Never heard of a throw away ticket? Why would you throw away an airline ticket? Well, read on and I will explain!
An airline ticket that is a throw away ticket is just what the name implies… a ticket that you will simply throw away.
If you are traveling to the Philippines, depending on your visa type, you are required to have an ongoing ticket when you arrive in the Philippines. You need some ticket, whether you intend to leave or not. This is where the throw away ticket comes into play.
There are a number of budget airlines that usually fly from Clark Airport in Pampanga or other airports in the Philippines. These budget carriers often offer tickets to Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam and such for as low as $20 or $35. It is relatively easy to find a throw away ticket for $50 or less. This is a valid airline ticket that will indeed allow you to go to the destination that is printed on the ticket. But, for most folks who come to the Philippines and want to stay longer than 59 days, they simply buy this cheap ticket, and they use it to show to the immigration officials when they arrive in Manila (or any port of entry in the Philippines). Showing that they indeed have a ticket allows them to enter the country. There is no law, though, saying that you must use your ongoing airline ticket. So, for many people, after they have shown this ticket and been granted entry to the Philippines, they just throw the ticket away, and go on with their stay in the Philippines.
Philippine Immigration will never require you to show your ongoing ticket again after you have been admitted to the country. If you go to renew your visa or do any other business at the Immigration office, no ongoing ticket is required and none will be asked for.
So many need this information. ….
You are a great public-expat servant to us all♡
Glad you found it helpful, my friend!
Thanks for that Bob, but if I am in America and never been to the Philippines but want to come there to live, do I need to buy a roundtrip ticket when traveling there, and if i don’t need to buy a roundtrip ticket, will I need to buy a throwaway ticket when i get there?
Jack, did you read the articles? It explains everything. It depends on what type of Visa you have on whether or not you need an ongoing ticket.
Okay Bob- now i have read & reread the articles but i still have one question, and please forgive me if the answer to this question is stated in one of your articles. If i decide to go the Tourist visa route, i know that i only need a one way ticket and a throwaway ticket, but do i need to purchase the throwaway ticket before i board here or after i arrive there in the Philippines, and where do i purchase these throwaway tickets?
If you arrive without an ongoing ticket you will not be allowed to enter the country. So, the answer is yes, you must buy it before you get on the airplane or you will not be allowed to enter.
So do the airlines tell you this when you buy your ticket and where do you buy this throwaway ticket?
The airline’s do not tell you this when you buy the ticket. Sometimes they will tell you this before you board the plane though, and if they do that you will end up paying full price for a ticket because it is so soon. Buy a throwaway ticket early, or if you’re going home by around trip ticket. You can get a throwaway ticket for $20 or so, so it’s not a big deal.
Sooo where do you buy this throwaway ticket?
You can buy from anywhere you want. My website offers it as a service. We can usually find you a ticket for $20 or so. http://liveinthephilippines.com/category/throwaway-ticket/
Thanks Bob! So i could go to my local airport and buy one from any airline?
I think my last answer was pretty clear, you can buy it anywhere you want. Anywhere would include your local airport, but you’re probably going to pay a lot for it there.
Okay, thanks
As I am only visiting for a few weeks ( wish I could make it more LOL ) I always arrive with a round trip ticket at NAIA Manila. Our of 12 visits so far I have never been asked if I have a return or forwarding ticket out of the country. Maybe I just have an honest face LOL .
Hi Bob, enforcement is really hit and miss, you just never know when you’re going to be asked. For those who do not have a round trip ticket or some kind of ongoing ticket, you sure don’t want to get asked if you don’t have one.
Very helpful Bob. I have only one thought that should be emphasised. Any foreigner availing of a visitor visa to the Philippines is required to have an ongoing ticket, whether your intended stay is one day or 3 years. Immigration may not ask to see one, because most of your travel arrangements are already displayed before him on his computer screen when you show your passport. It would not be wise to try to enter (as a visitor) without one!
I agree Ron, why take the risk when it’s very cheap to get a throwaway ticket.
All the years I flew back and forth to the Philippines I was never asked for an onward or return ticket by immigration, but when I flew to retire in the Philippines five years ago, I only had a one way ticket, it was the airline that asked for an onward ticket as they get a hefty fine if they let you fly. I had a cheap ticket to fly from Clark to Borneo.
Seems it’s always the time that you least expected when they decide to enforce it. You were lucky, you were prepared though.
Bob, I am on a TRV and will be making a short trip soon. Would I need a throwaway?
Yes, you would need one, I believe.
Yes, I believe you would.
I have never been asked upon arrival here in RP but I have been asked upon exit from both the USA and Canada. The last time I left here in RP for a visit to the US I bought a round trip from Clark to Boston and a $40 throw away one way from Manila to some obscure place in Malaysia…. I was asked for it in Boston when I got my boarding pass to come back. When I first came here I had a one way and an onward ticket dated a month later out of Montreal. They gave me some problem and I explained it as I understood it. They took about 5 minutes looking it up and let me board…Had me worried there for a minute tho…lol
Yeah, having the foreign ticket/boarding agents do the enforcement is the way it is supposed to work, so everything went as planned. You can usually get a throwaway ticket for far less than $40, so shop around! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f05467516ef19dd9c250014ccddd01e48505d87e9e6666a3ff653f8b98380579.jpg
what about the “no show”rules?
I am planning on a 6 month stay and my round trip ticket says as much. Do I need a throw away ticket?
Technically, you need a throwaway ticket. The law is that you must have a ticket exiting the Philippines which is dated for departure within 59 days of your arrival. However, with a 6 month departure, I think you will be fine. That is only my opinion, though, and you should not make your final decision only based on what I say.
Quick question. I plan on booking my actual flights through Philippines airlines and a throwaway through AirAsia. Wouldn’t Philippines Airlines be able to see my return ticket of 59 days when I first depart for the Philippines and wouldn’t that raise some flags for them?
That is not an issue. You are within the law. Philippines Airlines would not care about that. Thousands of people do that every day, and it is completely legal.
Am arriving through Davao Dec, 2019 and satay 7 to 9 months waiting for K1 visa and staying outside General Santo, my ticket I will pay for open ended changeable up to 1 years am also interested in learning the processes to day for 9month to 12months. I will be leaving with my new family to return after green card to also get married within in PH to try and make it easy to stay and visit any information out there for me.