<p>another question for Mom’s and Dad’s… luggage tags for our students, home address or school address? I was thinking of making some custom luggage tags for my son’s friends as a little graduation gift in their school colors but wasn’t sure if it should be home or school address? </p>
<p>I think home address would last longer. Kids move in and out of dorms each year, study abroad and so on. The home tag sounds nice and if you did the dorm address, they would only use it about a year.</p>
<p>I wasn’t going to do the dorm address, but main school address with the college name? Maybe do the home address, but put the college name and logo on the back and in the colors?</p>
<p>That’s sounds like a great plan, Momentscaught. That’s a very thoughtful gift.</p>
<p>RVM, I’m glad your heard from your son and that he’s having a great time. Both of my daughters loved their Birthright trips.</p>
<p>Quick birthright tip - S2 does not have a credit card designed for use abroad - and it has been fine. He is just using his regular credit card and I did notify company of planned travel abroad. There is a foreign transaction fee for each charge, but they have been minimal - $0.43 for a $15 charge is typical. So, as long as the student is not charging large amounts, no need that I can see for a special credit card.</p>
<p>Hi, All. Great to see so many familiar people still posting here. Unbelievably, DD (my Jewish B student) graduated from Delaware last weekend. I was a mess. Apparently, I see it as an ending, and I don’t like happy things to end. Anyway, the day after graduation, she learned that she was accepted as a Masa Israel Teaching Fellow. She will be spending 10 months in Israel, beginning September. Great opportunity for her… I’m excited for her, but I’m sure I will be stressed. But it’s not about me. Yeah. I know. </p>
<p>DS has been home from Miami for about a month. Really loved his first year there. So far he’s not interested in Birthright (he already went to Israel with NFTY), but I hope that changes.</p>
<p>Mazel Tov to all the graduates</p>
<p>Birthright update - return flight cancelled! Plane issues. Complete lack of information and communication. I have no idea where in the world my son is - still in Tel Aviv - on another flight. So ridiculous.</p>
<p>Congratulations LINYMOM on your D’s graduation. I know it is stressful - even if it is a great opportunity for her.</p>
<p>RVM- Yikes. I hope he gets in touch with you soon. I’d expect that the group is being taken care of- either staying somewhere or on another flight, but not knowing is tough. I hope they contact you and all the other parents who are worried too. </p>
<p>OY! I hope they tell you asap what’s going on. That’s our people for you - great at education, etc. and “still working to standards” on logistics for group trips. 
Reminds me of my own summer camp experiences…</p>
<p>Hang in there, RVM. I’m know the lack of information is frustrating, but he’ll be home soon with many stories for you.</p>
<p>LINYMOM, congrats on your D’s graduation. I understand how you feel about seeing it as an ending. I think we spend so much time focusing on the college experience that we’re surprised that it only lasts for 4 years. Then our kids have to face real life. Congratulations on your D’s acceptance to the Masa Israel program. It looks like a great experience. My D2 is considering applying for one of their programs next year, so I’ll be interested in hearing how things go. </p>
<p>Finally rcvd an email that he is on another flight to JFK, but he will miss his flight home from there. Sigh.</p>
<p>Sorry- Will the airlines help with this? With the flight cancelled there has to be a bunch of passengers all missing their flights. I hope the airlines will help get them on new ones and put up the ones who have to stay overnight. </p>
<p>I have no idea what Iberia Airlines or Birthright are willing to do. But good point, I’ll check on that now.</p>
<p>Landed at JFK - staying with a friend in the city tonight - traveling back home tomorrow. </p>
<p>Will see if he has tips/comments to share.</p>
<p>RVM , I’m glad he landed safely and has somewhere to spend the night. At least they got delayed on the return trip instead of the beginning one. </p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter Linymom. That is happy but hard for a mom. Perhaps it will give you an excuse to take a trip!</p>
<p>RVM, glad your son has a friend in NY to stay with. </p>
<p>linymom - congratulations! That went quickly.</p>
<p>S2 had an awesome trip - can’t wait to see the photos.</p>
<p>One comment on the Birthright trip is how there are different trips flying out of different airports. When we had our parent meeting - I was amazed at the variety of airports. In our case, JFK was very inconvenient, but he wanted to go with his university group and that was the available trip. But other groups from this area were departing from Newark, Philly, etc. - so it’s worth asking which airport they will be leaving from and if it varies from one year to the next. I think if your student is leaving from an airport you can drive to, it would be so much easier.</p>
<p>We did not purchase trip insurance. So, we lost the plane fare for the unused flight out of JFK today. Something future Birthright travellers may want to investigate - it was offered by Birthright.</p>
<p>One funny comment - when I called the birthright Hillel emergency number this morning, they still had an answering machine message stating that they were closed for Shavuot and would reopen on 6/6. So apparently you should not have an emergency on a Jewish holiday!</p>
<p>I’m glad your son is home safe and sound. I know we never stop worrying as parents. Its a good tip to find a convenient airport.</p>
<p>Now that I’m used to having both my kids home for the summer (first time in 10 years they are both home for the summer!), I’m thinking about the Israel logistics for my DD. First, let me say that I told her she’s got to figure it all out herself. However, I need to do some back-up homework so I can ask questions of her. The two things that are at the top of the list are the phone service (she’s got an iPhone 5, Verizon) and banking. This is different than Birthright or even a one-month NFTY trip. It’s 10 months. Does anyone have any recent experience and have any suggestions?</p>
<p>Those are good questions, Linymom. Maybe she should check with her program to see if they offer some type of Israeli phone plan. Also check with Verizon to see what type of international plans they offer. We have A T and T, and they have a reasonable study abroad plan that we got my D to use for 6 months in New Zealand. For banking she just used her US account and tried not to withdraw money too often. She mostly used a no foreign transaction fee credit card. </p>