Nadi Travel Forum

Hi everyone,
My buddy and I are planning a global trip around the world, and I would like to just buy one way tickets as I go. I did some quick price checks, and it doesn't appear to be that much more expensive. But can I travel to countries where an exit(on going) ticket is required without an exit ticket? I don't want to buy the next ticket until I'm ready, and I want to stay very flexable, so I would really love to do the one way tickets. Does anyone know of any tricks, or do you think they even check? I'm flying from the US, and my first stop is going to be Fiji, then NZ, Australia, Thialand, Italy, backback through Europe, and then back home.

Thanks for all your help!

Aaron

74 days until we leave!

Some places check to see if you have an onward ticket, but most places do not even bother (and the ones that do check do not always seem to be consistent in their checking). I cannot remember if Fiji checks or not. I just remember the line being long and very slow moving.

This all being said... if you know which countries you want to fly into, why don't you buy a round-the-world ticket- choosing your supposed dates of travel, and then once you are on the road you can change your flight dates without a change fee? Of course, the only problem with this is if you decide you want to add a different country into your travels in the middle of your trip.

That's what I was planning on doing originally, but from what I've seen, you have to pay to change your ticket dates. I also would love the flexability to be able to change my mind completely and just head in a different direction than what I originally planned. What do you think they would do if they did check and I didn't have one?

Thanks again!

Aaron

That is odd that you have to pay to change the flight dates. I have a good friend who just flew on a RTW ticket, and San Francisco (where I live) was one of his stops. While here, he changed his flight dates (but not the destinations), and it didn't cost him anything to make that change. He told me that the only date he couldn't change without a fee was the first flight, but once he was on the road (so to speak) he was able to change dates without incurring any additional expense. His RTW was with Star Alliance (so he had flights on United, Lufthansa, Singapore).

I am not sure what will happen if you get to a place and they actually do check. I have to wonder if the airline sending you will even let you fly without an onward ticket to a country that has such a restriction. I understand that if an airline flies a passenger to a place and that passanger doesn't have proper documentation or a visa (whatever is required), the airline can be fined and forced to return the passenger to the flight origination point.

I have never been checked in any of the EU countries. I was checked just this year in Japan. I have been checked in Indonesia (but I have also had them pay me no attention). I wasn't checked in Thailand. Like I wrote before, I cannot remember about Fiji, but that didn't strike me as a place that people visited and never left- it all seemed pretty casual. For you, it is going to be the luck of the draw. In some places... the customs/immigration people can be rather corrupt and do accept bribes (though, I am not suggesting that you do this, or that it will even occur). Recently, I had a friend fly to Bali and his KITAS (working visa for Indonesia) had just expired, his passport was going to expire in 3 months, and he didn't have an onward ticket (since he lives in Bali)- he ended up giving the official the equivalent of $11 and his passport was stamped. Some places are like this. Then there will be others that will really be straightlaced. I accidently had a Singapore $ bill in my passport (totally by accident), and the Singapore official was flipping through every page, and when she saw it her eyes got very wide, she pushed the passport back to me and chastised me for having money in there. I explained that it was an accident- that the money must have slipped into the passport while sitting in my money belt. She relented and told me that I must be much more careful in the future, because I don't want to be seen as attempting to bribe someone. In this situation I was actually leaving Singapore- no reason to bribe.

If nobody can give you a specific answer to this question, you might want to post it on rec.travel.asia - I have seen this discussed on that forum, and it was fairly informative.

Thanks for all the info, I appreciate it. I'll have to check out Star Alliance...Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Aaron