<p>RVM How exciting that your S will be going on birthright. I know that no one here will mind repeating information, however, in my case I’m not sure how much I will remember. MyS2, said that now that he learned that he is eligible to go on birthright that he will definitely take advantage of the opportunity but not this year. I can also benefit from your questions as a refresher.</p>
<p>Thanks - I am excited - but you know me - need to research and pin down all details before I can relax.</p>
<p>I have heard varying things about whether kids go with cash and their regular credit card, or whether they need to have a credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees? I have no idea if we already have such a card - need to check. But I wonder how much he will be charging, as opposed to using cash, and if this is really necessary.</p>
<p>Also a little confused about health insurance and if he needs some special international emergency coverage. Have an email into Aetna to see what we already have.</p>
<p>My son tells me they will have two orientation meetings before the trip, but again, if you know me at all, not great at waiting for info!</p>
<p>And before anyone identifies me as a helicopter parent (yes, well established already) - here’s a funny story from a non-helicopter parent. Her son went on Birthright in January. She was completely uninvolved - let him handle every detail. (Oy, so not me!). So, on Saturday afternoon, he decides to look for his passport for his Monday morning departure. Long story short - it’s in the bank safe deposit box - and they can’t get it til Monday! He missed his charter bus to the airport, managed to get to the airport before the flight left, but without the time required for check in and security, so he was denied boarding. The trip organizer was able to get him on a different flight - leaving from another airport - the following day - so he travelled to that airport and made that flight. He had a great trip, but lost a day and had additional expenses as a result. All I can say is that I know exactly where S2’s passport is!</p>
<p>No, you are not a helicopter mom 
Sending your child to another country is something parents want to be involved with. You can get something called a Payoneer card that you can load money onto, but many of the ATM cards are OK although the bank can charge something like $10 for the out of network withdrawal. Still, for 10 days that didn’t add up to a lot as there were only one or two withdrawals. Getting an Israel phone is available too- they pick it up and drop it off at the airport. I got the supplemental insurance offered- it was a small fee and was worth the peace of mind and not haggling over out of network costs ( and hopefully not needed).
There is a link to the itinerary, packing list , insurance, phones… etc through your son’s sign on once the trip information is sent out. </p>
<p>Great, thanks. I have not seen anything yet.</p>
<p>RVM, I’m sure that your son will have a wonderful time on his birthright trip. I don’t remember too many of the details, but we did get good guidance from the program when my daughters went. Which tour operator is running his trip? One of my daughters went with Israel Outdoors and one went with Young Judea on a trip from her college. Both had great experiences.</p>
<p>I think it is Hillel? He is going with a dozen kids from his university and their assistant Hillel advisor is going as well - which makes me feel reasonably comfortable. </p>
<p>I think it’s Free Israel Trip Hillel. They have links with information and packing lists. It’s great that there are enough students from Elon to go in a group.
As I recall, the schools did not release more specific info about the trip until closer to the date of departure, and only to the participants. </p>
<p>If it is through Elon, it looks like they use Hillel International as the Trip Organizer:</p>
<p><a href=“Elon University / Today at Elon / Elon Students traveling to Israel with Taglit-Birthright and Hillel”>https://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/70844</a></p>
<p><a href=“Recruiters lobby | Taglit - Birthright Israel”>http://www.birthrightisrael.com/visitingisrael/Pages/Trip-Organizers-Lobby.aspx</a></p>
<p>Plenty of information on the Birthright website (link above) - packing list, etc.</p>
<p>My daughter had a fantastic time on her trip! Everything was very well organized. No worries.</p>
<p>I do not remember what Trip Organizer handled her trip.</p>
<p>Nymom, thought I might see you in person for Purim to congratulate on the Miami choice. Great news. What made her choose Miami over the others?</p>
<p>Rockvillemom - My D1 went on birthright with her college Hillel over winter break. It was a great trip. They will tell you how much money to bring. I think they suggest around $200 in cash (at least I think that is what she brought). I think $70 is allocated for tipping the tour guides, etc. She took a credit card with her that did not charge foreign transaction fees. Make sure you call the credit card company and tell them that he will be in Israel.</p>
<p>As far as phone, she has an iphone. As soon as she boarded the plane, she shut off cellular service and didn’t turn it back on until she landed again in the US. She downloaded the Viber app (recommended from this board) and was able to call and text through Viber and text with her phone to non-viber users using internet access. </p>
<p>Neither of us wanted to deal with another phone number for a 10 day trip. The phone as described above worked perfectly.</p>
<p>I also was surprised at the lack of information provided to parents. They sent everything to the kids until about a week before the departure and then we received an email with the trip information.</p>
<p>D1 had a great trip! I am sure your S2 will too!</p>
<p>mdmomfromli’s suggestions work great for keeping in touch with home. The only issue may be keeping in touch with others on the trip. D2 was in Israel last summer on a program which included a homestay, and the family didn’t have internet access, so Viber/facetime/etc didn’t help with that. This might not be an issue for a Birthright trip, but it’s something to consider. D2 is going back to Israel this summer, this time as program staff and with some time before the program starts, so she’ll be getting an Israeli SIM card so she will always be available even without wifi. Which reminds me that we need to get her iPhone unlocked so she can use the Israeli SIM card. </p>
<p>Both D’s used Israelphones for their first trips. The convenience factor was great (pick up at airport, drop off at airport).</p>
<p>RVM, the spouse and I pulled that same “oh no, our documents are in the safe deposit box!” thing, except in our case it was “only” the tickets. D1, who’s generally very well-organized, had a dramatic lost passport event of her own. Our whole family has learned that it’s important to be extremely aware of where you’ve put your travel documents!!</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the helpful tips - much appreciated!</p>
<p>Hi rvm. When D went on Birthright, we did just fine using vibe. Also, they recommend a credit card through Payoneer. That was easy to do, and we avoided foreign transaction fees. Chag purim, all!</p>
<p>Sometimes even if there are no foreign transaction fees you can get burned if the card uses a less-advantageous exchange rate. Or (as was the case with Payoneer–maybe this was just with their ATM service?) you need to plan ahead in order to put money in the Payoneer account from your checking account. You could get rapid transfer from a credit card if you paid a service charge, ugh. Sorry, just not a fan of Payoneer! </p>
<p>Great article on the Hillel website on up and coming Hillels:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2014/03/12/seven-stellar-hillels-you-havent-heard-of”>http://www.hillel.org/about/news-views/news-views---blog/news-and-views/2014/03/12/seven-stellar-hillels-you-havent-heard-of</a></p>
<p>Of course, we have heard of Elon University!</p>
<p>Other recommendations include College of Charleston, University of Rhode Island, University of Delaware and University of Colorado, Boulder.</p>
<p>slitheytove: sounds like you had a bad experience with payoneer…we were lucky?</p>
<p>The advantage to the Israel Phone is that the student can communicate with others in the group on the trip… also peace of mind/ convenience.</p>
<p>There are fees to load a Payoneer card. I think our bank debit card worked and the fees were not bad, but check your bank.
If you use the bank card, don’t forget to tell the bank there will be withdrawals from Israel.
Chag Purim everyone. </p>
<p>college4three, not so much bad luck as that Payoneer seemed unwieldy. It was much more work to transfer money to the Payoneer card than into a regular bank account where the kid could use an ATM, let alone just using a credit card. And then if there’s a balance left on it at the end it’s remembering to use it up here in the states. I can see the point of using it for a high schooler who may not have a credit card or checking account, but honestly, a college student doesn’t need the oversight that Payoneer provides. </p>
<p>When my sons went on Birthright they used the Israelphone because I wanted to be sure they could contact others in their group/group leaders. I think they each called home just once or twice–generally we communicated by email which was easy. It’s only ten days, after all–and my boys were not the type to call home daily any way.</p>
<p>Birthright is very proactive if it looks like there will ever be any problems–a friend of mine had a son on a trip when some trouble broke out, and got a prompt email from Birthright assuring the safety of the group and describing the change in some tour plans/stops.</p>
<p>My boys are not big spenders but they did spend a bit more than they had anticipated–they loved sampling all the streetfood wherever they went and that does add up. They also bought some gifts for themselves and for us and they preferred nice gifts over junk–for example, one son bought me a beautiful star of David from Safed, and another wanted a print for his apartment.</p>
<p>But what a wonderful experience.</p>