<p>My son will be studying in Seville in the fall, and wants to travel for a few weeks after the program ends. Details undetermined as yet. So, how do I figure out the return flight and purchase it if I don't know his itinerary? He has to provide proof of transportation when he (actually me, his proxy) meets with the Spanish consulate.</p>
<p>A couple of options I can think of:</p>
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<li><p>Pin him down on his plans. Or… make the flight back the “hard stop” on his plans. Unless he is paying for the ticket and/or the one searching for flights, he probably doesn’t have a lot of incentive to make a decision. If you use the “hard stop” option, one way or another, he has to entertain himself for the 2-3 weeks until his flight goes back 
One thing we have struggled with is what to do with D’s “stuff” – she is not taking tons on her study abroad, but more than she wants to travel with. Probably easier to deal with on the back end of a study abroad, he has a chance to scope out options for having a friend keep it or something. Just so long as the friend is reliable and he can definitely get the stuff before his flight home.</p></li>
<li><p>On some airlines you can buy a more flexible ticket by paying more. I am not sure if you can do it for just the return flight, though, you might have to pay more for the whole ticket. Then you can change the ticket date and/or destination with limited additional expense if you need to. As long as there are flights available… that can be a problem right around the holidays.</p></li>
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