Greetings.

I am currently in the process of applying for a tourist visa to visit
the U.S. over the holidays.  However, due to an excessive ammount of
paperwork and beaurocratic red-tape within the country which I
currently residing, I will not be able to have an appointment at the
U.S. consulate for at least another 2 weeks.  My concern is that if I
do not purchase my airfare for the Christmas holidays until after my
visa is approved, I will be forced pay more than I can currently
afford.  Furthermore, I am hesistant to purchase the tickets before my
visa is approved, although I have no reason to suspect that I would be
denied such a visa.

Is there anyway I can "insure" my airfare against a visa refusal?  The
current travel insurance offered with my airfre does not provide any
guarentees for the denial of a visa application.

Suggestions?
Any good alternative solution would be most welcomed, as well.

Thank you for your time.  I await your response.

random thoughts:

pretty sure there is no such type of insurance.  think of it from
insurer's point of view: would you take that risk?  you'd probably
charge a lot to do so.

it's already pretty late to get cheap holiday-season tickets from/to
many international locations; are you sure about being able to save
significant money buying now?  by now, your bigger concern might be
availability.  in the past, we've had bad luck getting seats to/from
south america (on reputable airlines, anyway)unless we buy in early
october.

you probably aren't looking to buy full-fare refundable tickets;
certainly not cheap!  but look at the airlines' policies on getting
credit for unused non-refundable tickets.  non-refundable doesn't
necessarily mean "use them now or lose all your money".  it can often
mean "we won't give you your money back, but we'll apply it to another
ticket".  it's probably a matter of paying a $75 or $150 (varies by
airline, i assume, and maybe by time of year) fee to change the
reservations to later next year.  policies vary so much by airline
that i think you'd have to look at each one's website, or call each
one to see.  don't know if this would work for you or not.

triumfdooggoder's comment reminds me of a feature of google answers
i'd like to see implemented: a "modify/delete my previous comment"
button, for those times when you realize you were being dumb, or
snotty, or simply spelled a word wrong, right after you hit "post". 
as it stands now, unless it reaches a level where it violates GA TOS
(something that's evidently becoming easier and easier to do), the
embarrassing comment just sits there for all eternity for everyone to
see.

-cab

1)  Many discount fares can be date changed to any date within one
year of the original booking for a $100 fee.  American Airlines is one
of these carriers. While you would not avoid the cost of the ticket
were the visa not approved, you would at least not lose the entire
value of the ticket.  If you wish to persue this option I would check
for the lowest fare then check the change restrictions.

2)  Tickets booked through frequent flier miles can sometimes be
recredited to an account if the ticket is not used.  While you may not
have the miles, I would recommend contacting friends who might have
them and could support you in this way.  The final alternative is to
go to miles brokers (or even the airlines themselves as they do sell
miles in some programs) and purchase the miles.  Here the
refundability will depend on the broker and you are still more likely
to get miles recredited rather than a refund.

Good luck and ignore the childish individual unable to properly
address your question.  Most google researchers are here to help, not
to mock.