Ever Go To Europe With A One-Way Ticket?

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TylerDurden

TylerDurden

You Are Not Your Job
Oct 6, 2008
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So I graduated from college 7 months ago (BBA in Marketing) and this past week I quit my job at Tiffany & Co. since I hate retail and I want to travel and make monies online.
I have friends in Germany who said I can live with them for free until I start making some money. I have a credit card and a couple thousand dollars saved up which should last me about 2-3 months.
Today as I was looking into buying a one-way ticket the travel agent said that it can be hard to get into Europe or even onto a plane without a round trip ticket. I could buy a roundtrip ticket and just not use the return flight but this will take a big chunk out of my savings.
My question is have any Americans here ever had any problems getting into Europe (or on the plane to Europe) with just a one-way ticket? Does anyone have any advice on how to make my entry any easier?
 


bullshit.
I moved to Europe from the states 8 months ago and arrived on a one way ticket, they didn't even give me a second look. Since then I have taken countless one way and round trip flights inside of Europe and never had a problem.
They will ask you how long you will be staying and as long as you don't say more than 90 days you wont have a problem

On a side note don't underestimate the cost. 2000 USD is only about 1400 euro and the exchange rate is getting worse by the day.
 
ratamiss: Not completely true. If you have a visa, then yeah, not having a return ticket isn't going to cause any problems. If not, they may not let you in, same thing as with the US pretty much, you gotta be able to prove that you are indeed "planning" to leave the country.
 
ratamiss said:
bullshit.
I moved to Europe from the states 8 months ago and arrived on a one way ticket, they didn't even give me a second look. Since then I have taken countless one way and round trip flights inside of Europe and never had a problem.
They will ask you how long you will be staying and as long as you don't say more than 90 days you wont have a problem

On a side note don't underestimate the cost. 2000 USD is only about 1400 euro and the exchange rate is getting worse by the day.
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What country did you enter into? Based on things I read on the internet it seems like people have a tough time going through the UK.
I definitely won't be going with a lot of money so I was thinking about buying some euros now since from what I read online it should be getting stronger against the dollar. Also I'm not to worried about running out of money since I've been in similar situations before and things always end up working out for me. I truly believe that if you have a positive attitude things will always work in your favor.
 
gopher said:
ratamiss: Not completely true. If you have a visa, then yeah, not having a return ticket isn't going to cause any problems. If not, they may not let you in, same thing as with the US pretty much, you gotta be able to prove that you are indeed "planning" to leave the country.
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No US citizen needs a visa to travel to the EU
 
TylerDurden said:
What country did you enter into? Based on things I read on the internet it seems like people have a tough time going through the UK.
I definitely won't be going with a lot of money so I was thinking about buying some euros now since from what I read online it should be getting stronger against the dollar. Also I'm not to worried about running out of money since I've been in similar situations before and things always end up working out for me. I truly believe that if you have a positive attitude things will always work in your favor.
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Ireland, but Ive flown from NYC to Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, and Krakow on one way tickets without problem.

Also, In my experience you will get a lot better exchange rate taking euros out of a ATM in europe vs using a bureau de change or bank in the states. It is a total crap shoot with the exchange rate though, it has been shooting up and down for months.
 
ratamiss said:
Ireland, but Ive flown from NYC to Amsterdam, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, and Krakow on one way tickets without problem.
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Okay good to know. I was planning on taking a lot of stuff with me but now I don't want to look like I'll be staying for very long so I may limit myself to 1-2 bags. Do you think it will help if I dress nice and look like I have lots of money? How were you dressed when you went?
 
TylerDurden said:
Okay good to know. I was planning on taking a lot of stuff with me but now I don't want to look like I'll be staying for very long so I may limit myself to 1-2 bags. Do you think it will help if I dress nice and look like I have lots of money? How were you dressed when you went?
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Its unnecessary, really. Just say your going to travel around europe on ryan air or the train and that you wont be staying more than 90 days.
 
ratamiss said:
No US citizen needs a visa to travel to the EU
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Which isn't what I said. If you are going to enter the EU without a visa and without a return ticket, chances are you'll run into problems. Quite possible that the agent at check-in won't let you board without a return ticket either. And what good is it going to do, claiming he'll be traveling around Europe. At some point he's gotta pack his bags and return, be it the same or a different city he flew into, and he most likely will have to show that ticket.
 
abhorrent said:
So you're moving to Fantasy land?
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Let's just say that I've never moved anywhere with more than $500 and I've never had a problem. Good looks and charisma go a long way.

kimboslice said:
Travel agent?

What's that?

Go Internets...
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On the west coast there's a travel agency (STA Travel) that gives really cheap fares for students, like way cheaper than the internet. All you have to do is prove you're a student so my plan was to register for a class, get a valid student ID, withdraw from the class and get a refund, save monies $$$.
 
gopher said:
Which isn't what I said. If you are going to enter the EU without a visa and without a return ticket, chances are you'll run into problems. Quite possible that the agent at check-in won't let you board without a return ticket either. And what good is it going to do, claiming he'll be traveling around Europe. At some point he's gotta pack his bags and return, be it the same or a different city he flew into, and he most likely will have to show that ticket.
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Like I said, I have done in many times into several cities without a problem.
 
ratamiss said:
Like I said, I have done in many times into several cities without a problem.
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Which is great for you, but telling the OP it's not going to be a problem is misleading at best. The immigration officer will be looking at:

* you are genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for up to 90 days
* you intend to leave the EU at the end of your visit
* you do not intend to take employment in the EU
* you have enough money to support and accommodate yourself without recourse to public funds or taking employment
* you can meet the cost of a return or onward journey.

Usually, visitors have a return flight, so the last point is satisfied, and it pretty much satisfies the first two as well. Without one, one would need to provide bank statements, pay stubs etc. And even then one could run into problems, especially if it is a young guy / first time traveler etc.

So yeah, he could enter without a return ticket. And chances are they won't even check (depends also on where you enter). Guess the OP has to decide for himself ;)
 
The only place I ever had a problem traveling to with a one-way ticket was Damascus. Beirut? Milan? Frankfurt? San Francisco? No problem. (All post 9/11- circa 04-06).

You'll be fine. Do expect extra fondling from the U.S.-based customs handlers behind the glass at JFK, though.
 
Misleading? hardly.
The page you copied your bullet points from was referring to the UK specifically. Of course the UK is stricter than most because of illegal immigration. Will a college age American peak the interest of customs in most european countries? No.
In the UK, possibly.

Satisfied?
 
I bought a one way to Madrid and a eurail pass a few months ago and just winged it. No hotel reservations or plans. I just kept picking cities that I could get to by train and went.

Flew Aer Lingus to dublin from boston and they are way cheap. You can get $100 flights.

Then when I was done I took a train to Munich's airport and bought a flight home same day, about 3 hours before the flight took off. I came home on a round trip ticket because it was cheaper.

Out of Hawaii I suppose would be more expensive eh.

I actually had more problems flying to Hawaii than Europe or China. Apparently I'm on a watch list and was looking to bomb Pearl Harbor.

You can cruise Schengen countries in Europe no problem

Schengen Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I'm genuinely surprised that the one way ticked is significantly cheaper. I would shop around until you find a deal on a 90 day return, there's no shortage of them. Then you can usually move the return date by up to a year for coming back.

A couple thousand DOLLARS isn't going to last you very long. Unless you are just staying home doing very little, in one month you will be out of cash, guaranteed. Europe isn't cheap.
 
I was just looking at ticket prices today for my trip to Europe and I noticed that round trip tickets are 50% less than one way tickets. How is that even possible? Is there any way around that? I'm not sure how long I want my vacation to last yet...
 
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