Onward ticket / onward fly

[PattayaFirstTime]

In a situation where I have to leave the country and re-enter to start working on a visa.

I was reading up on onwardticket and saw that some folks in the past had issues getting in with that service since the tickets did not include ticket numbers on them.

Checking to see if anyone has a more recent experience with the service and coming in through immigration.

Otherwise I may have to buy a ticket same day and then cancel it for a refund within the 24 hour window.

Any information would be helpful, thanks.  US citizen so would be doing the 30+30 when arriving.

[Nanaman]

I had a big interest in this topic before I bought my ticket. I'm going to be flying in and applying for the O retirement. 

Here's what it comes down to. Will you be stopped in the USA from boarding because you don't have a return flight? I wouldn't worry about Thai immigration when entering, I've never been asked.

However, I don't trust the USA airlines even enough to call and ask ahead of time. Person on phone might say no problem and upon checking in that person might see it differently.

I just went ahead and bought a round trip for $2368, omg did I just really pay that much for a ticket lol. But I just don't want any show stoppers.

If you think the USA will let you fly, your probably good, but that's the question you won't really know until it's time to fly.

 

[RRosenberg]

I always just buy a return ticket, then refund it later. Never had a problem, just make sure you buy the more expensive return flight ticket that allows 'free cancellations' then you don't have to do it within the 24 hour time period. 

[Thomaz73]

I used to just buy a cheap throw away ticket. Back then, Kuala Lumpur was often the cheapest. I know many BMs disagree, but I just don't trust these "onward services". One even turned out a total in"tourist" days. 

[AngelCty2Nit]

14 hours ago, Sanook4me said:

I had a big interest in this topic before I bought my ticket. I'm going to be flying in and applying for the O retirement. 

Here's what it comes down to. Will you be stopped in the USA from boarding because you don't have a return flight? I wouldn't worry about Thai immigration when entering, I've never been asked.

 

 

I flew into Thailand from America one year ago on a one-way ticket to convert my arrival visa to a retirement visa and stay here.

A conscientious BM here gave me the heads up about needing an exit plan and why. Otherwise I would have just gone to the airport with my one-way ticket and could have run into some problems.

It's my understanding/opinion that the requirement of exit travel is to indemnify the airline that brings you in. Should you ultimately be deported the airline that brings you into the country is required to take you out of the country at their expense. THEY are the ones with something at risk so they're the ones that might possibly ask you to produce evidence of how you were leaving within the dates of your Visa.

When I entered the USA airport to fly to Thailand I had no out at all. I  checked in at the JAL counter, and the agent there asked me for evidence of my departure from Thailand. I have no reason not to believe that if I got a different agent I might not have been asked the question at all I don't know.

When this agent asked me for evidence of my departure I went to my phone where I already had onward flight in an open browser. It literally took me 15 seconds to hit send, pay them the $12 and produce a ticket out of Thailand which I showed to the agent. He was perfectly satisfied and the whole thing was handled.

Edited April 26, 2023 by AngelCty2Nit

[BuckDefiant]

1 hour ago, AngelCty2Nit said:

I  checked in at the JAL counter, and the agent there asked me for evidence of my departure from Thailand. I have no reason not to believe that if I got a different agent I might not have been asked the question at all I don't know.

When this agent asked me for evidence of my departure I went to my phone where I already had onward flight in an open browser. It literally took me 15 seconds to hit send, pay them the $12 and produce a ticket out of Thailand which I showed to the agent. He was perfe

I've commented on this in other threads over the years.  You absolutely must have an onward ticket,e.g. rt, cheap throw away, scam web ticket, to get into Thailand on visa exempt basis, enforced by the departure airline. Experienced over 10 years with departures from Canada, US, Malaysia and Cambodia; carriers UA, JAL, AC, KAL, ASIANA, ANA, DL, AIRASIA.

Whatever the Thai government has done to the airlines, it's the singularly most enforced Thai law I've experienced (probably because it's not being enforced by Thai personnel). 

In recent times traveling on type-O w R extension visa I've had to argue with checkin that I didn't need an onward, twice. Only after much clucking amongst themselves and typing did they let me 'pass'. Get an onward before checkin. 

[PattayaFirstTime]

Thank you all for the advice, I have bought an onward ticket to active the day of if needed.

If they give me trouble there I will tell them to let me call them and purchase a refundable ticket to just refund after I am let back into thailand.

Plan A and B.

[Jumpin Jack Flash]

On 26/04/2023 at 07:34, AngelCty2Nit said:

 

When this agent asked me for evidence of my departure I went to my phone where I already had onward flight in an open browser. It literally took me 15 seconds to hit send, pay them the $12 and produce a ticket out of Thailand which I showed to the agent. He was perfectly satisfied and the whole thing was handled.

just curious. which country can you fly to from Thailand for just $12 ?

[worldtraveler3]

17 minutes ago, Jumpin Jack Flash said:

just curious. which country can you fly to from Thailand for just $12 ?

It a service call onwardticket.com you book a fake ticket that can be looked up by immigration as real and it cost 12 dollars not sure if that is the one he used but the one I go with. It now cost 16 dollars but it was 12.

[AngelCty2Nit]

1 hour ago, Jumpin Jack Flash said:

just curious. which country can you fly to from Thailand for just $12 ?

$12 was the charge for the service. You can pick whatever country you want to fly to it doesn't matter because it's not a real ticket anyway. In this case covid was not finished and still a concern given I was American seemed easy enough I could get into the Philippines so that's what I chose.

Literally I had it all mapped out in my browser and when asked (as I remember it) all I did was hit pay and almost immediately the confirmation of the ticket the information came up on my phone which satisfied the agent

Edited June 29, 2023 by AngelCty2Nit