Thailand forum

Hi Lee,

I've heard of open tickets but have never done it myself. There are a few airlines out there that allow free changes to tickets - China Airlines is one I believe - but most charge a fee for changes. Some are reasonable, I believe it's US $100 from Cathay Pacific, while others are a bit ridiculous, like $300 from Qatar Airways.

If you do book a return and want to change the ticket make sure you do that in advance. In other words, don't call the airline two days before you want to go home and expect they'll have seats available for your desired change. They might, and if they do they'll give them to you, but they very well might not have anything for 2-3 weeks or longer. Also, calling any airline to make a change is always a big pain in the arse, usually entailing less than friendly airline representatives and long wait times.

My advice would be to search out the cheapest return fares for the approximate dates you wish to travel, then give each of them a call to inquire about the options they offer.

For the trip I'm currently on I booked just a one-way (wasn't sure when or if I'd be going home). However, even with a $100 change fee it will most likely be cheaper to book a return fare, unless you're using Air Asia. But if you want the flexibility without the hassle and uncertainty of knowing you're going to have to change your return date then a one-way is fine.

The only thing with that is the airline may ask you for proof of onward travel. When I flew with Cathay Pacific New York to Bangkok last October they did ask me to show proof. And I had it, in the form of a $35 Air Asia one-way flight from Bangkok to Saigon that I never ended up using. It was just a "throw away" ticket to get around that ridiculous technicality. Others on this site have mentioned showing overland itineraries plus proof of adequate finances in lieu of a ticket for onward travel. Still, most traveling one way never even get asked to show the proof.

You will, in theory, have the 'proof of ongoing flight' in most countries when you are arriving by air. In practice, it depends on the airline.

It seems to be (based on experience and from what I've read from others here) that's it's the flights into SEA that tend ask for this proof. It doesn't seem to be an issue when flying within SEA (eg from Bkk to HCMC, or KL to Vientiane). I was recently asked to show proof when flying Air Asia from NZ to KL - but was never asked on subsequent flights between Laos, Thailand and Indonesia. But I don't think I was asked for proof on a previous trip when flying on Singapore Air from NZ to Singapore. Having said that, I was asked by Indoensian immigration for my ongoing flight details but that was due to an issue with my passport. I've never been asked by immigration otherwise in any SEA country.

Another time you may need to provide proof is if you applying for a visa before arrival. For example, on a previous trip to Indonesia I applied for a 2 month visa - and needed to provide a copy of my departure ticket as part of the application process. The exception to this was Vietnam where you can apply for a visa pre-approval letter - no proof is required for the pre-approval letter. I arrived in Hanoi with the pre-approval letter but without an onward ticket as I was heading overland through to Cambodia and had no problems.

But nothing is ever guaranteed.... so if the requirements are that you have proof of onward travel and you don't have that proof, then you taking a calculated risk. But that's what most of us do, and it usually works out fine!