My Dummy Ticket
Plain-English answers from people who've worked both sides of the border counter. Written daily by four travel-industry insiders.
Uganda checks onward travel differently at Entebbe Airport than at its land borders with Kenya and Rwanda, and the East African Tourist Visa changes the picture too.
A return ticket brings you home; an onward ticket just proves you are leaving the country you entered. Here is when each one actually matters.
Proof of onward travel is a requirement, not a product, and a dummy or onward ticket is just one way to satisfy it. Here's what airlines, border officers, and consulates actually check.
Tanzania expects proof you will leave, but the check usually happens at airline check-in, not at immigration on arrival.
Singapore Airlines relies on IATA's Timatic system to decide whether your dummy ticket or onward ticket clears check-in before you fly.
Turkish Airlines check-in staff use IATA's Timatic system to verify onward travel proof before boarding, and a valid dummy or onward ticket needs to hold up to that check.
Uzbekistan has relaxed its visa rules for many nationalities, but that does not remove the onward-ticket question at airline check-in. Here is where it actually comes up, and what counts as valid proof.
A dummy ticket can be genuinely safe, but only if it is a real, verifiable reservation. Here is what actually separates a safe booking from a risky one, and where travellers usually go wrong.
Georgia grants visa-free entry to over 90 nationalities for up to a year, yet airlines still ask for proof of onward travel at check-in.
Delta can deny boarding if you lack proof of onward travel to certain destinations. Here's when it actually happens at the counter, and how SkyTeam partners handle it too.
Leaving a country by bus or train doesn't remove the onward-ticket requirement; the check usually happens at your inbound flight's check-in counter instead.
Even visa-free travellers can be asked to prove they are leaving the UK. Here is what a dummy or onward ticket needs to show at the border.