More and more destinations now require proof of onward travel as part of their entry requirements. The Philippines, New Zealand, Egypt, Indonesia… The list is long and keeps growing.
If you’re the kind of traveler who arrives without knowing exactly when you’ll leave because you may extend your visa and explore the destination at your own pace, this guide will come in handy. We’ll explain how to “get an onward ticket”, how Onward Ticket works and what the alternatives are so you can travel without overthinking it.
Traveling without an onward or return ticket
To prevent people from staying illegally indefinitely, many countries now require proof of onward travel to let you in. While this makes sense in many cases, it complicates things in others. This can be a problem for expats moving to a new country and planning to keep renewing their visas, or for long-term travelers who want to explore without setting a return date.
Until recently the only solution was to find a cheap flight to a nearby country, pay for it, and then use it as proof of onward travel. Besides being a waste of time, this could also become an unnecessary extra expense. Now, fortunately, there are websites where you can easily get an onward ticket: by paying a small fee, you get a real flight reservation that you can show at check-in before departure or at immigration on arrival. It’s a real, legal reservation in your name that you don’t have to fully pay for.
Are they fake tickets? Illegal reservations?
Not at all! Although some of the first websites offering this service did forge tickets years ago, that’s no longer the case.
The system is very simple. You choose the dates you need for your onward ticket and they make a 100% real, legal reservation, which they then cancel once you’ve already entered the country. Because it’s a genuine reservation, airline staff and immigration officers can verify it without any issues.
It’s a legal service that lets you obtain real flight reservations without paying for the full ticket.
Onward Ticket to enter a country without an onward ticket
We’ve been using Onward Ticket for years whenever we need proof of onward travel but don’t yet know our departure date. We’ve tried others too (which we’ll mention briefly below), but the one that we trust the most and that offers the fastest, smoothest support when we have questions is this one.
Onward Ticket: How it works
If you’ve never done it before, you probably have a few questions. So we’ve put together this step-by-step guide to using Onward Ticket.
The first step is to go to their website. We’re including the link here because there are other websites with similar names that aren’t reliable. This is the correct one:
OFFICIAL ONWARD TICKET WEBSITE
1) Once you’re on the site, start the process by clicking “BOOK NOW”.
A menu will appear where you can start putting together your onward ticket. You’ll see that, as you fill in the different fields, the information will appear on the preview of your ticket.
2) In the first section, “Route”, you must fill in:
- One-Way or Round Trip: If all you need is an onward ticket, click “One-Way”.
- Route: In “From,” choose an airport in the country for which you need the onward ticket. It doesn’t need to be the same as your arrival airport. For example, if you arrive in Indonesia via Jakarta, you can choose an airport in Bali as your departure (remember, it’s an onward ticket you won’t use, and you don’t need to go to Bali to catch that flight). In “To,” choose your destination.
- In the “Date” field, enter the date you want to appear on the reservation. Naturally, this must fall within the number of days your visa allows. If, for example, your 30-day stay ends on November 15, choose a date before that.
When you’re done, click the arrow to continue.
3) Next, enter your personal details:
– First, the email address where you want to receive your onward ticket confirmation.
– Your first and last name.
– You’ll see a “+” below. If there are more travelers, click there to add their first and last names too.
Then click the arrow to continue.
4) You’re almost done. Just choose the following:
– Receive ticket: Here, you can choose to receive your onward ticket immediately by clicking “Receive now”. Keep in mind that these tickets are valid for 48 hours. If you still have plenty of time before arriving in the country, you can complete the process later, or you can also receive it later via a link they’ll give you if you choose “Receive later”. This costs an extra $1.
– Change Over: “Multi-Stop” is the default and means that your flight from Bali to Bangkok may include a layover in a third country. “Direct Flight” ensures that your rented flight will be direct. They say this is useful because it helps you avoid countries like the United States, where you may need to show a visa even for a layover. We don’t usually choose this option, which costs an extra $2, since we’ve never been asked for a visa to a third country to reach our destination.
– Currency: You can pay in US dollars or euros. It’s the same amount. As of writing this guide, choosing dollars is cheaper if you pay with one of the no-fee travel cards we talk about here: Best travel debit cards.
Click the arrow to continue and…
5) A screen will appear where you can check that all the details you’ve entered are correct or edit them if needed. If everything is fine, click “Confirm and pay”.
You’ll then reach the payment page, where you can pay and easily get your onward ticket. They’ll send it to your email as a PDF including the selected itinerary, your details, and the PNR code.
Onward Ticket, reviews
We spend a big part of our lives on the road, and we’ve had to use the services of Onward Ticket and other similar websites several times. After comparing them and having issues with some, we now always use this one. These are the reasons we prefer Onward Ticket when we need proof of onward travel:
- Very easy-to-use website: As you’ve just seen in the guide, the website is super simple to use and you can have your reservation ready in under a minute.
- The support team responds very quickly to any questions.
- They provide real, legal onward reservations and, unlike most, they give you the PNR code so airline staff or immigration officers can verify them.
- It offers useful options, such as direct flights or receiving your ticket later.
Frequently asked questions about onward tickets with Onward Ticket
What is Onward Ticket and what is it used for?
Without having to pay for a full flight, they generate an onward ticket leaving the country you choose. It’s completely legal, and you can use it to enter countries that require proof of onward travel or to apply for a visa.
What will you receive?
They send you a PDF, just like an airline would, with a real reservation in your name for the selected dates and destination.
How long is this rented ticket valid?
48 hours.
Will I have to cancel the flight myself once that time has passed?
No. You don’t have to do anything — they take care of it for you.
Can changes be made to the reservation?
Once the reservation has been made and paid for, it can’t be changed. If you need a different onward ticket, you’ll have to start the process again from scratch.
Do you have any questions about how to get an onward ticket for your trip? Don’t be shy. Leave your questions below in the comments and we’ll be happy to help.
