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Every applicant must attach the travel itinerary confirmation to the set of Schengen visa obtainment documents. Booked flight tickets can be used: either unpaid, if the trip dates are not yet known, or paid.
Airlines and aggregator websites usually allow booking tickets without payment for up to three days. This is not enough to get a visa: the reservation will become invalid when the consulate staff checks the documents.
Here’s how to get a ticket reservation for a visa without payment or refund penalties.
What is a travel itinerary, and how to confirm it?
Also known as a “flight itinerary”, a travel itinerary is a detailed plan of a Schengen Area visit.
Consulates and embassies of the Schengen states need to make sure that the foreigner will return to the country of residence before the visa expires. Therefore, each applicant is asked to confirm the itinerary of their trip by providing one of the following:
- Paid non-refundable flight tickets.
- Paid refundable flight tickets.
- Confirmed, but unpaid booked flight tickets if the trip dates are still unknown.
Provide a daily breakdown for the entire duration of your future trip and the tickets. Try to include all details, especially on all flights and airports.
What to add to a travel itinerary:
- First and last name of the passenger.
- Flight number.
- PNR code, or the flight reservation number.
- Arrival and departure dates.
- Flight duration.
- IATA airport codes.
- Combined cost of all flight tickets.
- Hotels or other accommodations information, including addresses and duration of the planned stay.
- Daily activities, such as places and cities of visitation.
A travel itinerary must be confirmed when obtaining a Schengen’s Type C tourist visa and a Type A transit visa.
Templates for a travel itinerary can be found on government sites. Here is a template from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan.
Who needs to demonstrate proof of onward travel to Europe?
If you are a citizen of a country that does not have a visa waiver agreement with the European Union or Schengen states, you will need to show proof of onward travel, such as a travel itinerary.
Citizens of these countries will need to demonstrate proof of onward travel to Europe:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Comoros
- Cote d’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Dem. Rep. Of Congo
- Djibouti
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Papua New Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Republic of the Congo
- Russia
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- South Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Türkiye
- Uganda
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Where to buy refundable tickets
Refundable flights are offered by almost all airlines. As a rule, they are more expensive than non-refundable ones. For example, for a flight from Yerevan to Vienna, a buyer will pay around €70 for a non-refundable ticket and €86 for a refundable one by Austrian Airlines.
A buyer can get a refund for a non-refundable ticket if their travel plans have changed. Each airline sets its own refund conditions: they usually take into account the class of service and the refund period. The company can charge fines for the entire ticket or each segment.
Conditions for ticket refunds in some airlines
| Airline | Fare | Refund | Terms Refund |
| Lufthansa | Economy Light | None | – |
| Economy Classic | None | – | |
| Economy Flex | For a fine of €70 | Before departure | |
| Business Saver | Free | Before departure | |
| Business Flex | Free | Before departure | |
| Qatar Airways | Economy Lite | None | Before departure |
| Economy Classic | None | Before departure | |
| Economy Convenience | Free | 24 hours before departure | |
| Economy Comfort | Free | Anytime | |
| Business Lite, Classic, or Comfort | Free | Anytime | |
| Emirates | All classes | Free | Before departure |
Where to book visa tickets without payment
On airline websites, a buyer can book a ticket for up to 48 hours without payment. This method is only suitable for those who undergo a fast-track Schengen visa obtainment in 1—3 days. The standard Schengen visa obtainment procedure takes 10-14 business days: flight ticket reservations will be cancelled before this period ends, and the applicant will face visa refusal risks.
On flight ticket agency websites, buyers can use a service that extends their booking for 6-4 days. This reservation period suits the Schengen visa obtainment period; the buyer does not have to spend money on prepaying for the tickets or paying return fines. Costs of the service start at €70.
How to book flight tickets without payment
You can find an agency that provides free flight booking services for visas if you search “book now pay later flights”.
If the reservation ends before the visa is issued, the agency will provide a new reservation on request without additional payment, literally within an hour. However, the applicant will have to send information about the updated reservation to the visa application centre or consulate.
The application review process takes up to 14 days, so tickets should be booked immediately before the application is submitted. The applicant must select an agency in advance because it is recommended to spend no more than half an hour on booking.
How to verify that your flight reservation is valid
After paying for the reservation, the applicant will receive an itinerary receipt by email. The reservation’s validity can be checked either on the airline’s website or on a GDS website, which is a global flight booking system.
For example, American Airlines partners with a GDS called Amadeus, which in turn partners with the booking verification app CheckMyTrip. Using CheckMyTrip, travellers can verify the validity of their American Airlines booking and print out their travel itinerary for their Schengen visa.
To check the booking confirmation and print out the travel itinerary, enter the passenger’s last name in Latin letters and the booking code specified in the electronic ticket on the website.
Ticket booking verification services:
- virtuallythere.com by Sabre. Used by more than 140 airlines;
- checkmytrip.com by Amadeus. Used by more than 400 airlines;
- viewtrip.com by Travelport. Used by more than 400 airlines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need flight tickets to get a Schengen visa?
Consulate staff want to make sure that the foreigner returns to the country of residence before their visa ends. Therefore, the applicant must confirm their travel itinerary — for example, by providing a copy of their paid round trip flight tickets or a copy confirming the ticket booking.
How can I book flights for a visa without paying?
You can book tickets without paying on airline or flight ticket agency websites. Booking on airline websites lasts up to 48 hours, which is not enough to get a Schengen visa according to the standard procedure, which is from 10 to 14 business days. Agencies allow you to extend your booking for up to 14 days.
How do I check my flight reservations?
You can check your ticket reservations by using services that airlines and global distribution booking systems cooperate with. To do this, enter the passenger’s last name in English and the six-digit booking code from your e-ticket.
What is the “travel itinerary” in the list of visa documents?
A travel itinerary is a document that contains information about the planned movements of a foreigner in the countries of the Schengen area. Travel itineraries must be provided for obtaining a Type C Schengen visa, i.e. for tourist trips.
Foreigners confirm their travel itinerary with flight tickets that contain information about the passenger, the flight, and the departure and return dates. As a travel itinerary, you can provide paid flight tickets or unpaid but booked tickets.
