Proof of Travel
Plain-English answers from people who've worked both sides of the border counter. Written daily by four travel-industry insiders.
Japan does not require a visa for many nationalities, but airlines still check for an onward or dummy ticket before boarding under IATA Timatic rules.
A visa-exempt traveller can still be asked for proof of onward travel at the South African border. This case study shows exactly where that check bites.
Uruguay's onward-ticket question is decided twice, once by the airline at check-in and again by an officer on arrival, and the two don't always align.
A hypothetical case study on Mexico's two independent onward-ticket checkpoints: airline check-in and the immigration officer's discretion on arrival.
A dummy ticket and a real ticket start out identical in the reservation system; only payment and an issued e-ticket number separate them, as this document comparison shows.
Georgia's liberal visa-free entry policy doesn't remove the separate onward-ticket check airlines run for their own liability. Here's the document gap, illustrated through a case study.
Lufthansa can refuse boarding over a missing onward ticket even when the destination country would not have asked, because its own conditions of carriage set an independent bar.
Singapore checks proof of onward travel at both immigration and airline check-in. This case study unpacks what documentation satisfies each checkpoint.
Tunisia's visa-free entry is not document-free entry. This case study examines the two checkpoints where onward-ticket proof is actually verified.
An onward ticket PNR that looked fine on paper had quietly expired by the time a consulate checked it. Here is why validity has a specific, checkable meaning.
Malaysia entry case study: the arrival card has no flight field, so the real onward-ticket check happens separately, at airline check-in.
Vietnam's e-visa approval never asks for a ticket, but the airline check-in desk still does. Here's the document gap between the two checkpoints.
A freelance illustrator nearly misses her flight to Manila because her airline, not immigration, is the first to ask for proof of onward travel.