One way flight adverts: Do they irritate you as much as me?

[PeteMorris]

Ah, yes, I see what you mean. I think there is a similar thing with trains/buses too. The National Express coaches say things such as "Sheffield to London from £x.xx" which make people assume it is return?

 

With travel we assume if we fly from Manchester then we should return to Manchester; and, if I fly to Copenhagen, I should fly back from there. In some circumstances it is cheaper to get the train to Sweden and fly back from there to Gatwick and get the train back from there; when booked months in advance the prices are stupidly low.

 

Perhaps it is more about learning to think in a different way?

 

Yes I agree....I suppose it's a form of 'working the system'...But I daresay it still catches the gullible unaware!

 

---------- Post added 20-01-2013 at 12:42 ----------

 

if you're going outside the EU, where UK people have no citizenship, you need an onward ticket anyway as a tourist. Strictly speaking, carriers aren't supposed to let you on the plane without one as it is them who are liable to repatriate you if you get called up by immigration, for not having an onward ticket when you arrive at the destination country.

 

yes I remember going to the states and was specifically asked if I had a return flight....Mind you, they are a bit paranoid over there!...it takes forever to clear immigration checks for a non US citizen!

[scottcross]

One way flights - why not? I often buy just one way with one airline company and use another coming back. That is how to do it cheaply! I regularly fly to Copenhagen to see my children.

 

I use easyjet to get to Copenhagen, for about £25 - then Norwegian.com to come back, for the same price.

 

We were after a flight to Belgrade for the end of March,Flight times and prices were a joke so went for WIZZ out of Luton to ljubljana stay 1 night ,train into Belgrade stay 3 nights then train to Zagreb staying 1 night returning with Easy Jet to Gatwick total cost for both flights £85 each.Hotels with Bookings .com and Travel Republic so we dont pay upfront.

[Super Hans]

I agree.

 

Most people want to come back to where they started at some point, and the people who don't, or sort out their return journey while abroad - I would say are the vast minority.

[Jim Hardie]

It's not just flights though is it? 'From' and 'Up to' are standard phrases intended to mislead in advertising. If you're on the ball you know they don't mean a thing.

[southcoast]

The travel industry are very good at enticing people and when you look into the small print you see its not what its cracked up to be,a prime example is the add ons for baggage etc.

[Annie Bynnol]

Airlines are required satisfy themselves that you have the required documents to travel and enter the country of destination. lt is not a requirement for most countries to have an onward or a return ticket. (You always need to check before you travel.)

 

Immigration will often ask about why/how long/financial support etc this is a way of checking if you are legitimate and that you will not overstay.

Travellers with return tickets and a matching legend are easy to deal with and so tickets are often asked for.

 

Some people arriving in Florida with a single ticket would be unusual and might warrant scrutiny but all you do is show that you have means of support and a reason not to overstay.

 

Travelling from the USA by air is often cheaper as some carriers have significant discounting for last minute/night time travel. Travelling with a current full passport with full visa and carrying with you old passports with visas will make the convincing easier.

[dvp82]

Are you irritated by adverts that advertise flights *from* "£29.50"....and when you look at the little writing which appears for perhaps a couple of milliseconds, says 'one way only'.

 

Have you ever researched how much the flight is to get back?...Yes it's stupid money.

 

What's the purpose of advertising 'cheap' one way flights?...Ok, I'll concede that 'some' people, it might suit, but the majority, would want to be able to get back!

 

Clearly you are easily irritated.

 

Just done a totally random flight search, British Airways to Tenerife this summer. Outbound flight on Wednesday 3rd July is £100, the return flight 1 week later is £85.

 

So yes more often than not the outbound and inbound flights are priced differently, it's not always the case the inbound return is as you say stupid money.

[swordfish1]

if you're going outside the EU, where UK people have no citizenship, you need an onward ticket anyway as a tourist. Strictly speaking, carriers aren't supposed to let you on the plane without one as it is them who are liable to repatriate you if you get called up by immigration, for not having an onward ticket when you arrive at the destination country.

 

I've been away at least 6 times a year on holiday for the last few years. I have never been asked if I've got a return ticket. Many times I haven't had one.

[callippo]

if there is a single country anywhere in the world that does not have an onward ticket requirement for tourists, then I never heard of it. I've looked, and I've never come across one that didn't have it specified in their tourism guidelines either when people apply for a tourist visa, or as one of the conditions of their being given a visa-waiver stamp on arrival at the airport.

 

note : the requirement is an onward ticket, not a return one. The immigration authorities need to know or at least have a good indication that the tourist is going to leave their country when their time is up, they can go on to a third country if they want just so long as they leave the one they are in, they are not obliged to return home.

 

sometimes onward tickets are not required for certain passport holders. I don't need one when I travel to any country in the EU, like say Poland, but a citizen of the United States definitely needs an onward ticket when they visit Poland. By contrast, US citizens do not need an onward ticket when they fly to their neighbouring countries Canada and Mexico, however I as a UK passport holder strictly speaking, do. Ditto New Zealanders, when they visit Australia. They don't need an onward ticket, but I as a UK passport holder, do.

 

eneforcement is haphazard I myself have got into several countries without having any onward ticket, but I assure you if you were to call up a flight booker at STA travel or similar right now in the UK, they will tell you that every single day in Britain, people are refused boarding on planes at airports because they do not satisfy the onward requirement of whatever country they are going to. Several times, I've had to show onward tickets when I had a flight out of the country I was going to with a different airline than the one that was taking me there - for example, once I had to show Kuwait Airlines, with whom I was flying to Manila from Bangkok, that I had an onward ticket out of the Philippines to Malaysia with a different airline (Air Asia). Otherwise, they just wouldn't have let me get on the plane.

 

it's frustrating, I'm in the Philippines right now lets say I got a one way 2.5 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand from here for next week (I could book it online in 5 minutes for about 50 quid). However they almost certainly wouldn't let me on the plane, unless I could show I had an onward ticket somewhere else (it doesn't have to be a return ticket). Thailand has five land borders and one maritime (ship) border and I could claim that I intended to leave the country using one of those all I wanted and it wouldn't do any good. It has to be a plane ticket. Anybody that gets pulled over by Thai immigration on arrival without an onward ticket is liable to get repatriated and the airline that conveyed you to the country without the onward ticket has to pay for it, therefore it is in the airline's interest to make sure all their passengers are observant of the immigration rules of their destination country and are in possession of the correct visas and onward ticket if required.

[Penny Quirk]

if there is a single country anywhere in the world that does not have an onward ticket requirement for tourists, then I never heard of it. I've looked, and I've never come across one that didn't have it specified in their tourism guidelines either when people apply for a tourist visa, or as one of the conditions of their being given a visa-waiver stamp on arrival at the airport.

 

I think the "On arrival at the airport" is significant. If traveling over a border by land/on foot the requirements are not the same.

 

I went by foot over the border from Thailand to Cambodia in October and there was no requirement to show any type of onward travel ticket for leaving Cambodia. However, the terms of the visa are clear and with finger prints and photos being taken on entry, and finger prints checked on leaving, I'm not sure I'd like to outstay my welcome.

 

It is the same with Thailand now. The rules for length of stay have changed back down to 14 days if arriving by land.

 

It is worth looking at requirements if you are unsure about booking a return ticket or a ticket to another destination. Prices of return tickets may be the least of your problems!