapest flights. I then go to the airline website and book directly though to earn miles.

Travel at off peak times/seasons I have traveled the past few times in March and November. The reason is, November is cheap.. I pay just over $400 to fly in to Gatwick from Minneapolis. Also, November I have my birthday holiday, Thanksgiving, and Veteran's day holidays paid off from work and my office is closed the day after Thanksgiving. This way I maximize how many days I can be gone, so don't need to save as much vacation time up. In March, I have also found good deals for just over $400, and March is tax return time so I take time off without pay for most of my trip. My employer hasn't complained about me asking for unpaid leave, granted I typically work overtime each pay period so more than make up for the extra time I take off. I am also a long term, dedicated employee and they treat me pretty good as a result. 


Check other airports either coming or going to see what kind of deals you can find. This is the first time I am traveling in July as July is a peak travel month, so not affordable for me generally. Well I was feeling blue and did one of my random airfare searches and found a great deal to fly in to Manchester instead of London. So wooo hoo, here I go to Manchester. As long as I get to where I am going, the route doesn't bother me too much.

Frequent Flier Programs I fly with Northwest Airlines as they are based out of Minneapolis and have a direct flight to Gatwick. I used 10,000 miles last Spring to get a discounted ticket, and am now saving toward the 50,000 I need for a round trip ticket to Europe. I am just over half way there now, as a few flights I didn't earn miles. This flight I am flying with American as they had the sale, but enrolled in their program as well just in case I fly with them again. It's definitely worth checking in to and it's free to enroll.

I hope this helps you a little 

Aww thanks for that. I think we just need to plan better. I know November is a great time of year for cheap fares but I swore like any month where it was cold/rainy there would be. Like winter in general...

How many days?!?!?!

It helped alot 

Is it cheaper to fly from LA-LONDON?? I looked at flying into NY compared to flying into other cities and the flights seem cheaper. I didn't know the airport had anything to do with the price. I'm in SD so I could in reality drive to LA and go from there. Also, is it cheaper to fly streight through instead of having a stop over?

The sacrifices are well worth it...being utterly broke right now is nothing as I had those weeks with him

I think it is probably cheaper LA-London - especially in off-peak times (November and February have been the two cheapest months I've noticed thus far.) I basically check Expedia and Travelocity frequently, and if a fare sale comes up, then I consider another trip. Not sure about the non-stop versus stopover, it has always varied for me, but almost all of my flights have been non-stop (and I ALWAYS buy the cheapest!) And I completely agree with you about the sacrifices. 

hi reeeeka! 
I agree that flying out of LA may be a bit cheaper.  You probably have more options for airlines and flights as well.  Definitely sign up for every frequent flyer program you can, I only fly Continental domestically and Virgin Atlantic to the UK.  They are airline partners so I can book flights with miles on both airlines.  I'm sure other domestic airlines have other international partners.  I fly Continental because I live in NJ and Newark is a hub city for them.  So check to see if LA is a hub for any airline and then look into their partners.  Luckily flying to the UK from here is an easy straight shot and VA offers multiple flights a day out of Newark.  My bf does the same - uses VA to fly here and anywhere else they fly and Continental while in the US.  I've gotten really cheap flights out of Newark in both November & March on VA for around $380/$400. 

We both travel often with our jobs and his work is a little unpredictable so we can't normally see each other for more than 3-4 days at a time and initially we were trying to do so every 6 weeks.  I didn't realize how spoiled we were until I saw some of the other posts.  Although I am a little jealous of some people because I would love to spend more than a few days together. 

Your vacation time sounds reasonable for not being there a year - not reasonable to UK standards of course!  I'm sure if you spoke to your boss they may let you take time without pay.  Since you are in retail, Thanksgiving is probably not a good time, but maybe the weeks prior?
Hang in there sweetie!

Aww thanks for that. I think we just need to plan better. I know November is a great time of year for cheap fares but I swore like any month where it was cold/rainy there would be. Like winter in general...

How many days?!?!?!

It helped alot 

Glad to see you found a bit of help with your questions from all of us here! See now you will have lots of ideas to plan out your future trips 

How many days you ask?? Well its night time now so today is over in my book, therefore that means just 17 days until I leave. 18 until I arrive there 

SillySnip my goodness it is soo close.  I am really really jealous!!!

Reeka,

Ok please don't follow my example to the T but did you considering picking up another job???  I had three right after I got back and have since dropped one and now I am back down to 2 jobs (I would have rather stayed at 3 but the restaurant was sold and I wasn't asked back because I was leaving in Sept...and the owner might be slightly jealous cause I am getting married).  Look around you might be able to find something.  This is just another option.

hi reeeeka! 
I agree that flying out of LA may be a bit cheaper.  You probably have more options for airlines and flights as well.  Definitely sign up for every frequent flyer program you can, I only fly Continental domestically and Virgin Atlantic to the UK.  They are airline partners so I can book flights with miles on both airlines.  I'm sure other domestic airlines have other international partners.  I fly Continental because I live in NJ and Newark is a hub city for them.  So check to see if LA is a hub for any airline and then look into their partners.  Luckily flying to the UK from here is an easy straight shot and VA offers multiple flights a day out of Newark.  My bf does the same - uses VA to fly here and anywhere else they fly and Continental while in the US.  I've gotten really cheap flights out of Newark in both November & March on VA for around $380/$400. 

We both travel often with our jobs and his work is a little unpredictable so we can't normally see each other for more than 3-4 days at a time and initially we were trying to do so every 6 weeks.  I didn't realize how spoiled we were until I saw some of the other posts.  Although I am a little jealous of some people because I would love to spend more than a few days together. 

Your vacation time sounds reasonable for not being there a year - not reasonable to UK standards of course!  I'm sure if you spoke to your boss they may let you take time without pay.  Since you are in retail, Thanksgiving is probably not a good time, but maybe the weeks prior?
Hang in there sweetie!

For some reason we've both been extreamly loyal to AA...I think he's flown United once and hated it. He's super tall so he enjoys the extra leg room as am I. I like to be able to stretch out. I'd love to be able to do a streight shot! That would be amazing because I hate layovers. I'd go to LA just so I didn't have to do one lol. You see one another 3-4 days at a time?? Every 6 weeks? wow...I'd love that allthough I'd hate the traveling and having to leave. In a year you see one another quite abit though so that's nice.

I'm going to talk to them in November and see what they say about May. He'll be coming in May and I'll ask for that time off. Then soon after I'll tell them in November. I'm sure that's when they'll go "Eh were sorry we're gonna have to let you go". I don't really think they'll mind the May trip but 2 in one year is a little much.

Thanks for the support!

Glad to see you found a bit of help with your questions from all of us here! See now you will have lots of ideas to plan out your future trips 

How many days you ask?? Well its night time now so today is over in my book, therefore that means just 17 days until I leave. 18 until I arrive there 

VERY INFORMATIVE!!!  Thanks


0o0o 17 days! ahhh that's so exciting!!!