J1: Sayit vs. Usit

dan1988iel

Sayit are so much better than usit its unreal.

I pulled out of the usit deal cos yerwan was charging €646 for flights only, that I had to book with them to qualify for the J1.

With Sayit, I just have to pay the Sevis and Embassy Fee of €135, which I would have to pay to Usit aswell later, and I can book my own flights seperately. Or I can also book through Sayit if i want to, yerwan there quoted €460 for Boston Flights.

Go with Sayit...

bmcgov86

agreed. ive been looking into the j1 and it came clear after a while there was 3 option: usit, go4less, sayit. in my case im flying out to LA and back from New York, anyway go4less said the total would come to approx 1100euro, usit gave me a price of 933euro give or take a bit with tax changes, but sayit totalled to 783euro. thats quite a difference. plus u get the 2 free stopovers and a free sim card. so that seems best to me, anyone know of any catches. from what i cam see the other 2 are just ripping us off??

Tusky

I looked into this quite extensively and Sayit came off cheapest. Much much cheaper than Usit and a fair bit cheaper than go4less.

Dont know where you are getting the notion that you can book your own flights with Sayit though ? 99% sure thats not true. Got a link to verify it.. ?

Also, youve got the pricing slightly wrong as you have to pay for insurance, which is compulsory. Heres my receipt.

COST TOTALS
Programme Fee Independent: € 240
SEVIS Fee: € 30
US Embassy Fee: € 105
4 Month Standard Insurance: € 150
Flight Price: € 380
Flight Taxes: € 166
Total: € 1,071
Early Booking offer: € -240
Total Paid to Date: € 50
Balance Due: € 781

dan1988iel

Dont know where you are getting the notion that you can book your own flights with Sayit though ? 99% sure thats not true. Got a link to verify it.. ?

[HTML]http://www.sayit.ie/j1inner.asp?TableName=J1Visa&SubTableName=Book Online&domain=IE[/HTML]

This is where you book. You have to enter your personal details first, but when you get to the choices section which is next - select COMMANDO (not Independent) - which allows you to book the J1 with Sayit but your Flights with whoever you want.

I rang and asked them and they said this is legit, they just said to give them my flight details.
With USIT: I had to know where I was going and have my flights booked through USIT by the 12th of January.

Tusky

dan1988iel wrote: »

[HTML]http://www.sayit.ie/j1inner.asp?TableName=J1Visa&SubTableName=Book Online&domain=IE[/HTML]

This is where you book. You have to enter your personal details first, but when you get to the choices section which is next - select COMMANDO (not Independent) - which allows you to book the J1 with Sayit but your Flights with whoever you want.

I rang and asked them and they said this is legit, they just said to give them my flight details.
With USIT: I had to know where I was going and have my flights booked through USIT by the 12th of January.

****..does commando cost more or something ? If thats the case I got ripped off then as you can get flights to America really cheap with other airlines at the mo.

dan1988iel

****..does commando cost more or something ? If thats the case I got ripped off then as you can get flights to America really cheap with other airlines at the mo

No the J1 programme costs the exact same when you choose Commando preference.

This suits me because I am not really sure where to go yet, because some freinds are going to different places than others.
I think i'll fly to Boston though, hang around there for a while, and if I dont get work there, i could probably get an internal flight to somewhere on the West Coast cheap enough.

Do you know what airlines have cheap fares at the mo?

Tusky

dan1988iel wrote: »

No the J1 programme costs the exact same when you choose Commando preference.

This suits me because I am not really sure where to go yet, because some freinds are going to different places than others.
I think i'll fly to Boston though, hang around there for a while, and if I dont get work there, i could probably get an internal flight to somewhere on the West Coast cheap enough.

Do you know what airlines have cheap fares at the mo?

Aer Lingus, surprisingly enough were really cheap when I checked a few days ago. It was around 250 return to the West Coast. It may have been a sale...not sure if its still on.

bmcgov86

anyone know how much it costs with sayit excluding the flights? i got a quote off them but it included flights and cant remember the breakdown of costs. also was looking at flights to the west coast but its looking like 650euro so might just do it all with sayit since they quoted a total of 756

Innervision

Sayit may work out cheaper, but I know loads of people who had problems with them last year. They lost my friend's passport and visa a week before we left for the states!

phishcakes

is sayit not for aussie and new zealanders only??...does anyone know any other providers of visas besides usit and go4less..do sayit provide none student working visas to canada or the usa for irish citizens??

ilovealmonds

is it possible to just organise a visa by yourself if you can get an american company to be your sponsor?
dont see why it would be that difficult...
i went with go4less last year and it was quite expensive

Phantastic Fox

I was thinking about doing the J1 again. Been with USIT before, and I think they're kinda rip-offy, and I was thinking to go through sayit or go4less. Which do people recommend, is there much of a difference in price/service between sayit and go4less? Thx!

dentgirl41

It cost me 398e.. that includes visa and premier insurance.. with exam failure. Thats the commando option. I' d to book my own flights.

B2k

Tusky wrote: »

I looked into this quite extensively and Sayit came off cheapest. Much much cheaper than Usit and a fair bit cheaper than go4less.

Dont know where you are getting the notion that you can book your own flights with Sayit though ? 99% sure thats not true. Got a link to verify it.. ?

Also, youve got the pricing slightly wrong as you have to pay for insurance, which is compulsory. Heres my receipt.

COST TOTALS
Programme Fee Independent: € 240
SEVIS Fee: € 30
US Embassy Fee: € 105
4 Month Standard Insurance: € 150
Flight Price: € 380
Flight Taxes: € 166
Total: € 1,071
Early Booking offer: € -240
Total Paid to Date: € 50
Balance Due: € 781

When does your final balance have to be paid by?

Bluefox21

USIT so much more worth it though! Have an office next to US embassy sort out all your forms etc found them way easier to deal with aswel worth the extra few euro