apparently Air Asia does not require proof on onward travel

[Adrian888]

Just some useful information that may or may not be accurate as I only have one source for it (like most things on the internet.) I was getting fed up with this whole proof on on wards travel thing being required by some air lines before being allowed to bored flights on the rare chance that someone might get asked at customs and have no money to then buy one; so I just phoned Air Asia and asked if they would ask me for it. I repeated the question twice just to be absolutely sure, and she said "Air Asia will not check for proof of on wards travel.

Now of course this could be BS, but I will be going to the airport 3 hours early, and so I will have plenty of time to buy a cheap flight out if needed, i could even go on the wifi, buy my ticket in 5 minuits, show them my notebook screen, and be on the plane before the last few people get on. And same thing at immigration, I assume they would prefer you just went online and bought a ticket out then to deport you? Everyone says immigration doesent even care though anyways, especially seeing im entering the country with enough Tai Baht to last me 2 months.

Cheers

[ezzra]

Not sure what are rambling about but as a very prolific traveler my self having boarded

hundreds of planes and gone to hundreds destinations, no one ever asked for any

kind of proof of onward travel ( not even sure what is it )

[ubonjoe]

Onward travel is a ticket out of whatever country you are in to any other country.

Proof of onward travel within 30 days is required for a visa exempt entry to here.

[khaowong1]

I've been asked a couple of times maybe 5 - 6 years ago. The last two times I came here I was asked by China Airlines, I told them I was meeting some people in Bangkok and then after a week with them, we were going on to India, traveling on a tour and that they had my onward ticket and travel info. They just shrugged and said, bye bye, have a nice flight. Of course, none of that was true. I just made it up. And have never been asked in probably 20 years at Thai immigration if I had an on-ward ticket. On the other hand, this is not true if you are traveling to the US. They will ask for an on-ward ticket and if you don't have one, make you stay in the airport until you do.

Edited November 16, 2013 by khaowong1

[ubonjoe]

Immigration does not ask for it.

Edited November 16, 2013 by ubonjoe

[Mario2008]

Immigration lets the airlines check the requirement and very rarely checks it for themselves. Some airlines are very strict, some don't bother to check. Also don't forget it only applies to people who don't have a visa.

I have flown with airlines who didn't bother to check and on the other hand been checked by an airline both at check-in and again before actual boarding of the plane.

The requirement is real, and regularly people are being surprised by the requirement and not allowed to board their flight (unless they buy a last minute ticket out).

And when a flight is overbooked, the airline will first bump the passengers whom they do not have to compensate for any delay, like the persons who do not have proof of onward travel

[ubonjoe]

Some have been forced into buying a very expensive return ticket they didn't want or need.

[phuketrichard]

every time my Cambodian gf flies from Cambodia to Thailand and she is on a 1 year non B visa,

she is asked at check in for her return ticket.

and this goes back 4 years

I on the other hand have never been asked but i have a 1 year extension.

Would love to hear from those traveling on a visa exempt status ( ie no visa)

[joepattaya1961]

Officially (read: OFFICIALLY) you must have proof of outbound-travel arrangements by air if you use the visa-exempt option.

Immigration or airliner not asking for it doesn't mean anything. Point is, if (read: IF) you are getting refused entry because of the lack of outbound-travel arrangements, the airliner has to take you back to your original destination.

If people say: I've been traveling hundreds of times and have never been checked; possible, but at some point, Thai immigration will pick-up the enforcement of the regulation.

For the OP: I went to KL and BDO last week and upon return from KL to DMK (yesterday) AirAsia didn't check for any flight-arrangement neither did immigration.

Edited November 16, 2013 by joepattaya1961

[richard_smith237]

Proof of onward travel is an Immigration Requirement for those entering without a Visa.

The onus of responsibility is with the Airline who are responsible for returning the passenger to point of origin if refused entry.

Thus: The Airline should check for either a valid Visa or proof of onward travel.

When flying into Thailand (re-entering Thailand on ticket returning to Thailand) the checkin staff regularly check my visa status when they flick through my passport.

That said: many Airlines are slack. This is also location dependent. I've found airlines in the UK and Singapore more strict.

As many have already posted; many airlines don't check. However, they could, as could immigration.

It all comes down to chancing it if you don't have a visa or a return ticket.

[AloisAmrein]

I just flew with Air Asia to Kathmandu, Nepal, and I travelled various times with Air Asia, I was never asked for a return ticket, also not on other airlines.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Some have been forced into buying a very expensive return ticket they didn't want or need.

Return ticket to where? Can just buy a fully refundable ticket if no intent to use it.

I've traveled around Asia on USA passport for over a decade, sometimes with thai visas and many times without. I can recall being asked for proof of onward travel only once, on.a flight from Manila to Bangkok on PAL many years ago. And that time i did have a visa burried in my passport which i pointed out to the agent so no problem. I dont know what ticket i would have had to buy if i didnt have the visa in order to board my flight.

So I guess it can happen and it is in the rules but it's not very often enforced...probably dependant on one's passport's nationality more than anything else..

Edited November 17, 2013 by OMGImInPattaya

[ubonjoe]

Some have been forced into buying a very expensive return ticket they didn't want or need.

Return ticket to where? Can just buy a fully refundable ticket if no intent to use it.

I've traveled around Asia on USA passport for over a decade, sometimes with thai visas and many times without. I can recall being asked for proof of onward travel only once, on.a flight from Manila to Bangkok on PAL many years ago. And that time i did have a visa burried in my passport which i pointed out to the agent so no problem. I dont know what ticket i would have had to buy if i didnt have the visa in order to board my flight.

So I guess it can happen and it is in the rules but it's not very often enforced...probably dependant on one's passport's nationality more than anything else..

A return would be back to where you are flying from. The rules only require a onward ticket which could be to a any nearby country.

The rules have been the same I assume for as long as visa exempt entries have been allowed.

I have been aware of them since my first trip in on an exempt entry in the mid 90's. In 1998 when my job ended in Algeria my employer at my request gave me a one way ticket to BKK with an open onward ticket to Singapore to meet the requirements. Being aware of the rules I have always had a ticket out if coming in on exempt entry or a visa for longer stays.

Nationality makes no difference for exempt entries because if a person country is on the list it is the same. If on list for VOA it is 15 days. If on list for bilateral agreements it varies from14 to 90 days. All others have to have a visa.

[Gsxrnz]

Not sure what are rambling about but as a very prolific traveler my self having boarded

hundreds of planes and gone to hundreds destinations, no one ever asked for any

kind of proof of onward travel ( not even sure what is it )

You haven't been to New Zealand then. At the Non-Residents queue for immigration, the officials walk about telling everybody to have their proof of onward travel/return ticket ready when they get to the counter.

[Eneukman]

I've been asked a few times to show my visa when flying back into the country. Air Asia did ask me once but that was a few years ago. More recently, I've travelled back from Cambodia, Macau and Singapore with them and have never been asked though that could change the next time I fly with them.

I would therefore not take the risk of not having an onward ticket if you do not have a visa.

Alan

[CTO]

I fly Air Asia Jakarta to Bangkok last week, was asked to show my onward travel or Visa

[OMGImInPattaya]

Some have been forced into buying a very expensive return ticket they didn't want or need.

Return ticket to where? Can just buy a fully refundable ticket if no intent to use it.

I've traveled around Asia on USA passport for over a decade, sometimes with thai visas and many times without. I can recall being asked for proof of onward travel only once, on.a flight from Manila to Bangkok on PAL many years ago. And that time i did have a visa burried in my passport which i pointed out to the agent so no problem. I dont know what ticket i would have had to buy if i didnt have the visa in order to board my flight.

So I guess it can happen and it is in the rules but it's not very often enforced...probably dependant on one's passport's nationality more than anything else..

A return would be back to where you are flying from. The rules only require a onward ticket which could be to a any nearby country.

And then wouldn't that country require proof of onward travel and so and so on? One would only be completely covered if one had a return ticket to one's country of origin? Edited November 17, 2013 by OMGImInPattaya

[lopburi3]

Troll post removed.

[8OA8]

Immigration does not ask for it.

Not unless you have arrived in from a day trip to Cambodia and your onward air ticket and luggage, with the exception of your passport and wallet, are safety locked in your Sukhumvit hotel room and your passport has a Thai multiple entry visa issued in a certain African country. In this case you may need to await assistance from outside, this will be whilst you spend up to 7 hours in the Thai Immigration accommodation at the Thai airport.

[bangarang]

The only time I was asked for proof of onward travel was on my 1 way ticket here at LAX airport in Los Angeles using China Eastern Air. Luckily I stopped in KL before coming to Thailand so I already had it, but this might be something thats only required when departing 1st world countries with those long journeys to make sure you dont have to get sent back on their dollar.

[whybother]

And then wouldn't that country require proof of onward travel and so and so on? One would only be completely covered if one had a return ticket to one's country of origin?

The country that you are flying "onward" to would only be relevant at the time that you are actually flying there.

[tartempion]

Not sure what are rambling about but as a very prolific traveler my self having boarded

hundreds of planes and gone to hundreds destinations, no one ever asked for any

kind of proof of onward travel ( not even sure what is it )

Well you don't mention if you hold a valid visa, if you need one where you travel to. If you fly from JFK to ATL you certainly don't need a return ticket to travel...

Check in employees at airports have the visa rules for the destination country on their screen.

If you travel to a visa exempt country (depending on your nationality) and your ticket conditions are outside the allowed non-visa window you will be denied boarding (if the employee does his job correctly- which they don't in 50%) That's because the airline will need to pay for your return flight if you are denied entering the country.

I travel 2xyear on a return ticket BKK-Europe, thus my trip back to BKK is the last part of my ticket and am asked to show my permission of stay 1 out of 2, I guess they know how to check my passport pages for the other 50%, or they are lacks in their job

Thus som nam na if you check in to Thailand for more than 30 days without a valid visa, na.

[dancep]

I was told that Philippines was strict on this and to have my proof of return available at BKK on departure. So I showed the Cebu Pacific counter person my return ticket on their airline on my laptop and even this was not good enough, they told me immigration in Philippines needed to see a printout. They relented but told me to get a printout at BKK airport before I boarded which I did, sure enough the Philippines guy asked for it.... I was also asked by Eihad in UK on my way to Thailand to show my visas for the time of my stay.

So it can vary and best to be prepared, but I never have been asked entering Thailand to show anything.

[ubonjoe]

Some have been forced into buying a very expensive return ticket they didn't want or need.

Return ticket to where? Can just buy a fully refundable ticket if no intent to use it.

I've traveled around Asia on USA passport for over a decade, sometimes with thai visas and many times without. I can recall being asked for proof of onward travel only once, on.a flight from Manila to Bangkok on PAL many years ago. And that time i did have a visa burried in my passport which i pointed out to the agent so no problem. I dont know what ticket i would have had to buy if i didnt have the visa in order to board my flight.

So I guess it can happen and it is in the rules but it's not very often enforced...probably dependant on one's passport's nationality more than anything else..

A return would be back to where you are flying from. The rules only require a onward ticket which could be to a any nearby country.

And then wouldn't that country require proof of onward travel and so and so on? One would only be completely covered if one had a return ticket to one's country of origin?

You can buy a one way onward ticket without a ticket out of the other country. The onward ticket I had in mind would be to a nearby country. Checking in for the flight to here they wouldn't bother to check to see if you needed a ticket out of the other country.

A return home is OK but it would still have to be within 30 days unless you had an open ticket which are not easy to get now and/or very costly.

[Hardie]

This kind of requirement has been going on around the world for years, whether enforced or not. Back in the old days, you could buy a 'Miscellaneous Charges Order' to circumvent it often, looked just like a ticket...

[louse1953]

They do if your Thai.

[siamjimi]

I am a heavy traveler and I am not sure if it depends on the location your leaving from - however - I have been asked numerous times. I have even seen them pull up my booking that I have shown them to verify.

Usually that is not the case and I have many times produced a paper itinerary of dubious origin and they let me pass - I have been checked on 2 or 3 occasions by them checking the booking on their system.

Once when I did have a booking but forgot to print it they asked me to step into a side office and provided me a computer terminal to retrieve it online from my email to show them and then processed my ticket.

I am sure the 3 or 4 occasions they checked the system for my booking - if they had not found the booking - I would not have been allowed to fly.

This is a recount during a span of quite a few years’ time the past 10 years. I can say the frequency of them asking was EVERY time when exiting Arab countries and from my memory it was quite frequent exiting the USA and some other countries that I simply cannot quote due to being so long ago.

I will say that I have not been asked for possibly the last 1 or 2 years to produce my evidence of onward travel. I am sure it depends on if your leaving a country that is on their "visa upon arrival" list and that of a non-participating country.

[beammeup]

I've been asked many times. On one occasion in Vancouver I had to buy a one way refundable ticket from Bangkok to Singapore in order to board. I cashed in the ticket once I arrived in Thailand.

[RtotheC]

Even though i've never been asked for it, I wonder sometimes why they would try to make onward travel tickets a rule in a landlocked country. Then i remember, it doesn't have tomake sense.

[lopburi3]

Are we talking about Thailand or Laos? Last I looked Thailand was not landlocked.