Questions about flight expenses

[neur0cat]

Just a few queries - hope people who've been through the process might be able to give their thoughts on. Some might seem silly but I'm international and this is the first (and only, I hope!) time I've been through the process.

1. When programs cover flights, does this necessarily always imply a return air ticket instead of a one-way?

2. I have a few interviews on hand, with most programs offering to cover only domestic air fare. However, one particular program is offering to cover a lot more than the usual amount, which is almost enough to cover the entire international air fare. My question is: Will it be all right for this program to cover the entire international return flight, even if my return date is a lot later (due to the other interviews thereafter)? I'm not sure if this might be in bad taste since I'm pretty sure the school will come to know of it, but a one-way ticket is almost the same price, if not more expensive than a return ticket, so it doesn't make sense. Or should I just personally cover the international air fare to be fair to all schools, but get the program to cover only domestic air fare?

Edited January 1, 2017 by neur0cat

[fuzzylogician]

1. Yes. Covering the cost of the flight entails getting you there and back.

2. Get a normal (return) ticket, this should be fine. You could let them know that you're combining the visit to that school with a few other visits to save on costs, and you're having the schools you're visiting share the expenses. This is fairly routine, especially for international students. Costs are too prohibitive (not to mention that the whole thing is time-consuming) to make multiple trips for interviews. 

[neur0cat]

7 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:

1. Yes. Covering the cost of the flight entails getting you there and back.

2. Get a normal (return) ticket, this should be fine. You could let them know that you're combining the visit to that school with a few other visits to save on costs, and you're having the schools you're visiting share the expenses. This is fairly routine, especially for international students. Costs are too prohibitive (not to mention that the whole thing is time-consuming) to make multiple trips for interviews. 

Hi @fuzzylogician, thanks for the clarification! I do have other interviews but would really prefer not to pool the expenses together mainly because I'd rather have the other schools account for the domestic flight expenses respectively. If I were to pool all the expenses together, I might wind up having to pay a lot more with every domestic return ticket per interview.

Edited January 1, 2017 by neur0cat

[fuzzylogician]

What you are describing is exactly what I am suggesting. I'm not sure what you are imagining I mean by "pool expenses", but in any event the idea is simply that you go on one large trip and have different schools cover different portions of the expenses (that would include the international flight, domestic travel, and accommodations, at least).