More and more destinations, among their entry requirements, ask us to have an onward flight out of the country in order to enter. Philippines, New Zealand, Egypt, Indonesia… The list is long and keeps growing.
If you’re one of those travelers who visit countries without being sure when you’re going to leave because you might plan to extend your visa and slowly discover a destination, this guide will be very helpful. We’re going to tell you how to “rent an onward ticket”, how Onward Ticket works and what the alternatives are so you can travel without overthinking in a case like this.
Traveling without an onward or return ticket
To prevent people from staying illegally indefinitely, many countries now choose to require an onward flight to enter the country. While this makes sense in many cases, it complicates things in others. Expats who arrive in their new country of residence planning to keep renewing visas with no intention of leaving; or long-stay travelers who arrive with no return date wanting to explore without rushing — we find some complications in this rule.
Until recently the only solution was to search for a cheap flight to another nearby country, pay for it, and then show it as proof of your onward flight. This, besides being a waste of time, was in some cases an extra expense that could skyrocket. Now, fortunately, there are websites where you can easily rent an onward flight: by paying a small fee, you get a booking receipt for a flight that you can show when asked at the check-in counters at your departure airport or at immigration upon arrival. An onward flight in your name, real and legal, that you don’t have to pay for.
Are they fake tickets? Illegal reservations?
Not at all! Although years ago the first websites that appeared did directly forge tickets, that’s no longer the case.
The system is very simple. You choose the dates for which you need your onward flight and they make a 100% real and legal reservation which they then cancel once you’ve already entered the country. As it’s an authentic onward flight, the authorities or airlines themselves can verify its validity without you having to worry.
It’s a legal system in which you can rent real airline tickets.
Onward Ticket to enter a country without an onward ticket
The website we have been using for years to solve this problem of entering a country without an onward ticket when we don’t know exactly when we’re going to leave is Onward Ticket. We’ve tried others (we’ll mention them below shortly) but the one that gives us the most confidence and the fastest, smoothest assistance when we have questions is this one.
Onward Ticket: How it works
If you haven’t done it before, you may have doubts. So we’ve put together this Guide to renting an onward flight with Onward Ticket to help you step by step.
The first thing you’ll need to do is go to their website. We’re leaving the link here because there are others with similar names that aren’t reliable. This is the correct one:
OFFICIAL ONWARD TICKET WEBSITE
1) Once on the page, start the process by clicking “BOOK NOW”.
A menu will appear where you’ll start to “design” your onward plane ticket. You’ll see that as you fill in the different fields, the information will appear on the image of your ticket.
2) In the first section, “Route”, you must fill in”:
- One-Way or Round Trip: If what you want is to rent an onward flight, click “One-Way”.
- Route: In “From” you must choose an airport in the country for which you need the onward flight. It doesn’t need to be the same as your arrival airport. For example, if you arrive in Indonesia via Jakarta, you can choose Bali airport as your departure (we repeat, it’s an onward flight you won’t use and you don’t need to go to Bali to take that plane). In “To” choose where you want your onward flight to go.
- Enter in “Date” the date you want to appear on the reservation. Obviously, this must be within the days allowed by your visa. 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) It’s time for your details:
– First, the email address where you want to receive your onward ticket receipt.
– Your first and last name.
– You’ll see a “+” below. If there are more travelers, click there and you’ll be able to add their first and last names as well.
Then click the arrow to continue.
4) You’re almost there. Just choose the following:
– Receive ticket: Here you have the option to receive your onward flight immediately by clicking “Receive now”. Keep in mind that the validity of these tickets is 48 hours. If there’s more time before you arrive 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”. It has an extra cost of 1 dollar.
– Change Over: “Multi-Stop” is the default and means that your supposed flight from Bali to Bangkok may have a layover in a third country. “Direct Flight” ensures that your rented flight will be direct. They say this is useful to avoid countries like the United States where you would have to show a visa even to make that fictitious layover. We don’t 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 choose to 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 date to continue and…
5) A screen will appear where you can check that all the data you’ve entered are correct or edit them if not. If everything is fine, click “Confirm and pay”.
You’ll access the menu where you can make the payment and easily obtain your 100% real onward ticket out of the country. They’ll send it to your email with a PDF including the selected itinerary, your details, and the PNR code.
Onward Ticket, reviews
We, who spend half our lives traveling up and down, have had to use the services of Onward Ticket and other similar websites several times and, after comparing and having issues with some, we now always use this one. The reviews of Onward Ticket that lead us to prefer it for renting our onward flights out of a country are these:
- 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 flights in a minute.
- The support service responds very quickly to any questions.
- They are 100% real, 100% legal onward tickets and, unlike most, they give you the PNR code with which the authorities can verify their authenticity.
- It offers many interesting options such as direct flights, or receiving the ticket later.
Frequently asked questions about onward flights out of a country with Oward Ticket
What is Onward Ticket and what is it used for?
Without you needing to pay for it, they generate an onward ticket out of the country you indicate. In a completely legal way, you can present it to enter countries that require it or to apply for a visa.
What will you receive?
They send you a PDF like any airline would. With a real reservation in your name for the selected dates and destination.
How long is this rented plane ticket valid?
48 hours.
Will I have to cancel the flight myself once that time has passed?
No. You don’t have to worry about anything — they do it for you.
Can changes be made to the reservation?
Once it’s made and paid, it’s no longer possible. If you need another onward flight to enter a country, you’ll have to repeat the process from scratch.
Do you have any questions about how to get your onward flight to enter a country? Don’t be shy. Leave it below in the comments and we’ll be happy to help.
