Paying your own airfare

[donnarn7994]

I signed up with an agency recently and was going to take a job in CA but decided to stay in my hometown and go the permanent route for now. I emailed my recruiter and asked her to pull my profile from the hospital (which I had never spoken to anyone there). I have a friend on assignment out there now which I had told her about. She sent me back a nasty little email that stated: "What happened did you and your girlfriend get in a fight and now she wont let you stay with here?" I feel she was totally unprofessional in the email. I tried to report her to her supervisor, but she will not call me back. Now she has sent me another email saying "Whats going on" "What made you change your mind? Again, I felt like I didn't need to explain all the circumstances of my personal life. She then asked me if I still wanted to go to this hospital. Now I will get to my question. This company only pays $500 round trip. Of course, $250 each way. I cannot find a flight to CA for that little money. The recruiter told me to put it on my credit card. Is this something new or normal for a travel nurse to pay 1/4 to 1/2 of the airfare?
I have traveled for 1 1/2 yrs and although I drove, my travel was always covered. I have had other agencies tell me they would pay my complete airfare. I just thought I would run this by yall and get your input!

Donna

[treatetstreet]

NO NO NO NO NO You have got to be working for Am. Mobile!!!

You will never get reimbursed for your expenses. You will be asked to make co-pays on everything - think of it this way: EVERY DOLLAR YOU GIVE UP IS ANOTHER DOLLAR TO THE RECRUITER. There are recruiters who are honest and want you happy, but the majority are ruthless cutthroats who care nothing about you.

I can't tell you how many times a recruiter has been nasty, only to call you later like nothing happened!

Specify it in the contract: You must be protected. They sure as hell are.

Whew and good luck my friend.

[disholicious]

With both of the companies I have worked with that airfare was needed, one paid $500 and the other $800. With the $500 I got half with my 1st check and half like a month later. Seems silly to me. As for being treated like that- do not take it. Either get a hold of a supervisor or send a simple email stating you do not like the nature of her emails, feeling they were unprofessional, and not to contact you again.

[donnarn7994]

The agency is Preferred Healthcare which I heard was associated with American Mobile. I did get contacted several days later by the recruiter who apologized for the "misunderstanding" and that she was not trying to insinuate anything. I tried contacting her supervisor and she will not call me back. And yes treatetstreet, she acted like nothing ever happened. As far as airfare, even if you do get your money back for the airfare in the first couple of weeks, you still have to come up with the money for airfare to get you out there to begin with. And at the present time, I don't have a credit card or $500 to put down upfront for my own airfare. My friend is working with TruStaff and she got a job at the same hospital I was going to and her airfare was paid by the agency before she ever got on the plane. I guess I have been screwed over by so many agencies lately, I don't know who to trust anymore.!

[disholicious]

I worked for trustaff in August- they were the ones who paid half the travel with the first paycheck and the other half a month later! I think some of it has to do with when the recruiter actually submits the paperwork into payroll.

[AmandaWIRN]

Regardless of how much they'll pay for travel, I would not travel with a company whose employees treated me that way- I would tell them to forget it, and not to contact you again, and then find another company to go with. You don't deserve to be treated like that, and I would have a hard time trusting someone as unprofessional at that......

[rihagirl]

Just to let some of you know, most reputable good paying companies have your plane ticket paid for and waiting @ the airport for you. Try Fastaff or On Assignment. Good luck.

[peekabooicu]

That is plain scary to me...wondering if you will get there,,,worrying about tickets. The recruiter sounds greedy, squeezing pennies. I have spoken with recruiters that argue about a washer and dryer, or want you to trade a lamp for a TV. That is when this lil southern drawl says, "You have a good day, darlin'...we probably won't get to chat again."