About

Experience the adventure of a lifetime!

IYE matches teens aged 14 to 19 with a person of similar age from an airline family abroad. Your son or daughter can use your flight privileges to experience the adventure of a lifetime.

The young people spend two weeks in your home and two weeks in the home of the match family, creating international friendships.

Since 1994, IYE has matched more than 6,500 teens in more than a dozen countries!

Some countries include Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

MATHIEU, MARTINIQUE

This was a fantastic human and linguistic experience for our children. Mathieu had good relationship with his correspondent and family and improved his English considerably. For sure we shall renew the experience next year. (Mathieu’s father)

Hayley, USA

This summer was absolutely wonderful! I had the best time in Rome and really enjoyed getting to show Mariasole all around Kansas. We were a really good match for one another and are already making plans to visit each other as soon as we have time off school. Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity! I hope many more people get to have this amazing experience!
Sincerely,
Hayley

Jacquelynn, USA

There are no words to describe the fabulous experience we all had (both sides) what a fantastic program. Thank you for everything you did to help us. More importantly thank you for this program! (Jacquelynn’s mother)

Molly

Molly's exchange with Nicole from Australia was incredible- life changing- and the single best experience of Molly's life. The family treated Molly like a daughter and took her to see so many things. They even flew to Sydney! They treated her to everything and she loved it all so much she did NOT want to come home. She and Nicole have been in touch texting and talking on the phone every day since then, and begging to see each other again. that is how meaningful this friendship has become. Both of my daughters say they want to participate in IYE for as many years as they are able.

Achille, France

The exchange with Tyler was great. Boys had a great time together. They had a lot in common and as planned, they sailed, surfed and spent few days to visit major monuments around our place. Achille really appreciated his stay in Vancouver. (Achille’s mother)

Carla, Germany

I did the IYE exchange this summer with Jasmin from Canada. I want to say thank you to this program, because it was the best summer of my life! We really enjoyed it and we had so much fun! I think this exchange is the best thing you can do in our age and Jasmin and me are really good friends now and still in contact. We plan to visit each other next summer again. My English improved and it was hard to find the right German words when I came back to Germany! Thank you for this experience! Greetings from Germany, Carla

Kylie, Canada

Kylie had a wonderful experience with the exchange. I only wish I would have known about this program a few years ago. Giorgia and her family were so nice and made Kylie's first exchange a memorable one! The girls still keep in touch with each other and I hope it's the beginning of a long friendship. We couldn't of been happier with the IYE program. Thank you, Kelly (Kylie’s Mom)

Daniel, USA

I am emailing you to tell you that my exchange with Ignacio was a success! We both had a lot of fun. I also went to visit Paddy from Germany who I exchanged with last year, which was also very fun. Please make my account active again so I can match with another kid from another place in the world. Thank you, Daniel, age 16, American Airlines family.

Finding a Match
While Abroad
Hosting
Cost

Finding a Match

After you register, you will be able to create a profile and see profiles of young people your own age. When viewing profiles, you can indicate who you would like to be matched with. When both families agree on a match, you will receive contact information. From here, you will begin to plan the exchange with your match family! Airline families enjoy this program in part because of the flexibility it allows. Each exchange is unique. You and your match family decide the details.

While Abroad

While your son or daughter is staying abroad, they have an opportunity to learn about another culture from someone their own age. Living with a family for two weeks is a fun way to experience a different country. This is a perfect way to advance foreign language skills and improve school resumes.

Hosting

When you host a young person from another country, your entire family shares in the experience. Your son or daughter will spend two weeks of his or her school holiday with your exchange match at your home. You get to share family life with your guest as well as introduce them to local activities and attractions.

Cost

The program costs $325 (U.S.) for the application fee. The application fee is 100 percent refundable if a suitable match is not found. This fee covers being matched with a family abroad. IYE will be there to help answer questions about your exchange along the way.

The application fee does not include travel expenses, flights or the cost of activities while abroad.

Camille Wheeler Camille, the IYE program director and a retired airline employee, loves to travel. When her four children were growing up, she wanted them to be able to see other countries, but the cost of traveling with a family of six was discouraging. Searching for a way for her children to travel abroad, learn different languages and experience new cultures, she developed the International Youth Exchange. Using her airline travel benefits, she found a way for all of her children to participate in these exchanges. After seeing what great experiences they had, she wanted to offer this opportunity for cultural understanding to other airline families.