The whole process of applying for a visa can be at best tedious at worst downright nightmare !!. The requirements may be vague and ambiguous. This post covers one of these issues flight reservations . Is it necessary to have a flight reservation for visa application? Should you pay the full price and book a flight ticket? What if my visa gets rejected?

These questions will be answered today as most of our own customers have these issues and we want to answer them once and for all.

If you want a short answer, do not submit a flight reservation but use a flight itinerary (you can make flight itinerray using FlightGen App ) and mention the following line in your cover letter (You can make cover letter using BlinkDocs App).

A flight itinerary from a travel agent. The itinerary will be ticketed once my visa is approved.

If you have already booked either a fully paid flight ticket or a refundable ticket for the visa application, then we recommend you to submit that instead. This article might not be of any use to you anymore !!

What is a flight reservation for visa?

A flight reservation for visa is a document that you have submitted only for your visa purposes that contain your flight information and a verifiable PNR but you have not paid the full price.

The verifiable PNR is the crucial part here. If you intend to use the same flight for your trip once your visa is approved, then there is no problem as you are converting a reservation into a fully paid ticket.

If you submit a flight document without a PNR then this is called a flight itinerary and if you have paid the full price then it is a good old flight ticket.

Is it ok to use a temporary flight reservation for visa Application ?

We can answer the question in a different way, How do you feel when one of these fake gurus rents a Lamborghini for a day and shows off like his own? This is why we call them fake !!.

So is it ok to give out a temporary (fake) flight reservation for visa purposes ? No. If you do so then your visa may be rejected because you are submitting forged documents, In fact, the first reason on the list of reasons for Schengen visa rejection is forged documents. (See the first point below) .

There is a caveat though, if an agent can create a flight reservation for the flight that you give him, then that is perfectly ok as anyway if your visa is approved you will take the same flight.

Schengen visa rejection reasons

As you can see, it is not ok to submit a forged document.

The right options in this case would be:

  1. Book a fully refundable flight ticket or a paid flight ticket (If visa is rejected, then you may loose your money)
  2. Use a flight itinerary and mention the same in the cover letter. (Not applicable if you are applying for a Schengen visa from UK. Only flight ticket accepted)

Besides, there are many websites online that provide flight reservations with temporary PNR online. We recommend you do not do that as even they do not control when your confirmed PNR in the ticket be released back into the GDS and become unverifiable

How to get a free flight reservation for visa?

There are many airline websites online that would provide you with a free flight reservation.

Yatra.com allow you to hold onto your flight reservation for 3 to 4 days before you can pay for your flight ticket. Although it does not work for visas which take more than 3 to 4 days to get as by the time the visa officer checks your documents, your ticket could expire and your visa can be for giving fake PNR.

Other ways to get a free flight reservation without payment is to use the Hold ticket feature that most of the airline website have, but the problem is most of them give you a free hold option for just 1 day !

Can you use a flight reservation for Schengen visa ?

We do not recommend using a flight reservation with a temporary PNR for your Schengen visa. If you are applying for a Schengen visa in the UK, then use a fully paid flight ticket only (Since there are flight tickets from just $50 so even if you visa is rejected you do not lose much) accepted by the Schengen consulate. So it does not make sense to use a reservation ticket for Schengen visa.

But if you live in other locations, you can use a flight itinerary or a fully paid flight ticket that you will probably take if your visa is approved.

Where to get a flight and hotel reservations for visa application purposes?

You can use services online that would provide you a flight & hotel reservations online. We recommend using travelvisabookings.com as they provide you a flight itinerary along with hotel bookings for your visa application. But we suggest you book the initial 4 days of your trip on your own,
maybe a refundable hotel and then for the remaining days use their services.

They currently do not provide ticket reservation for visa application since the consulate is more strict about it so a flight itinerary or a fully paid flight ticket is the way to go.

Can flight tickets be booked without a visa?

Yes, flight tickets can be booked without a visa. However, you may need to obtain a visa if you are travelling to certain countries that require a visa for entry. It is important to note that different countries have different visa requirements, so it is advisable to check the individual country pages on the Australian government website for more information.

Do embassies verify the flight itinerary ticket with the airlines?

The visa officers at the embassies are a fickle bunch, if they have less visa applications to work on that day, they may verify your flight ticket, so it is best to play it safe and use a verifiable flight ticket or submit a flight itinerary and mention the same in the cover letter.

We also do not recommend using dummy tickets for visa instead use flight itinerary and mention the same in your cover letter.