Onward Ticket in Review 2024 – Fastest Way to Solve your Onward-Ticket Issue

Are you looking for a review about onward tickets and wondering if it is legit?

Yes, onward tickets are valid. It’s also a great solution if you NEED a valid ticket for entering a country and boarding your plane.

Nowadays, more and more countries require an onward ticket (a ticket that shows that you’re going to eventually leave at some point) to be able to enter them in the first place.

If you’re backpacking, or you like flexibility, you probably don’t want to invest in a costly return ticket. Chances are that you’re booking one-way tickets as you go – which is what a lot of travelers do, us included. 

Obviously, you’ll still need proof that you’re leaving most countries you enter, so you need to find a legit and affordable onward ticket source. 

With Google’s long list of onward ticket providers, we’d like to introduce you to our trusted site (one we often use): OnwardTicket.com.

Just to be clear: To enter many countries you need a valid visa AND an onward ticket, that proves you are leaving the country again at a certain point.

We ourselves ran into troubles here once – we forgot the proof of onward travel.

We got our Visa with iVisa and thought “Yeah, done, that was easy“. We totally forgot about the onward ticket proof – because we hadn’t really traveled anywhere that required such a thing yet.

So when we started boarding our flight to Colombia, reality kicked in when the flight attendant informed us that we couldn’t enter the country without one. We had 10 minutes to buy a flight or bus ticket out of the Colombia online and everything we found had insane prices. Luckily, other travelers referred us to onwardticket, and we’ve been using it ever since. 

Did we just save your b*tt and you got on a plane? Then let us know and make our day. Tag us on Instagram with @hostelgeeks and #hostelgeeks.

Important: Do not fall for scam copy-sites. More on that topic below.

For all of the readers with more time, let’s go into more detail.

Update: We have created a screencast video for you; explaining the buying process step-by-step.

In this guide, we’re going to share everything you can do with Onwardticket and how to properly use the booking platform. We’re also going to give you our reason for trusting it and what are its advantages compared to other onward ticket providers (yes, there are more sites like this one).

Quick Update: I used them again beginning of January of this year 2024 – still work perfectly!

In this guide, we cover: 

1. What is OnwardTicket.com?
2. Advantages of using OnwardTicket.com
3. Which countries require proof of onward travel?
4. How to use OnwardTicket.com?
5. Is it safe to use OnwardTicket.com?
6. How to pay?
7. Changes, cancellations, and refunds
8. Update: Buy the actual ticket
9. Support
10. Our own story when we started using Onward Tickets
11. Is it worth trying OnwardTicket.com? Other Alternatives
    1. One Way Fly
    2. Booking an actual ticket and canceling?
    3. Copy-Cats and Scams for onward Tickets
12. OnwardTicket.com discount code
13. FAQ
14. Summary

In this guide, we’re also going to give you discount vouchers on your first or next purchase – so that it can be even cheaper than $16.

Other important travel websites you need to know

There are more useful travel tools and websites we think you should know:

• Skyscanner.com – one of our favorite sites to find cheaper flights
• Qatar Airways – a complete and honest review
• Etihad Airways – the best airline?
• iVisa.com – how to get your Visa to any country easy
• Hostelworld – the best way to book hostels?
• Tiqets.com – a reliable tool for booking sightseeing tickets.

Important: We did not get paid to write this review. It is our first-hand, genuine, and no-BS account. We have been using Onward Ticket for several years now.

1. What is an Onward Ticket?

An onward ticket is basically a flight reservation out of the country you’re going to. So if you’re going to Japan, an onward ticket would be a flight ticket out of Japan.

This ticket is usually required during the visa application process, and some countries also require tourists to have them when they enter, so the airlines request them before you board the plane – even if you have a visa on arrival.

Jump to: Why do airlines not let you board without an onward ticket?

An onward ticket can be the following:

• A return one-way flight ticket
• An airline itinerary to and from the country you’re visiting
• A flight reservation towards any other destination

This policy is being implemented in more and more countries today to prevent people from entering the country on a tourist visa and never leaving.

This is proof to make sure you will not exceed your stay more than you are allowed to and that you don’t plan on settling in the country or finding a job there.

This includes visa-free countries, visas on arrival, and those countries that require you to obtain a visa beforehand.  An onward ticket can be requested by:

• Visa applications
• Airlines at the check-in counter
• Destination country at Immigration 

A valid and legit onward ticket should come with a PNR number under your name which can be checked by the immigration at the airport or on the airline’s website.

This PNR (Passenger Name Record) consists of numbers and letters that present electronic proof that your ticket is legit. It can be entered into an airline’s website (the airline of your onward ticket) to prove that both your flight itinerary and ticket are real.

Then what is OnwardTicket.com? OnwardTicket.com is a website made of digital nomads that helps you to take control of your travel plans and makes travel flexible for you. They provide legit onward tickets with PNRs.

Visit Onward Ticket.com

2. Advantages of using OnwardTicket.com

OnwardTicket.com has several advantages that make it one of the best and fastest Onward Ticket providers in the world.

• Verified Booking!

A 100% genuine reservation. Verify it with the airline. This is not some fake reservation or Photoshop handout. This is a real flight that stands the test.

• Transactions are fast

Google can provide you with a long list of onward ticket providers but OnwardTicket.com is one of the fastest sites that provides you with a valid booking right after your purchase.

Just like what they say on their website, “There’s nobody faster.” So whether you’re in a rush or want to skip the wait, OnwardTicket.com is definitely the one for you.

Believe it or not, in a matter of two minutes or so, you will be able to receive your ticket.

• The process is very easy

OnwardTicket.com has made it super easy to purchase a ticket. 

Steps are easy clicks with the following:

• Find a ticket
• Make a Payment
• Download your ticket (no printing needed)

Want to know more about the process? We have elaborated on the steps in number 4: How to use OnwardTicket.com.

• Real and Legit

Afraid to try? We guarantee you OnwardTicket.com is real and legit. They provide 100% real reservations from a real and legitimate travel agency.

How legit? You can always check the validity of your onward ticket on the websites of major airlines. It is valid and confirmed tickets from airlines.

You can also check out people’s reviews on TrustPilot.

• Cheap

For as low as $16, you can buy a ticket with at least 48 hours of validity. They’re the cheapest you can find online.

Even the extra charges are cheap compared to other onward ticket providers. These include an extra $2 for “only direct flights” and $1 for “Receive and activate your ticket later”.

We couldn’t find any cheaper than that (except for some scam sites…)

• Excellent Customer Service

They have an excellent customer service. They respond within a few hours via email and have 24/7 chat support.

• No printing needed

Once you have paid for your ticket, you will instantly receive your ticket in a PDF just a few minutes later. You can either show it as it is on your phone or you can always print it if you want to.

I also loved this because it saves time, it allows you to do it last minute if you forget, and it’s also eco-friendly – being paperless. All I have to do is show it at the immigration or boarding counter and I’m good to go.

3. Which countries require proof of onward travel?

Today, more and more countries are requiring proof of onward travel to make sure every tourist that comes in will not exceed their stay in the country.

Below are some of the countries that require an onward ticket. This is not a comprehensive list:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Ecuador
• Iceland
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Peru
• Philippines
• Russia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Thailand
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Vietnam

Some may ask, is it okay not to prepare an onward ticket on your travels? Well, our answer is very clear as water, no! We do not recommend this. We would not want you to risk your trip just because you wanted to save a few dollars.

READ THIS:

Here’s an example: Taiwan does not require an onward ticket for most Europeans. But, they do require one for Vietnam. This was a problem in our own case.

We wanted to board a plane from Da Nang, in Vietnam to Taiwan. The airline worker required an onward ticket – which was completely unnecessary for us as EU-members-Europeans. However, she wanted to see one, because she was used to requesting ones from her passengers – which were mostly not Europeans.

There was no way around it.

We had around 20 minutes to find a cheap flight out of Taiwan or else we wouldn’t board – which we eventually did.

Did the authorities want to see my flight ticket when entering Taiwan? Of course…NOT!!!

So you see, even if the country may not require such a ticket, the airline can be the bottleneck.

Read: Our own stories from Traveling to Taiwan and Colombia

Believe me! We have heard similar stories from fellow travelers who were not allowed to enter their destination. Or worse, got blocked from the airport and was banned from the country for not showing an onward ticket.

This is a very stressful experience and we don’t want this to happen to you.

That brings us to a very important question most of us have:

Why do airlines not let you board without an onward ticket?

Why does an airline care if you have an onward ticket? In theory, they are not the authorities, right?

Well, it is actually quite simple. The airline is responsible for checking if you have all the required documents for entering the country.

In case you do not have a valid visa and onward ticket, the airline is required to bring you back to the country you boarded at. For free! This means the airline would lose a seat to you and has to bring you back for free.

This is the only reason. The airline is also taking responsibility for the authorities and therefore the airline will simply not let you board.

4. How to use OnwardTicket.com

Just like we have mentioned earlier in its advantages, the process in OnwardTicket.com is very fast and easy.

Check out the following steps we have explained further below.

1. Choose your desired itinerary
2. Payment
3. Download the document
4. …breathe, you will enter the country!

1. Choose your desired itinerary – Enter the information and the system will check for available flights.

Note: Tickets are valid for 48 hours from the time you have booked them. But if you need to activate your ticket later, you can pay an additional $1 for the option “Receive later” which enables you to activate your ticket any time you want.

And if you’re looking for direct flights, there’s also an option for this. This will cost just an additional $2 to get direct flights. But if there aren’t any available direct flights, you can change the route and date.

Obviously, not all destinations have direct flights, just like this ticket from Zanzibar, Tanzania to Beirut, Lebanon.

 

2. Make a payment – You can pay using all major credit cards or Paypal for as low as $16 per person.

3. Download your ticket – Once your ticket is booked and confirmed, you will receive an email that contains your ticket in PDF. You can also download it directly from the website.

Using this ticket, you can now show this at the immigration or check-in counter (or use it in your visa application).

Smooth as that, getting a ticket is very fast and easy. Plus it’s hassle-free.

5. Is it safe to use OnwardTicket.com?

How safe is it to use OnwardTicket.com? You can check your ticket on major airline’s websites to confirm your ticket’s validity.

So you don’t have to worry if the immigration or check-in staff checks on your PNR. Unlike other fake ticket providers, the reservations are 100% legitimate with a so-called Passenger Name Record (PNR) code under your name. With this, you or the airline can verify.

Tickets are legit and valid for 48 hours (Onwardticket.com usually cancels the ticket after 48 hours, which is how we’re guessing they’re able to provide this service for so cheap).

You can also check out personal reviews of customers who have tried to use it at TravelPilot.

6. How to pay?

OnwardTicket.com is able to accept the following payment methods that you can choose from:

• Credit Cards
• Debit Cards
• Paypal

7. Changes, cancellations, and refunds

Here are the website’s policies on changes, cancellations, and refunds.

7.1 Changes

Please pay extra attention to this. OnwardTicket.com makes bookings instantly after you have confirmed so there is no chance to change details. You have to be careful in filling in the details. Check the information more than twice to make sure everything is correct.

Remember that you cannot change confirmed bookings. The only way you have to change the details is to book another ticket. And you wouldn’t want that. So double-check everything before you confirm.

Important: Remember you need a ticket LEAVING your destination! This is exactly what you need to type in

• FROM: your country you are about to enter
• TO: Pretty much anywhere. Does not really matter

Example: If you want to enter Vietnam, you need to type “Hanoi” for FROM, under “to” you can enter Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan for instance.

7.2 Cancellations

Do consider that this is an onward ticket. This ticket will automatically be canceled by the site after its validity of 48 hours. And you don’t have to do anything.

But in case you would like to cancel your booked ticket onward ticket, I’m afraid this is not possible. Just like changing details, the cancellation option is not available. So you really have to be careful.

And just to be clear, you are not buying a valid flight ticket. You won’t be able to board any plane with the ticket you are about to receive. This is really only for documentation.

7.3 Refunds

As for refunds, OnwardTicket.com allows full refunds in the following cases below:

• If a customer pays to Onwardticket.com by mistake or a customer makes a double payment for the services because of a technical issue or mistake
• If Onwardticket.com fails to complete the service
• If a customer asks for a refund before the order has been started
• If services were started, then Onwardticket.com has the right to assess the refund amount from 10% to 80% of the total received money

8. Buy the Actual Ticket

We have been informed that you can now actually buy the actual ticket, too.

You are given the option to request a quote to purchase the actual ticket in the confirmation email that contains the flight reservation. It was requested by some of the customers. Therefore, Onward added it as a special, new feature.

Pretty cool, isn’t it?

9. Support

OnwardTicket.com provides very efficient customer service available 24/7. The response rate is very responsive with replies via email within a few hours.

You can send them a message here > contact.

10. Our own story when we started using Onward Ticket

Unfortunately, we also ran into situations where we needed an onward ticket last minute. I say “unfortunately” because it is a stressful situation. Really, you are about to lose a flight for 500€ simply because you missed this detail…not pleasant!

So here’s two of our stories:

Taiwan

I already talked a bit about this experience. We were traveling from Vietnam to Taiwan. Vietnamese traveling to Taiwan need to show proof that they will leave the country again. Most Europeans do not need this – by law!

However, the airline did not care and demanded a valid, onward ticket. This was actually the very first time we ran into this kind of trouble. We had not heard about the service of onward ticketing.

Another traveler who saw our situation came over and told us just to buy this kind of ticket. We had no idea what that was. We searched for it and kaboom – our solution cost us $16 and that is it.

Our other alternative would have been to pay $45 per person, so $90 in total, for outbound flights we weren’t even going to use (we like to travel without the idea of set dates as to when to come back).

We traveled to Taiwan and had an awesome time.

Read: The Best Hostels in Taiwan and Backpacking Guide

Colombia

This time, we got our visa with iVisa sorted out. Perfect, easy, cheap.

We were perfectly on time. We had no checked-in luggage, so there was no need to go to the counter. This was a big mistake in the end.

Around 5-10 minutes before boarding, the airline called us to the counter. “Show me your onward ticket, please“.

Since we had no idea how long we wanted to stay in Colombia, we had no tickets to show. We even had no idea if we would leave the country by bus to Peru, for instance, or take a flight to Brazil or Mexico…who knows this stuff when traveling long-term? (I know, a nice problem to have…)

The airline did not care. We had to show a ticket or the plane would leave without us.

Long story short: We opened onwardticket.com, bought a ticket from Bogota to Mexico City for $16, and showed the ticket to the airline.

Uff…that was a close one!

Faking an airline ticket?

We have also heard from travelers who simply faked an airline ticket. You can do this fairly easily with HTML or Photoshop. And it works!

However, there is always a risk to it. If the airline or authorities would check the validation of the ticket, and it turns out it is a fake document…that could end in some trouble.

Do you have any first-hand experience with faking airline tickets for outbound flights? Leave us a comment below.

11. Is it worth to try OnwardTicket.com? Other Alternatives

We have used OnwardTicket.com so many times with our travels that I lost track of numbers. And this has never failed our travels. So if you would ask me, yes, it is definitely worth it to try and use OnwardTicket.com.

Note: Please do note that we did not get paid to do this review. This is all personally based on our experience with OnwardTicket.com

Here is a table that helps you check out the comparison of OnwardTicket.com and the other leading onward ticket providers on the internet.

Categories	Onward Ticket		BestOnwardTicket	Toponwardticket
Duration	48 hours		48 hours +	48 hours +
Valid PNR Flight Number	Yes		Yes	Yes
Receive Letter	Yes		Yes	Yes
Chat Support	Yes		No	No
Direct Flight option	Yes		No	No
Fast Reception	Yes (Instantly)		No	No
Payment CB and Paypal	Yes		No	No
Price	$16		$12	$10

You may be wondering if there are any other alternatives for showing proof of your onward travel.

Yes, of course. As shown above, in the list, there are alternatives for onward tickets. 

Important: Some of the sites we did not mention can be scams! Be careful before paying and do your research to ensure you don’t come across someone that will steal your credit card information.

11.1 One Way Fly (from $16)

Although we usually go with Onward Ticket, there is another website offering this service. The site is called “One Way Fly”.

Quoting from their website:

“Quickly Book a Legit Flight Reservation.

We provide real airline bookings and hotel reservations. Perfect solution for digital nomads and travellers who want to extend or apply for visas.”

The layout of both sites looks similar, this is not really a surprise.

Onward Ticket starts from 16$ and so does One Way Fly. When using this site, I checked for Barcelona, Spain to Cancún Mexico.

I then compared the prices with Onward Ticket. With Onward Ticket I could only book for the next upcoming 9 months. I checked BCN > Cancun.

With One Way Fly, when selecting a date more than 9 months away, the price jumps from 16$ to 40$ but you can at least select an onward ticket for as far as 1 year in the future. This is required for a 1-year visa, for example: for a student visa.

When choosing all the extras like receiving later, roundtrip, and direct flights, the prices are as follows:

• Onward Ticket: 26$
• One Way Fly: 36$

One more money-saving tip: On both Onward Ticket and One Way Fly, you can choose payment in US Dollars or EUR. They both assume $=€. So basically, you should choose the US Dollar since it will be a bit cheaper for you.

One Way Fly offers more services. You can input a special request (if you prefer a specific airline for example) but the site does not guarantee granting you your request. They also offer Proof of accommodation for your visa application. For many countries, you need to show a first reservation in a hostel or hotel. For your visa application, we always recommend iVisa.com as your first resource.

Read: How to apply for a Visa with ivisa.com

11.2 Booking an actual ticket and then canceling it?

This is probably the most common way to solve this issue. Travelers simply use 3rd party websites like Expedia.com and Orbitz.com. They find these cheap flights through Skyscanner.

You can book your flight ticket and cancel it within 24 hours thanks to the 24-hour risk-free cancellation policy.

However, we think you should not rely on this and there’s a risk to it.

Here is why:

1. It is not international law – you cannot cancel any flight within 24 hours and get your money back
   For instance, in Europe, this law does not apply. If you bought it, you pay for it. Exceptions apply.
2. You need to actively cancel your flight – otherwise, you pay the full amount

First of all, this law only applies to flights to/from the U.S. It does not apply worldwide to any airline and country. This is not an international law, as many think. You now may think “Yeah, sure it is. This is not true!“. Sure, you can think this…but that does not make it true.

And 2nd, the price for an actual flight ticket is much higher. You need to actively cancel your flight otherwise you pay the full amount.

Imagine you are traveling for more than 12 hours and you are exhausted when finally arriving at your destination. And then…you forget to cancel. Then this little adventure costs you a full flight price.

Read: Our guide with smart tips to use Skyscanner

Check out Skyscanner

11.3 Copy-Cat Websites and Scams

Apparently, this small industry of onward tickets attracts quite a lot of copy-cats for onwardticket.com. Others go even further and are simply blunt scams.

My best tip: Make sure you use the official and legit website onwardticket.com.

It should not be added another S or any other spelling.

User our link here to make sure you have the correct, safe website.

Check out OnwardTicket.com

We have received a complaint about onwardticket.com not being legit and it was a fake ticket etc. Of course, we take this seriously. After all, we want to make sure we only recommend cool and useful (and legit!!!) travel sites. So we teamed up with Onward Ticket because we use them ourselves and it is a great service.

We reached out to the onward ticket to clear this issue. As it turned out, this user has used one of the many other copycat websites. In her defense, they all sound very similar. It is very confusing and easy to miss. Please leave us a comment below or send us a direct email if you run into any issues.

I want to make this a very useful and complete guide. This is why I added this short section about the other scam websites. They may be a bit cheaper (like $8 for instance), but again, not legit. Always use www.onwardticket.com to be on the safe side.

I took a screenshot of the website’s main page. Please pay attention to this.

11.4 Who should use this website?

It is the perfect website for:

1. Digital nomads or perpetual traveler
2. anyone unsure about travel plans – or people that like to stay flexible
3. anyone applying for a visa who needs a valid flight reservation

12. OnwardTicket.com discount code

At the moment, we do not have a discount code or promo code for onward tickets. This guide is always up to date. As soon as a promo code is available, we will publish it here. You can bookmark this page and join our newsletter to stay up to date.

In our newsletter we share all new discount codes with all kinds of travel companies; from sightseeing to flight deals.

13. FAQ

Below we share the most frequently asked questions about proof of onward travel.

14. Summary: OnwardTicket.com

In a nutshell, we can say with confidence, that we recommend OnwardTicket.com to other travelers. We consider this website a travel tool that allows you to enter various countries without any hassle. It is very fast and easy to use. The process is smooth and trustworthy.

We love their fast response and 24/7 customer service. You can contact them at any time and receive a response within a few hours via email.

Not to mention the paperless ticket you can show at the immigration or check-in counter. Not only does it save time to print but at the same time, it doesn’t waste unnecessary paper.

Other important travel websites you need to know

Now you know how to solve this stressful situation. Yet, there are more useful travel tools and websites we think you should know:

• Qatar Airways – a complete and honest review
• iVisa.com – how to get your Visa to any country easy
• Hostelworld – the best way to book hostels?
• Tiqets.com – a reliable tool for booking sightseeing tickets
• Klook.com – awesome for booking unique experiences
• Omio – an easy & cheap way to book transport

Over to you

Have you tried OnwardTicket.com? Which country did you use it with and what was your experience with it? Is there anything you want to know? Then please, hit the comment section. We would love to hear from you. Your comments, your feedback, and your questions will make this article and guide even more useful for all fellow travelers.

Visit Onward Ticket.com

Safe travels!