So, there are 4 ways to solve this puzzle and get flight bookings without paying for a visa.

1. Unpaid Aeroflot reservations

You can submit unpaid daily Aeroflot reservations - you will probably get a visa. To do this, during booking, at the last stage of payment, select the “Cash” option; the reservation will remain valid for a day.

2. Possibility of holding a ticket reservation

Alternatively, you can pay for the service of holding ticket reservations on the airline’s website for 2-3 days (or more, it’s different for everyone), it costs from 500 to 1000 rubles.

However, not all airlines provide such services.

3. Booking tickets through Agent.ru

A more accurate option is to book through agent.ru. This air ticket search engine provides the opportunity to hold a ticket reservation for free from 3 to 7 days with carriers such as Aeroflot, Lufthanza, Qatar Airwais, etc. Here, when booking, it is enough to go to the payment stage and stop there. At the bottom of the page it will be written how many days this reservation will be valid.

The most important thing is that this reservation will be displayed both on the airline’s website and on third-party sites such as CheckMyTrip.com (through which, most likely, consulate officials will check the reservation). To find our reservation on these sites, you need to use the reservation code (shown in red in the screenshot above).

The reservation I just created appeared on the CheckMyTrip website. For the Visa Application Centre, you can simply print this web page. If this page does not suit you, find your flight reservation on the airline’s website (in my case, it’s Aeroflot), and print it out. All manipulations will take you about 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, this method has one drawback - agent.ru may cancel a reservation at any time without giving a reason.

4. Buy a return air ticket for a visa

For people who find the above options the height of adventurism, we can recommend an almost win-win option: buy a return ticket and cancel it after receiving a visa, although there may be financial losses (read the refund terms carefully). You should only buy such tickets through airline websites, because... When returning funds through aggregators, problems may arise.

I’ll give you an example right away: at S7 airline, the fine for returning an international ticket purchased at the Economy-Flexible fare is 30 euros (at the time of writing this post, it’s 1,800 rubles). Fees are not refundable at all! So decide for yourself.

5. Still, buy a regular air ticket to apply for a visa.

If you are sure that you will definitely get a visa, pay for normal tickets and apply for a visa with them.

This especially makes sense if you have found very cheap air tickets to Europe, for example from our low-cost airline Pobeda. In this case, it makes sense to pay for the tickets immediately, otherwise they will simply disappear while you are applying for a Schengen visa. You can use the calendar low prices to see if there are really low prices on plane tickets available for your dates.

Purchasing air tickets online usually involves paying for your reservation at the time of order. This option is perfect for travelers who are firmly convinced of the possibility of making a trip. But what if it is impossible to predict the exact date and time of the flight? We will tell you how to book plane tickets without paying online using ticket services and airline websites.

In what cases may it be necessary to book tickets without payment?

Most often, booking air tickets online without payment is required when submitting documents to Visa Center. Most countries that are members of the Schengen Agreement make the presentation of air tickets one of the mandatory conditions for obtaining a visa. At the same time, the consulates reserve the right to refuse a Russian citizen a visa even if all documents are filled out correctly and provided in full.

The reasons for refusal may be different, but in any case the applicant risks losing a lot of money spent on purchasing air tickets. Thus, booking plane tickets without payment is a fairly reliable insurance in case of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a visa.

Practice shows that consulates never contact airlines to confirm bookings. Therefore, you just need to present printouts of air tickets issued for the required dates. Some applicants successfully obtain visas even using old printouts with edited dates. Of course, we do not advise you to do this: falsifying documents is a crime. It is much wiser to book tickets without payment using special services or airline websites.

In addition, ordering tickets without payment can be useful if you don’t have any bank card with sufficient amount in the account.

Can I book and print air tickets online without paying on the airline's website?

The problem is that most airlines do not allow you to book a ticket without making a payment. For example, it is impossible to book air tickets online without paying for an Aeroflot flight using the carrier’s official website: you simply will not receive the coveted printout.

The list of airlines that provide the opportunity to purchase tickets without payment is quite modest:

• German Lufthansa can hold your reservation for up to 2 days.
• The American company United Airlines provides deferred payment for up to 7 days.
• The airline with the self-explanatory name Korean Air is particularly generous: you can defer payment for your order for 10 days.
• Air France and some other European companies offer a paid deferred payment service for up to two days.

Despite the fact that the option of booking a ticket through an airline seems to be the most logical and safe, it imposes certain restrictions.

The main disadvantage is that the resulting printout will contain an indication that the ticket has been booked, but not paid for. For some consulates, this note will be another reason to doubt the applicant’s intentions. This problem can be solved using special systems that search for tickets in airline databases.

How to get a paper printout of a ticket ordered on the airline’s website

The list of services that allow you to print a paper version of your travel document has remained unchanged for several years:

In order to receive a paper printout, you must enter the passenger's last name and the 6-digit number sent by the airline when issuing the ticket on one of these sites. The sites work with different databases, one of which will definitely contain information about your booking.

What else do you need to know about booking tickets through airline websites?

Deferred payment in many airlines is paid service, the cost of which can reach several tens of euros. For example, Air France offers a “Thinking Time” service for up to 15 euros. In other cases, you will still be allowed to reserve a ticket for a while, but if you refuse or pay late, a fine may be charged to your card.

Thus, booking tickets without making payment through airline websites usually leads to additional financial costs. Travelers booking tickets for a visa should carefully study the airline's rules so as not to encounter unexpected costs.

How to book air tickets online on aggregator sites without paying

Another way to book air tickets is to use ticket aggregators. Is it possible to book a plane ticket without paying through one of these services? Just as in the case of airline websites, not every aggregator provides the service of issuing travel documents without payment.

However, there are at least two proven options, one of which is especially convenient for Russian-speaking users. In the event that the desired airline does not allow you to print a ticket without paying the full amount of the order, the method using aggregators remains the only booking option.

Book tickets on agent.ru

Among Russian residents, the most popular service for booking tickets without payment is agent.ru. This site is not just an aggregator, but a full-fledged booking system that allows you to issue tickets without visiting airline websites.

Agent.ru provides the opportunity to defer payment for tickets for flights of a fairly large number of air carriers. As a rule, the payment period ranges from 12 to 72 hours, but in the case of individual companies it can be up to 10 days.

Let's figure out how to book air tickets online without paying through Agent.ru.

In order to book plane tickets without paying, you need to register on the agent.ru website and follow a few simple steps:

Step 1. Select the desired destination and departure date, as well as the number of passengers.

Step 2. In the window with a list of options, select the carrier that provides the most long term reservations. Unfortunately, agent.ru does not display this information, so you can only rely on the company name.

The carriers offering the longest bookings are:

• Emirates;
• Korean Air;
• Hong Kong Airlines;
• Air Europa (S.A.U.);
• United Airlines.

Step 3. Enter real information about each passenger and your E-mail - it may come in handy if you forget your order number. If you are offered insurance, refuse this service.

Step 4. On the payment page, copy the 6-digit reservation code. After this, you can close the site without making payment.

Step 5. Visit checkmytrip.com. Enter the code and last name of the customer. Print out the received ticket form.

The agent.ru website will automatically cancel the reservation after the period specified in the letter that will be sent to your E-mail when making an order. There are no penalties for canceling an order without payment. However, if you wish, you can pay for the tickets after receiving your visa if the reservation is still valid.

It should be noted that tariffs for issuing and returning tickets through agent.ru may differ significantly from the offers of air carriers, both up and down.

Booking a ticket through the website gomosafer.com

The English-language resource gomosafer.com also allows you to book tickets without paying. The process of making an order is almost identical to the agent.ru website: you need to register on the site, fill out information about the departure date and passengers and, having received the booking code, use the search on one of the four sites listed just above: checkmytrip, viewtrip, virtuallythere or myairlines. The result will be a printout of the ticket with the status “Confirmed”.

Since the functionality of the gomosafer website is similar to the Agent.ru service, and the database with carrier offers is not adapted for Russia, we recommend using it only in cases of extreme necessity, when other options do not give the desired result.

What else you need to know about booking tickets for a visa

The practice of obtaining visas for our compatriots shows that concerns about the timing of booking air tickets are unfounded. It is enough to present a printout of your confirmed reservation status to the visa center to successfully go through the bureaucratic visa approval process. Just like with a hotel reservation, which can be canceled without any financial loss, having an airline ticket is a mere formality.

Consular employees do not check the relevance of the reservation in the database, so a printout made through the checkmytrip website or similar services will be sufficient grounds for obtaining a visa.

Conclusion

IN this review We tried to tell you in detail how to book air tickets online without making payment using various methods. The choice of a specific option depends on your future plans.

In the event that the desired airline provides a deferred payment that covers the visa processing time, or you simply want to buy a ticket, but do not have a bank card with a sufficient amount at hand, we recommend using the airlines’ websites. In this case you will get the maximum profitable terms purchase and return of tickets. However, it is worth remembering possible penalties in case of refusal to pay.

If you need tickets solely to obtain a visa, and you plan to place the order later, we recommend using aggregator websites: the ordering process in this case will take a minimum of time.

There are 197 countries in the world and only 106 of them have an agreement with Russia on a visa-free regime. In other countries, you must obtain permission to enter, which is called a visa. To obtain this document, you need to contact the diplomatic mission of the selected country or visa center with an application and the established package of documents. All states do not like illegal migrants and, when issuing a visa, want to make sure that the foreigner leaves the country in a timely manner. To confirm the presence of such an intention, ticket reservations for a visa are used.

How to book a flight ticket

Air transport is the fastest way to travel around the world and therefore the most popular. Depending on your desires, you can prefer comfort or a low price for a flight. Therefore, travelers most often use plane ticket booking to obtain.

Consular officials interpret the availability of round-trip airline tickets as confirmation of the foreigner’s intention to visit their country exactly within the specified time frame and as confirmation of the desire to return home. Therefore, it is necessary to book air tickets for your visa in order to apply for entry permission at the embassy or consulate.

Tickets are quite expensive. However, their presence does not mean that a travel visa will certainly be issued. In addition, many people want to have a visa, for example, to, not for travel on specific dates, but as a guarantee of the opportunity to travel when the time and desire arises for this. In this case, there is no point in spending money on paying for a ticket. Let's talk about how to get around this obstacle.

The solution to the problem in this case is to book plane tickets without paying. Confirmation for diplomatic missions is the reservation, and not its payment, and you need to take advantage of this.

The rules of each specific company are different, but many of the carriers allow you to pay booked ticket in a few days. Sometimes this grace period is quite long.

It is these deferments that you need to take advantage of when applying for electronic air ticket for the visa.

When choosing a specific airline, read the cancellation policy: sometimes there are penalties for this transaction. Please note that the cost of the ticket will be blocked on your card when making a reservation, and you will have to pay a fine for refusing it in any case. The amount depends on the specific company; for example, canceling a reservation will cost you 2,350 rubles.

In addition, there are ticket booking agencies. Some of them allow you to book a ticket without paying even when the carrier company itself does not offer such a service.

The OneTwoTrip.com service allows you to return tickets for 9% of their cost, even if this is not possible according to the rules of the carrier company. There are also non-flight insurances. Look for options.

Purchasing a ticket for a low-cost airline

Booking plane tickets using the method described above is not the only option to confirm your intentions to fly into and leave the country. In particular, you can purchase a ticket for a low-cost airline.

Aviation companies seeking to minimize the cost of flights by reducing passenger comfort - low-cost airlines - are now quite common. Sometimes the cost of a ticket for their services is so low that you can sacrifice it to obtain the visa you are interested in.

In this case, you should purchase a ticket for a flight of such a company via the Internet, and they all sell their tickets this way. This travel document you will attach to the package of documents submitted to the consular service of the country you are interested in.

Confirmation of intentions to travel by other means of transport

Diplomatic mission officers who issue visas are actually of little interest in what type of transport you are going to travel with. They are interested in evidence that the trip will take place, and at the end of it the foreigner will leave the country.

Accordingly, you can get a reservation or buy a ticket for any other type of transport: train, bus, ship. The type of transport is not important, what is important is the availability of documentary evidence that you attach to the submitted package of documents.

The situation with the trip is more complicated by car. You will have to present documents to own the car or rent it, and you may need to create a kind of route sheet indicating the points and time parameters of the trip.

Obtaining a visa without booking tickets

Not all countries require documentary evidence of travel and departure intent.

In order not to waste your time and energy, get it from the consular service of your chosen country full list necessary documents.

If tickets or reservations are not listed there, do not process them. However, you need to be prepared for the fact that sometimes consular employees, after receiving a visa application, put forward additional requirements. It is possible that they will just require tickets.

Conclusion

As we have seen, there are quite a lot of methods for confirming your intentions. Usually you can use any of them. You just have to take into account that some states have special requirements for arriving in their country, for example, you must fly or sail by sea. The Schengen countries are loyal to any type of transport; other countries may have their own approach. Please clarify this issue with the consulate before collecting documents.

How to book flights without paying for a visa online: Video

A common question is: is it possible to book a ticket now and pay later? We answer - it is possible. But it is important to know a few subtleties that will help you find such tickets and receive such a service for free.

Usually, there are two reasons for booking air tickets without payment:

• You don’t have a bank card at hand or you don’t have enough funds, but you want to secure a ticket at a low price.
• Air tickets are needed to apply for a visa, but there is no absolute certainty that the consulate will approve the application.

In these cases, there are two ways to book tickets without paying.

1. Booking on the airline website

Many airlines are sympathetic to the need for deferred payment when booking. For example, the largest European carrier Lufthansa provides two days to pay for your reservation. United Americans are ready to hold your reservation for a whole week, and Korean Air for up to ten days! It is important to remember that the company can unilaterally reduce the time required to pay for the reservation. They will immediately notify you of this by email or phone, so provide real information when booking. Be sure to study all the terms of deferred payment. Some airlines reserve the right to charge small fines if you fail to pay for your reservation on time.

2. Booking on the website of ticket agencies

This option is the most common, because the agency can provide a deferred payment service for tickets for those airlines that do not themselves have such an opportunity. The agent.ru service is popular among experienced travelers, where you can book tickets without payment for a period of 12 to 72 hours. The time directly depends on the departure date. When booking tickets for the coming days, you should not hope that you will be given more than a day to pay. But when searching several months before departure, you can easily find booking options for several days.

Advice: If you need a paper copy to apply for a visa, booking verification services will help.

Planning a trip is a responsible task. You need to think through everything to the smallest detail so as not to run into various troubles. Booking tickets is one of the stages of this planning. Many people are interested in whether it is possible to book air tickets and pay for them later. After all, such documents are often needed to obtain a visa, but there is no guarantee that it will be issued. It may be necessary to mark the journey.

Booking on the airline website

This is quite easy to do. You need to go to the official website of the air carrier, select the required item from the menu, and book a plane ticket without payment. It can be done later. Many airlines make concessions to their customers. They offer to make a reservation and pay for it either on the website or directly at the airport.

An example of making a reservation for Turkish Airlines

Important! Each air carrier has specific reservation validity periods.

So, the less time left before departure, the shorter the validity period of the reservation. Tourists need to remember that the airline has the right to unilaterally terminate the reservation. In this case, the passenger will be notified via email or contact phone number. That is why when booking you must provide real information about yourself. It will not be superfluous to first study the terms of deferred payment that are established by the carrier. Some airlines charge fines and penalties if a customer refuses to pay for booked tickets.

Reservation validity periods for different air operators

Booking on the website of ticket agencies

This method is also considered common among tourists. It allows you to book a plane ticket without paying in companies that do not provide such a service. The cost of booking depends on the agency's pricing policy.

Search for an air ticket on agent.ru

Important! It is worth considering that the client will be given a little time to pay for the reservation. As a rule, less than a day. Therefore, this option is not suitable for booking air tickets for visa purposes.

Some agencies offer to pay for your reservation within 72 hours. This period directly depends on the departure date. For example, if the trip is planned in a few months.

How to book a ticket? To do this you need to perform a few simple steps:

After this, the client will have a six-digit code that can be used when paying for the reservation or to print a document.

How to print an air ticket without paying

For this you will need a PNR code. It consists of six digits. It is entered in a special field of the selected Internet service. After the information about the air ticket is displayed on the screen, you must click on the “Print” button. On the websites of some companies it may be called differently. The air ticket is printed. Opposite it will be the status “Confirmed”.

Printing a ticket without payment

In some cases, it is possible to send a document by email. It can be printed in convenient location. An electronic ticket is not suitable for processing any documents.

I can't find my reservation, what should I do?

It is worth considering that to book air tickets you register through certain global distribution systems. A few of them: Saber, Amadeus, Galileo. They are used to check booking documents. If a reservation is not identified on one service, it can be checked on another.

Note. In some services, to determine a reservation you need to enter a five-digit air ticket code, rather than a six-digit one.

In addition to these services, the client can go to the website of the airline with which the ticket was booked. On its pages you can find information about the status of your reservation by air ticket number. If you can’t access the air carrier’s Internet resource, you can call the hotline and ask questions. It happens that a reservation is canceled by the company before the deadline. Therefore, before booking a document, it is better to find out all the rules of the airline.

Booking air tickets for a visa

To obtain the coveted visa, the consulate must provide confirmation of booking air tickets in both directions. This is not always convenient. And in the absence of such confirmation, a visa may be refused.

Important! Consular officials may require that your airfare reservation be maintained throughout the document review process.

In this case, the tourist will have to buy a ticket and then return it back. If you do this in short time, you can get by with minimal losses. In addition, you can book tickets for a visa without paying for a day. To do this, you need to choose one of the payment methods:

• via bank transfer;
• choose payment in the office.

This time should be enough to print the documents and submit them to the consulate. In some cases, the validity of the reservation can reach 10 days. This time will definitely be enough for the consulate staff to check all the documents. It is worth considering that a long reservation is not guaranteed by any of the air carriers. They have the right to cancel it unilaterally if there are people willing to purchase a ticket for the flight. Some airlines offer a paid booking service. This option will be the most reliable in the case of processing documents for traveling abroad. Such a reservation cannot be noted without the client’s consent.

Watch the video on how to book flights without paying for a visa