BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm an American citizen traveling into Dublin on a OW ticket.

I have another OW ticket booked from Dublin to Belfast, and then Belfast to London, then London to Berlin.....you get the picture......

As I know there is an "onward travel" Requirement when flying to Ireland on a OW ticket - will I have any issues that my "onward travel" is from Belfast?

Any advice would be appreciated!!

I have never been asked for proof of onward travel in western Europe. I doubt you will have any problem.

Generally, unless they have cause to be suspicious, you don't have to worry.

Thought I would share learnings from the airline (AA in this case).

Turns out they DO require proof of onward from the REPUBLIC OF IRELAND. Glad I checked.....

Remember in cases like this it's sometimes the airline which can give you trouble, not just customs.

If your worried why don't you look into buying a fully refundable ticket and just return it once you get to Ireland?

quote:

Originally posted by my2thhurts:
I have never been asked for proof of onward travel in western Europe. I doubt you will have any problem.

I have, only once... in London Gatwick last December. Seems like I fly through Dublin damn near every time time I get on a plane. Never been asked to prove onward travel to them. I've also flown on a one-way ticket into Dublin from Chicago on AA. No problems there, either.

I flew through Dublin this past August - I think they just asked me where I was going, stamped my passport with a transit visa and wrote the name of the next city I was flying to within the stamp.

I never even left the airport though, so the situation may be different - but I did have only a one way US - Europe ticket (nothing to get me back to the US which is where I'm from) and it wasn't a problem - they just saw that I was leaving Ireland and that was enough. Fortunately no one was concerned at the end destination.

Obviously this won't necessarily be true for everyone, so it is probably best to check through official channels like an Irish consulate (?), but it sounds like you have a similar situation to me and I was fine.

i would think that a ticket fro travel from belfast would be proof enough that you were going to be leaving the republic, as you sort of have to do that to get to belfast. doubt you'll have any problems, even if they do ask.

I entered Dublin via ferry and they simply wanted to know when I was planning on leaving. No proof required. I really really doubt they'll give you trouble, especailly since you have an onwark ticket to the UK.

aye,

there is no need to fly from dublin to belfast. They're just 100 miles apart, the train takes 2-3 hours which is way shorter than flying when you taking into account taxis/buses on either side to get you from city centre out - that and dublin airport is notoriously chaotic at the moment with terminals all over the shop plus the pain in the neck security check

the express train is the business go with that.

I'm taking AA into Shannon with only a one way next month. Should I call the airline about this as I have no onward ticket, at least not immediately - I do have a ticket from Cairo-Nairobi for October, so I'm clearly leaving at some point, but I wonder if that is enough?

I'm flying one way to Heathrow myself in several months. I will have tickets from Glasgow - Belfast and then Dublin - Faro. I'm not worried about getting in. I have flown to lots of different EU countries and most times they hardly even look at my passport let alone enquire as to when/if I intend on leaving. Yes, you might get the one agent that will give you a hard time, but that is slim. If the airline has a problem with letting you fly simply buy a fully refundable return ticket and then return the ticket and get your money back upon arrival.

I am working my way RTW and buying tix as I go along, so I assume I will encounter this issue elsewhere. So the question is, where can I buy fully refundable tix? Every site I go through has been non-refundable. Can you get refundable tix directly from the airlines?

You can get them from the airline. Sometimes it's also a choice various websites. You could even buy them at the airport if need be.

Twice in the last year I have had RTs from the US with United and AA ending in Frankfurt. Each time the airline asked for proof of ownward travel because I was American with no special visa or work permit. I had tickets each time. I think the best solution with United and AA is to do as the poster above recommended and buy a fully refundable ticket online and then cancel it when you arrive in Germany or Ireland or wherever. Don't buy a paper ticket at the airport because you'll have to "submit" the paper to get your money back.

I just came back to FRA from SFO on AA. The Check-In agent didn't even ask about onward travel. Go figure. Some do, some don't. German Immigration doesn't seem to care. Nonetheless I had a Deustche Bahn ticket for Basel as proof of onward travel. Cost me EUR 22 and I used it the other day.

Other cheaper solution is to go to RyanAir and book yourself on one of the EUR .01 flights to somewhere. God Bless Michael Ryan.

I agree, if you haven't already paid for a Dublin-Belfast ticket then take other transport. I bused it and given check in time and such I probably got there just as fast.

Plus got to enjoy some views of the countryside.

Had no problem flying one way Paris-Dublin-London, no one even asked about where to next, just how long I'd be there and why.

Another question: Has anyone been asked for onward travel when departing the US? I've been told that the airline is supposed to ask (but rarely do) and its technically illegal to leave without a return ticket. Can anyone back that up?


UK is the only country that has confronted me about it. The customs lady actually flipped out a bit when I showed her I was flying ryanair to Dublin the same day. "Why would you do this?" she asked me several times. All I could tell her is because it was the cheapest option. Apparently it was good enough though.

If you have proof that you are leaving schengen (even just to the UK) that should be good enough. I can't imagine they would ask you where are you going after that, and I don't see why its any of their business. But I wouldn't admit to Ireland that you are going to Berlin unless you have onward tickets from there.

Rob - interesting question.

So here's the deal - I've actually got an endless stream of tickets that do bring me back home - so I don't think I have the same concern:

ORD-DUB-LHR-BER land MUC-DXB-ISB-DXB-MUC MUC-BEG-CAI-DXB-SAH-BKK-KUL-HAN land SGN-HKG-ORD

or round about.

But it's not ILLEGAL to leave the US without a return - I've even checked with my airline, but they SUGGESTED me having proof of onward - which I do - onward to LON and such and such. I don't even think that is a REQUIREMENT, but they can hassle if you don't have.

I just flew into Dublin last week and the immigration guy asked me why I was here and for how long then stamped my passport and told me to have a good time. Took like 15 seconds maybe. It was almost too easy.

I took the ferry into the UK and they wanted to see something so I showed them a printout of my expedia itinerary showing a departure from Dublin back to the states and that was fine. They didnt even check my bags or anything.