One-Way Airline Ticket

[Fatbob]

I am a US citizen flying from Ft Lauderdale (FLL) to George Town (GGT). I purchased a one-way air ticket (FFL to GGT) because I will be joining the crew of an American flagged motor yacht in George Town and returning to the United States via the vessel after about 10 days in the Bahamas. I have a letter signed by the vessel's captain and a copy of the vessel’s US certificate of documentation. Is this sufficient to both board the aircraft in FFL and clear immigration at GGT? I've heard the airlines can be a bit difficult when you have a one-way ticket. Does anyone have experience with this and can share advice?

Thanks,

Drew

[Jammer]

Hard to know for sure. You could run into problems at the airline counter or at immigration. It's the sort of thing that varies from agent to agent.



The usual approach is to buy a fully refundable return ticket as a precaution, then cancel it after you're on the island.

[tkeithlu]

Passport? US Customs and Border Protection is not big on strange travel documents, and does not have an appreciable sense of humor.

The one-way only ticket gets you tagged as a potential suicide bomber. Expect extra attention.

[dcondit]

Flown internationally hundreds of times on one way ticket. Only had an issue once in Iceland that just meant I went to secondary screening.

[leecea]

No personal experience but their website say they require a return ticket: https://www.immigration.gov.bs/entry-requirements/

[SVTatia]

I would call their Consulate and ask the question, I once asked for and got a letter from the Trinidad & Tobago consulate when I was in exact same situation.

[Rocinante33]

I have experience with this

Most times in the Bahamas they are only interested in knowing you intend to leave. A letter signed by a captain (even better if he has a credential of any kind; get a photocopy). Have his cellphone handy and make sure he is available an hour or two before you board and when you land. They have a lot of experience with this.

If you are super cautious, then the suggestion to buy a fully refundable ticket and pocket it is an easy precaution….assuming you have a credit card and don’t mind tying up $1000.00 or so on your limit. Make sure it is a one way, fully refundable, and have a story ready for the agent about vague return date.

US customs and border has no issue with you when you leave the US so you can ignore that.

I fly monthly at least on one way tickets. Nobody cares about that either.

Your issue is with your airline. Since they are responsible to bring you back to your point of origin (at their expense) if you have a one way ticket and you are refused entry to the Bahamas. THIS is why airline agents check your tickets and passport. You may have to prove to them that you will be accepted. That is why they get sticky when your passport is expiring within 90 days too.

If you fly American out of Miami or FLL or Silver from anywhere you will deal with agents who are very knowledgeable and this situation is routine for them. Leave enough time to have them call your captain. This involves getting a supervisor, and I can not emphasize enough the need at this point to be PATIENT and POLITE as they have discretion and you have no ‘rights’ until they give you a boarding pass. You will prevail, but you might need extra time, so go with that in mind.

If you are starting in a provincial city in the US it is completely the luck of the draw as to the agent. If you have the time, go the day before and visit the check in desk in person and you will discover any hitches at that point.

Good luck

[wholybee]

Only the airline can really answer that question. What you need is proof on onward travel. It could be a return ticket, a ticket on another airline, and could be to another destination or back to the US, or proof of onward travel on a yacht.

The airline is the primary gatekeeper of this. If immigration refuses you entry, then the airline is responsible for getting you back home. So, that is why the airline checks at the ticket counter or at boarding-to cover their own a$$.

Typically, proof of boarding a yacht is sufficient. I would expect that this is common enough in the Bahamas/Florida your average ticket agent would understand what you are doing without any hassle.

[lestersails]

I did exactly what you did and they didn't have any issue with it. I flew from FLL to Bimini on Silver Airlines to meet with my friend who had just bought hull #2 of the FP Lucia. The boat was in Bimini for the promotional photo shoot for the ad copy. We puttered around while they shot the photos of the lovely model family and we did some bonefish fishing. Then, when they were done with the boat, we sailed her back to Florida for her debut at the boat show. My recall is that I checked in and out when I arrived in Bimini, explaining to the Bahamas agent what we were doing and he was totally fine with it. And I had no documentation whatsoever of my return to the U.S. plans. My guess is that this happens a lot - he was so blasé about it.

[SailingHarmonie]

As a delivery captain, I do exactly this all the time. Never an issue. The closest thing to a problem is when a junior ticket clerk calls over the boss asking, ”Is this ok?” The boss always gets it.

[Cheyne]

Our friend just flew over to Staniel Cay to meet us to crew back to Fort Lauderdale. No one batted an eye at him. He never mentioned why he was going on a one way ticket and no one asked. Checking back in to the US on ROAM App didn't even get a agent. Reported our entry and it was approved in several minutes.

Cheyne

[HeywoodJ]

If you are flying out of the US, go to the airport, and if you need to, buy a one-way return ticket that is at least a week in the future. In the US airlines are required to provide a full refund for 24 hours regardless of any of the terms of the fair purchased for tickets purchased at least a week before the flight date. When you get to the country in question you have a return ticket to display, once you get through immigration you cancel the ticket for a full refund. Works as long as your overall travel time is less than 24 hours (although most airlines actually use midnight of the next day to ease their processing, so you may get slightly more than 24 hours).

Cancelling a Ticket Reservation or Purchase within 24 hours of Booking
For airline tickets that are purchased at least seven days before a flight’s scheduled departure date and time, airlines are required to either:

allow consumers to cancel their reservation and receive a full refund without a penalty for 24 hours, or

allow consumers to reserve a ticket (place it on hold) at the quoted prices without paying for the ticket for 24 hours.

Airlines are not required to offer both a hold and a refund option. Check your airline’s policy before purchasing a ticket. However, if an airline accepts a reservation without payment, it must allow the consumer to cancel the reservation within 24 hours without penalty. If an airline requires payment with a reservation, it must allow the consumer to cancel the payment and reservation within 24 hours and receive a full refund.

Although airlines must hold a reservation for 24 hours or provide a refund to consumers at their request within 24 hours of making a reservation, airlines are not required to make changes to a ticket free of charge (for example - change your ticket to a different date or correct a misspelled name on the reservation).

In some cases, instead of paying for a change fee and a potential difference between the original ticket price and the current ticket price, it may be cheaper to request a refund for the ticket and rebook. However, please keep in mind that ticket prices can change quickly.
https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...ection/refunds

[Fore and Aft]

FatBob since the invention of us all becoming online travel agents one way tickets are really common. We rarely fly return with the same airline and often use the rival airline to fly home. The only time we have ever been questioned was in Malaysia at the baggage check in before heading to Hong Kong. I think the check in lady was just ticking a box as we didn't even show her any paper work.
Cheers

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by wholybee

Only the airline can really answer that question. What you need is proof on onward travel. It could be a return ticket, a ticket on another airline, and could be to another destination or back to the US, or proof of onward travel on a yacht.

The airline is the primary gatekeeper of this. If immigration refuses you entry, then the airline is responsible for getting you back home. So, that is why the airline checks at the ticket counter or at boarding-to cover their own a$$.

Typically, proof of boarding a yacht is sufficient. I would expect that this is common enough in the Bahamas/Florida your average ticket agent would understand what you are doing without any hassle.

That’s precisely my experience with Qantas and their often stated policy. I returned to Australia monthly from Singapore with a Qantas return ticket booked in Singapore but when returning from OZ I was classified as having a one way ticket out and was constantly required to establish my credentials and onward travel arrangements, (this was 10 years of regular trips out of SG). An associate was not so lucky at Coolangatta with the same ticketing upset and had to buy a ticket BACK to Oz before she was allowed to board the flight to KL