My Dummy Ticket
Plain-English answers from people who've worked both sides of the border counter. Written daily by four travel-industry insiders.
A dummy ticket, also called an onward ticket, usually costs between five and twenty five dollars, but the price tells you less than what is actually behind it.
Rwanda welcomes every nationality without a prior visa, but that does not mean an onward ticket never gets checked at the airport or the border.
Crossing into Cambodia or Laos to reset a Thai visa exemption raises a real question: do you need an onward ticket at a land border, not just at the airport?
Your onward or dummy ticket is a real booking, but the airline's own lookup tool can lag behind it. Here's why that happens and what actually fixes it.
British Airways can and sometimes does ask one-way passengers for proof of onward travel, especially on long-haul leisure routes. Here is what really happens at the check-in desk.
You can verify your own onward ticket PNR on the airline's website or app in minutes, no phone call needed. Here's how to read the status and what to do if it won't verify.
A practical look at what Schengen consulates actually want from your onward ticket, covering the document checklist, the 90/180-day rule, and what happens after the visa is issued.
A dummy ticket only proves onward travel while its date is still in the future. Here's what happens once that date passes, and how to fix it fast.
ESTA approval doesn't check your flights, but airlines do. Here's what the ESTA application screens for versus what you need at check-in.
Flying Bali to Singapore and back for a visa run raises its own onward-ticket question, distinct from a standard country entry FAQ. Here's what to book for each leg.
Many travelers ask the same question before applying for a visa or entering a foreign country: Is it safe to use a dummy ticket? The short and simple answer is: yes, dummy tickets are safe: if you get them from a legitimate provider and use them correctly.
Emirates checks proof of onward travel for many one-way passengers, and here's what a dummy ticket or onward ticket needs to look like to pass a check-in agent's review.