Damn... what an old thread.
Unless you hire someone you've met before I would advice you to send a booking fee and get the ticket for the selected escort as soon as possible.
The whole thing: "I'm hiring someone for a friend for X months away" sounds like a Nigerian scam. I'm just saying what I've heard by many escorts, when they get an email/text like this some of them don't even reply thinking it will be a waste of time. Please don't get me wrong we know that you @bigjoey hire... unlike other members of the forum who used to do it or don't do it at all. I'm just saying this all smells bad and some escorts would think it's a joke, unless you've met them before or you contact them on here and they know they're talking to a gentleman and not a time-waster.