How much should we as parents budget for when it comes to travel once already there in Scotland to explore on weekends or break?
Posted by K Watts 6 years 11 months ago
Answers
Thanks Gretchen!! One more question for you if you would. When you flew there and I’m assuming you came from the US did you fly through Dublin or not? We can’t fly through there because of something to do with immigration (partner of the UK) and being a student. Airfare going through that way is cheaper than going from the US directly there. 😀.
Hi there,
If you want to email your student's program advisor you can ask for a past participant list and reach out to recent students about how much they recommend budgeting for travel and weekend trips. We provide a flight guide to students regarding your second question and it includes the following information:
We strongly discourage students from arriving via Ireland. The Republic of Ireland has a Common Travel Area with the UK. This means there is no immigration presence on arrival in the UK from Ireland. Therefore you cannot receive your Short-Term Student Visa when using this route, even if you just transfer planes in Ireland. You have permission to stay for only 90 days as a tourist. You would need to leave the UK to a location outside of the Common Travel Area (e.g. Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt) to then return and present the required documents to receive your Short-Term Student Visa and legally be in the UK as a student. This will be inconvenient for you and involve additional costs.
If you do enter the UK through Ireland, keep copies of your boarding pass and flight tickets for your journey from Ireland to the UK. This can later be used as evidence of your original arrival into the UK. If you have more questions you're welcome to email studyabroad@usac.edu and we're happy to answer them for you!
Thank you!
I think for my whole 5 months, I budgeted a couple hundred pounds a month- for travel, site visits and shopping. Some trips I spent more where others I spent less. Train and bus tickets do add up over time. I always tried to stay at relatively cheap hostels or air bnbs when traveling, as well bought group passes to castles and historical locations (that was cheaper overall!). I also did a lot of traveling outside of the UK, so that budget may be a little higher than some would spend.