Live in the Philippines

Live in the Philippines helps expats with visas, moving and other services regarding the Philippines.

Confused about airline tickets? EAM

Podcasts, Travel / by

If you are traveling to the Philippines, maybe you are confused about what type of airline ticket you must have.  A lot of people think that you have to get a round trip ticket or else you are not following the Philippine regulations.  Truth is, you are never required to have a round trip airline ticket!  They will never ask you for that, and it is not something you need to worry about.  But… it is also a fact that you may not be allowed to fly to the Philippines with a one way ticket!  Sound like a contradiction?  Actually it is not, and I will explain it in today’s Expat Answerman Podcast.

Flying to the Philippines
Flying to the Philippines

The truth is, what type of airline tickets you do need is determined 100% by what type of visa you have, or will obtain when you enter the Philippines.  It is a topic of great confusion among people traveling to the Philippines whether it is for permanent living or for just a short vacation.  But, if you listen in today, I will clear it all up for you and help you make sure that you will make a legal arrival in the Philippines.

You sure don’t want to be turned away from entering the country when you arrive, and if you don’t have the type of tickets required, based on your visa, you might just be turned away, and be required to be on that plane when it takes off instead of having fun in the Philippines.  But, with a bit of explanation, it is not that difficult to understand, so listen in!

[powerpress]

Do You Have a Question?

If you want to send a question for inclusion in a future Podcast, just use the app below, click on the button below, where it says “Start Recording”.

Questions submitted by eMail will no longer be answered, you must submit through the voice message above.

Thanks again for listening, everybody!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hi Bob. Good explanation for having ongoing tickets. Just a couple of small points.

    Firstly, the date of the ongoing ticket doesn’t matter. At one time BI stated that anyone arriving as a visitor would get 21 days upon arrival, but if the visitor desired to stay longer they were required to obtain an entry visa which would allow Immigration to give them 59 days at the gate. Airlines took this statement literally and if the visitor didn’t have an entry visa in his passport they required the passenger to have an ongoing ticket dated within the first 21 days. With an entry visa, the date of the ongoing ticket no longer mattered to the Airline. A few years ago BI rewrote their requirements, stating in effect that if a visitor had arrived and had been given visa for 21 days, then changed his mind and decided to stay longer, he could obtain an extension to 59 days. At that point, airlines became less fussy about the date of ongoing tickets and eventually their dates no longer mattered.

    Secondly, some airlines are requiring ongoing tickets from all passengers who have no resident visas in their passports. This includes those passengers who intend to use the Balikbayan program for their visas when they arrive. Specifically, Cebu Pacific has been enforcing this requirement upon all their international travelers who are entering the Philippines from foreign ports.

    Thirdly, the airlines have additional incentives to check their passengers for being properly documented before they allow them to board. The Philippines can fine them or restrict the number of seats that they are allowed or even ban them from landing at all.

  2. Today your article is about confused of tickets? OK. soooooo, where is the information???? I’m a dummy, all I see is a picture of a 747? What don’t I know or doing wrong?
    Sorry to bother you,
    Cheers,
    Richard

  3. Bob –

    Pardon my ignorance, but come to think of it, I have never been asked for a visa or plane ticket by immigration at the airport upon entering the Philippines. I show my U.S. passport each time, never my Philippine passport, and I am on my way.

    • Hi John – Nothing unusual about that! If you are a US citizen you are not required to have any visa at all, you are automatically given a 30 day “visa waiver” when you arrive at the airport. The vast majority of US citizens, and citizens of other countries that are included under the visa waiver program arrive without a visa, just as you have done.

      • Hi Bob –

        So, only 30 days they allow you to stay without a visa? At some point in the near future I plan to visit for an extended period, like 3 to 6 months to straighten out some of the family’s land records. I need a visa for this, right? How do I go about getting one? I’ve never done this before, as all my previous visits never exceeded 30 days.

        • Hi John, under the Visa Waiver program you get a 30 day stay when you step off the plane. However, that stay can be extended for up to a total of 3 years. Each time that your visa is nearly ready to expire, you go to the Bureau of Immigration and extend the visa. So, your first visit to the BI would be just before you have been here 30 days, at which point they will extend the visa up to a total of 59 days. When you are approaching that 59 days point you go back and they will add an additional 59 days each return visit until you have reached 36 months total. Each time you extend the visa it will cost money to do so, the amount varies depending on which extension you are on.

          In your case, since you are a (former?) Philippine Citizen, you are eligible for a Balikbayan Visa, which will allow you 1 year stay for free, no extensions ever needed, nothing to pay.

          • Thanks, Bob. Balikbayan visa sounds good, one year and nothing to pay. I apply for this at a Philippine Embassy or Consulate in the States, or at the BI in Manila? If I bring my wife for an extended visit, does my BB cover her? She is not a former Philippine citizen.

            Also, is this BB visa extendable should I need to be there over one year?

            • Hi John – You cannot obtain a Balikbayan Visa in advance. It can only be obtained when you land in the Philippines. Don’t allow the Immigration officer in the airport to stamp a tourist visa in your passport before you ask for a Balikbayan Visa. If the tourist visa is stamped, you can no longer get a Balikbayan Visa. You should simply tell the officer that you wish to avail of the Balikbayan Privilege. You may be required to show proof that you are a former citizen of the Philippines. An old expired Philippine Passport, or a birth certificate would be good for that.

              Your wife cannot use your Balikbayan Visa, but as the wife of a former Philippine Citizen she is eligible for her own Balikbayan Visa. You must request it for her (again, before they stamp a tourist visa) and it will be issued to her as well. Your wife only qualifies if she is traveling with you and you enter the country together.

              The Balikbayan Visa cannot be extended. You have two choices at the end of one year:

              1. Take a quick trip to somewhere close (outside the Philippines) like HK, Thailand, Singapore, etc, and get a new Balikbayan Visa when you re-enter.
              2. The Balikbayan Visa may be converted to a Tourist visa at the end of the year, and then you can stay on the tourist visa for up to 3 more years. Of course you will have to start paying for visa extensions when you convert to a tourist visa.

              • Hi Bob –

                Thanks for all this information, Bob, especially the info about not letting the immigration officer stamp my passport tourist visa before I ask for the Balikbayan visa. As you know, things like this could easily slip off of your mind upon entering immigration, what with the heat, the crowd, the noise, the long lines, and you need to shower and brush your teeth after a long flight. LOL

              • Yeah, I hear you. If you think you might forget, here is something you could do… Make a note to remind yourself to ask for the Balikbayan Visa. Put that note on the outside of your passport with a rubber band holding everything together. Even if you don’t see it, the Immigration officer will when you hand him your passport! 🙂

              • Bob –

                I’m a bit confused (not an unusual feeling for me). We take advantage ot the balikbayan exception when we enter the Philippines every year, which entitles us to a one-year stay (My Sweetie is a former Filipina). There are no “visa” requirements. As the one-year limit approaches, we assume we can exit the country for a short visit to HK and then re-enter for up to another year.
                We have had problems with U.S. air carriers who don’t understand the rules, so we carry the relevant Philippine immigration rules with us when we travel.

                -Peter

              • Hi Peer – Doesn’t sound like you are confused! Everything you wrote is exactly correct. At the end of one year on your Balikbayan Visa (the real name is the Balikbayan Privilege, but it is widely called the balikbayan visa, so that is what I use) you can either convert from Balikbayan to Tourist, or take a trip out of the country and return for a new Balikbayan Visa. Sounds like you have it down! 🙂

              • I am sorry, Lenny but you are wrong In this case, John (the husband) is a former Filipino. His wife is not Filipino. So, John certainly does not need to have his wife with him. In fact, to receive a Balikbayan Visa, John’s wife MUST have her husband with her.

        • John,
          I know you’re really happy for being able to stay 3 to 6 months. Hopefully your wife will be coming with you.

  4. We use the Balikbayan “visa” you mention and we have had problems with ongoing tickets.
    Sometimes we re asked, in other cases no one asked at all.

    I recommend that you have the BI website on your laptop or tablet (most of us have that with us i guess), even if there isn’t a wireless available you can download it when you are online, somewhere and save it to show it offline.

    Than you can show the staff the rules.

    And as you mention: Be nice and polite, being mad, aggressive or rude won’t help at all.

    Thank you.

    • Yep! If you don’t have a computer with you, or don’t have internet, the airline ticket counters have databases on their computers with the latest visa info, so they can look it up. 🙂 But having your own access is always a good thing! 🙂

  9. Hey Bob on of the best places I found years ago for the lowest ticket price online is the booking buddy . Com or Cheapoair.com . If you book your flight after 3:00 PM on Tuesday.

  11. I have found a good travel agent bets then all. I have spend countless hours looking for the best deal and my travel agent always matches or comes in less.

  14. Hi Michael Boo. It depends on where you are, though. A couple of months ago, when our son left to go to the States, we shopped around for the airline ticket. Best price we found was online. When we checked local travel agents the best we found was about 3 times the online price. 🙂 I love to support the local economy, but not at that price! 🙂

  15. Bob,
    Upon flying back to the States last Saturday American Airlines required me to show proof I was a resident of the Philippines before checking me in.

    • Hi PapaDuck, thanks for that report. It does not surprise me because the Philippines has been getting stricter about visa enforcement.

  16. John,
    I know you’re really happy for being able to stay 3 to 6 months. Hopefully your wife will be coming with you.

    • LOL Randy, that’s wishful thinking. Even if you’ve met my wife, you don’t know her that well. There is just no way she will stay in the Philippines with me for 3 to 6 months. She won’t be able to handle it. That long stay, if it comes to fruition, is only for me. I have to straighten out some of the family’s land records with the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) in Masinloc and at the provincial capitol in Iba, Zambales. This will take some time, as you know, if you are familiar with Philippine bureaucracy.

      Like in December of last year, our return trip this December will only be for 30 days, and, again, I had a hard time persuading her to come. She agreed for 30 days, as long as we stay at 5-star hotels like before. We will be staying at, in chronological order, (1) Manila Hotel, 12 nights; (2) Le Monet Hotel in Baguio, 7 nights; (3) The Peninsula Hotel in Makati, 7 nights; and (4) Shangri-la in Makati, 3 nights. At first I thought that one of the hotels we will be staying would be the Hyatt City of Dreams, but after reading Trip Advisor reviews about it, I changed my mind. Cigarette smoke coming from the Casino being the main reason.

      So, if you and Anne want to get together again, you can reach us at the hotels we will be staying. Randy, it’s not like my wife feels that she is high class or special. She just couldn’t adapt to the cultural inconveniences she found in the Philippines, not to mention the heat, pollution, humidity, and huge crowds.

  17. John,
    The casinos that we went to in Manila were very smokey too. We won’t be going any more. I can understand about your wife it’s not easy to adjust here. I guess you should just be happy that she will come for 30 days.

  18. I live relatively close to DC so went to the embassy and got a 1 year tourist visa (with multiple entry/exits) for $90. When I arrived here in the Philippines they didn’t even ask about an onward ticket, they just looked at my visa and gave me 59 days on my passport stamp. Worked very well I’m glad I got it! While I’m here I’m getting $6,000 worth of dental work done for $1,500 so I’m happy!

    • Glad that is working out for you Steve.

      On the ongoing ticket thing…. you are still required to have one, even with that visa. The fact that they didn’t ask for it is not because of the visa, it is just the way it works here. Sometimes they enforce the ongoing ticket thing… other times they don’t. 🙂

      Enjoy your stay.

    • I’d rarely been asked to see an ongoing ticket when I was arriving as a visitor.

      BI doesn’t need to ask because Airlines will be penalized by having to return their passenger to their point of origin and be burdened further with administrative fines by the Bureau of Immigration if they allow foreign tourists bound for the Philippines to board their planes without return.