Flying US to Philippines / one way ticket ?

[lbounds 16]

I'm meeting my fiancee soon to prepare for our interview. I only bought a one way ticket for myself from US because I don't know exactly what date we will have visa in hand. I didn't buy round trip because I didn't want to stay my full vacation break time there. Once we have visa I want to return here ASAP so we have some days to spend with each other before I go back to work.

My question is will I have a problem passing through immigration in Philippines without a return ticket already paid ?

I mean I have to return for work and with my fiancee I'm definately not staying there.

I'm flying Korean Air in.

I heard some say a RT ticket is a requirement for a US person entering. I heard others say they really never ask for that.

Does anyone know for sure ?

What happens if I have a problem ? I can just buy a RT ticket on the spot ?

Thanks for confirmed info

[Jared and May 16]

Well, I know they don't check your return ticket.. I'm sure you've read this below:

ENTRY / EXIT REQUIREMENTS: U.S. citizens may enter the Philippines without a visa for tourism purposes upon presentation of their U.S. passport, valid for at least six months after the date of entry into the Philippines, and a return ticket to the United States or an onward ticket to another country. Upon arrival, immigration authorities will annotate the traveler’s passport with an entry visa valid for 21 days. If the traveler plans to stay longer than 21 days, he/she must apply for an extension at the Philippine Bureau of Immigration and Deportation's main office at Magallanes Drive, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines or at any of its provincial offices.

It's that "and a return ticket".. I'm 99% sure that part isn't enforced. It's also very helpful to be honest with customs/immigration if they do notice something.

Edited March 28, 2010 by Jared and May

[mrmarouka 0]

I've been there three times. Twice from Korea, once from the US. The only things customs & immigration checked were the arrival documents I filled out on the plane and my passport. Only once they asked me questions regarding the duration of my stay and where/who I was visiting.

Make sure you have your arrival documents filled out completely before you leave the plane, otherwise you will be asked to get out of line and fill it out at a table, which is very inconvenient.

The airport employees were very friendly towards me. They didn't seem as friendly with the Korean and Japanese visitors though...

Be sure to plan accordingly if you decide to stay over 21 days. Find the nearest Bureau of Immigration and apply for an extension. The nearest BI to my wife was a 5 hour trip (one way). It was a long day...

Take care.

-Mark

[lbounds 16]

ok, just wanted to confirm that because I heard some different things. Thanks for the replies

[George&Hazel 1]

I went in December of this past year one way. I bought a cheap throw away ticket 3 weeks in the future. It cost me 60 bucks. They did not ask me for it, but to me 60 dollar insurance policy is not a bad thing.

[Beth & Chard 8]

IMPORTANT Read this!

I have been traveling back and forth from the USA to the Philippines many times since 2007. I never had an onward bound ticket and never had any problems UNTIL THIS LAST TIME! I ARRIVED ON November 28, 2010 just after midnight and was detained by immigration officials at the airport. It was a mess, Because it was so late the airlines ticket offices were closed. I was finally able to get one of the immigration officials to take some money to my fiance who was waiting outside, and she was able to go to another terminal and get me a ticket to Hong Kong (P11,000). I had my K1 approval with me, an ACR card(TV) because of my extended stays in Philippines (+6 months or more) which shows my address in Manila for the house I rent here. I'm pretty good at pleading my case and even got one of the immigration people to go talk to the agent at the window, where you first check in to see if he would reconsider and he would not. I was detained for 4 hours. Never again am I going to go through that hassle. BE ADVISED!

Have an onward bound ticket, if not you are gambling.

[lbounds 16]

Just to update this with my experience from this trip. When I got to LAX to get my boarding pass the airline wouldn't let me board without getting a return to US ticket. So I had to buy a ticket at the airport. They assured me that when I got to manila Korean air could change my ticket later for a different departure date.

Later when I was in Manila at Korean air office and I knew about when I wanted to leave they wouldn't change my ticket or give me a refund. They said there was no available flights and refund would take 3 weeks.

I had to fly back on a different airline and eventually I got most of the refund though I still lost about $200.

I'll never make that mistake again. Just passing on my experience.

[A and T 82]

So whats a good solution here for people that want to fly to the philippines and aren't sure how long they want to stay? I thought about buying a ticket round trip with a return date as far out as I could get, and in the event I wanted to come back sooner, I could maybe call and ask them to move it up?

[thekfc 26]

So whats a good solution here for people that want to fly to the philippines and aren't sure how long they want to stay? I thought about buying a ticket round trip with a return date as far out as I could get, and in the event I wanted to come back sooner, I could maybe call and ask them to move it up?

It may be a little costlier but you can get an Open Return Ticket - you pay the fare but do not reserve any specific flights or dates for the return trip.

[rlogan 2,036]

So whats a good solution here for people that want to fly to the philippines and aren't sure how long they want to stay? I thought about buying a ticket round trip with a return date as far out as I could get, and in the event I wanted to come back sooner, I could maybe call and ask them to move it up?

Thanks to Richard535 for bringing this up. Wow.

If you enter with your wife, you get a one-year stamp in your passport. So I was considering a one-way ticket for the next trip, which won't be a while but I was actually going to stay even longer, getting an extension after the first year.

So getting a round-trip with a return date more than a year ahead is what we'll have to do I guess.

[Carl n Evelyn 0]

I bought a ticket on AirAsia for 28.50 USD from Clark airport to Koto Kinabalu, Malaysa. It is supposed to take all pressure off me when I go to Manila in June to be with my fiance for her medical and interview.

I do not have actual experience, but what I have researched proposes that the airlines and the Philippines only require me to have a set way out of the country.

Hope this helps! This site is awesome.

[Kevin- 13]

Something most people are not aware of:

The cheapest tickets usually have many restrictions. Many are totally unchangeable, can't cancel or change it at all. Most at least have a large fee for making any change. When booking online, it's hard to tell which fares will let you do what, especially from travel websites (instead of the airline itself). Another restriction is baggage. You might get a cheap ticket only to find a big per-bag charge when departing. Philippine airlines is actually good about this on their website, clearly labeling the different fares for each flight (just a few clicks to see what restrictions exist for each fare level). I think coach usually has 3 fare levels, and possibly 2 for business. But even with them, there are varying restrictions.

When you buy a car, do you search for the cheapest car available? Probably not. You look for the best bang for your buck for sure, depending on needs and wants. But somehow most people default to looking for the absolute cheapest airline tickets. Don't do it! For the good of yourself and the airlines and everyone else, support the airlines that actually give good service and deliver a solid product.

It's interesting that the airline itself wouldn't let you board, and said you needed a return ticket, rather than just "a way out of the Philippines". I was going to suggest what csterli1 said above, but he found an even better method than what I knew about. I was going to suggest a refundable ticket from Manila to some other country. Just collect the refund once you arrive. They have some shorter international hops for under $200 I think. But $28 with no refund hassle is fantastic. I'd still suggest canceling that ticket once out of the airport, to ensure you don't have any strange happenings if that airline mistakenly reports you as actually having taken the flight.

[Messybrownhair 251]

My mom works for the airline and you must have a return ticket! Sometimes they will not let you board the plane if you cannot show a return ticket. Some people do get away with it, but don't risk it! Get an open ticket maybe?

[dnac59 0]

My brother and I actually had the same problem with a 1-way ticket. We are both naturalized citizens of US and at that time we had just gotten our Dual Citizen papers for Philippines. We needed to complete the rest of the process in the Philippines, which was fine because we both went to college in the Philippines. Anyways, we were using Asiana Airlines and when we went to check in at LAX the guy at the counter said that we needed a return ticket with us. We told them and showed the our Dual Citizen papers, but he still wouldn't allow us to check in without a return ticket. Instead we asked for them to contact their Philippine Ticket Booth counterpart so we could explain to them and hope they understood the situation. The Philippine Ticket Booth told us that they would purchase for us a return ticket when we arrived in Manila. Upon arrival we were met by an Asiana Airline employee and presented us with a ticket. Went through immirgation and showed them our return tickets. After passing through Immigration, gave the ticket back to the Asiana Airline employee and we were on our way.

So long story short, a return ticket was needed, but if you can talk with an agent from where you will be arriving maybe, they can set something up so you won't have to buy another ticket.

[K3lZ33 3]

On 11/30/2010 at 11:18 AM, lbounds said:

Just to update this with my experience from this trip. When I got to LAX to get my boarding pass the airline wouldn't let me board without getting a return to US ticket. So I had to buy a ticket at the airport. They assured me that when I got to manila Korean air could change my ticket later for a different departure date.

Later when I was in Manila at Korean air office and I knew about when I wanted to leave they wouldn't change my ticket or give me a refund. They said there was no available flights and refund would take 3 weeks.

I had to fly back on a different airline and eventually I got most of the refund though I still lost about $200.

I'll never make that mistake again. Just passing on my experience.

This is what happened to me when I went there to go to school. I bought a 1 way ticket, and the airline wouldn't let me check in without a return ticket, or an outbound ticket. So I bought one for $60 going to Hong Kong, and made sure it was refundable. I got my money back for the ticket without any problems once I had my student visa for the Philippines. 

 

This was a direct flight from SFO to MNL on Philippine Airlines. The ticket to Hong Kong was Philippine Airlines too. 

Edited August 18, 2017 by K3lZ33