I have a selection element:

1.             <select id="selvisatype" title="Please select a visa type">
                   <option value="pleaseselect">Please Select</option>
                   <option value="notapplicable">Not Applicable</option>
                   <option value="a1">A-1</option>
                   <option value="a2">A-2</option>
                   <option value="b1">B-1</option>
                   . . .
               </select>

I want to retrieve the value the user has selected (or "Please Select" if they've not selected anything). I tried this:

1.        if ($('#visitor').is(':checked')) {
            console.log('visitor is checked');
            var visaselection = $('#selvisatype').val();
            console.log('visaselection is ' + visaselection);
          }

...and, after checking the "visitor" radio button, the console says "visitor is checked" then "visaselection is undefined"

This happens whether I leave selvisatype alone or make a selection from it. It also happens with this code:

1. var visaselection =  $('select[name="selvisatype"]').val() 

With this code, OTOH:

1. var visaselection =  $("#visaselection option:selected").text();

...it simply says, "visaselection is " (blank)