Proof of return /onward tickets
 

Hi all,
we are busy planning our RTW and have found that some countries require a proof of return or onward tickets out of the current country as we are riding our own bikes would proof of a hotel booking in the next country surfice?
any advice would be great,
cheers
Neil and Steph

There is no definitive answer to this but if you are entering over a land border highly unlikely you will be asked, I never have been. If flying in proof of onward travel is sometimes required but always check the price of return tickets, they are sometime no more or even cheaper than one way and you don't have to use them. As a last resort buy a refundable return ticket and cash it in after you have left the country that requires one.

If you are shipping the bikes, shipping documentation and a printed itinerary should be enough. If you need a visa to enter then often the visa in your passport will suffice. However it is the airline checkin team you always have to convince since they are usually the only ones who care.

Some buy a fully refundable onwards ticket (bus ticket usually not good enough) dated a couple of months ahead and then cancel it once you get sorted out.

Entry by land with the vehicle is never a problem and if you have left the bike behind while you return home, the TVIP will serve as proof of onwards travel.

Or just fly business or first class as then they never ask

Almost all the time, a printed itinerary will suffice. So I've just edited an old PDF with new dates and showed whoever needs to be convinced. (if you have no pdf editor, then there are websites that will fake a ticket for you: http://returnflights.net/) They have no means to check the validity of my reservation and booking number... UNLESS they are the specific airline itself.

In that case, I book a refundable ticket and just cancel the ticket when I am in the country.

There's even websites for booking a refundable ticket on your behalf, then providing you with an valid reservation, and they will automatically cancel the ticket for you.

The benefit is that it will pass a lookup at the airport, you don't have to put a large sum of $$$$ on your credit card (charges typically $5-$10) and you don't have to remember to cancel the ticket (expensive if you forget).

Examples: flyonward.com, onwardflights.com, returnflights.net

Note, I haven't used any of the above, so use them at your own risk.