How to get a dummy ticket for a visa, step by step

Step 1: Read your checklist first

Start with the official checklist for your country and visa type, from the embassy or from the VFS Global, BLS International or GVCW page for that country. Look for the exact words: “flight reservation”, “itinerary”, “booking”, “ticket”. Most Schengen, China, Japan, Georgia and Cyprus checklists ask for a reservation or itinerary. Ireland says flight bookings are not required, GOV.UK calls them “less useful as evidence”, and the US tells applicants not to buy tickets before a visa.

Two checks save money. First, whether you need a flight document at all. Second, whether your checklist is one of the rare ones that asks for payment, such as Latvia’s “Confirmed tickets with proof of payment”.

Step 2: Decide your route and dates

Choose the trip you actually intend to take: the airport you will fly from, where you will land, where you will leave from and the dates. If you fly into one city and out of another (Delhi to Paris, then Rome back to Delhi, for example), say so; an open-jaw route is normal. For a Schengen trip, apply to the country where you will spend the most nights, and shape the route around that.

Your dates will appear on the form, the cover letter, the hotel bookings and the insurance certificate, so fix them now. They also shape the visa you get. Norway, for one, states that “The visa will be issued according to the dates on the flight bookings”.

Step 3: Time the order to your appointment

This is the step most people get wrong. A held reservation is temporary and will not last until your trip, and the most common complaint in this market is a reservation that lapsed before the file was even handed in. The travel date on the itinerary is not the date the hold expires.

Unpaid holds are set by the airline, not by us, they vary from airline to airline, and they can be dropped without warning. Place the order for your submission day itself (the date of your VFS, BLS or embassy appointment), or the evening before if you must. Check the names and dates the moment the PDF arrives, then hand the file in promptly.

Why no hold covers the whole decision

Processing times are longer than any reservation hold. Schengen consulates decide in 15 calendar days as standard, extendable to 45. Canada’s visitor visa estimate for India was 29 days in September 2026. A booking held that long without payment would, in practice, be a ticket.

What you control is that the reservation is genuine, matches your plan and is issued close to the day you hand in the file. That is why you order on the submission day and submit promptly. If your appointment moves, tell the desk straight away, because a hold will not wait for a later date.

Step 4: Have these details ready, then order

Gather these before you start, then place the order in the order window on this site and pay there by UPI; the exact amount confirms your payment on its own. Questions can go to the desk on WhatsApp first. The PDF arrives by email and on WhatsApp.

• Every traveller’s name exactly as printed in the passport, given name and surname. No passport number or scan is needed.
• Departure city and destination, and the return city if it is different.
• Outbound and return dates, or every leg of a multi-city trip.
• The number of travellers, including children.
• A preferred airline, if your route or checklist suggests one (optional).
• Hotel cities and nights, if you are also ordering a hotel booking.
• Your appointment date, so the desk can issue the reservation for the day you submit.
• An email address and a WhatsApp number you actually check.

Step 5: Check the details as soon as it arrives

As soon as the PDF arrives, compare every traveller’s given name and surname with the passport, letter by letter, and read the route, flights and dates against your application form. If anything is wrong, message the desk straight away with your order reference; name errors are easiest to fix early.

Then submit promptly. The airline can release the hold at any time, so keep the gap between delivery and submission as short as you can. If your slot moves later than planned, tell the desk before you go.

Step 6: Submit the file in order

File the flight reservation with the hotel vouchers, right after your cover letter, so the officer can read the itinerary in one place. Make sure your insurance starts on or before the outbound date and ends on or after the return date. In the cover letter, call the flight a reservation, never a purchased ticket.

A reservation cannot be used to fly, so any journey on a granted visa needs a paid ticket within the dates the visa allows. The reservation fee does not count towards a fare, and if the visa is refused, you have spent a service fee rather than a full fare.

What it costs with us, and what to watch for elsewhere

A flight reservation is ₹708 incl. GST for the first traveller, and each additional traveller is ₹472 incl. GST. For an appointment a few days away, the extended hold is ₹1,770 incl. GST for one traveller. A hotel booking is ₹590 incl. GST per hotel, however many guests stay, with its dates checked against your flights.

Every price already includes GST, and the total shown is what you pay. The flight reservation is paid by UPI in the order window; an extended hold or a hotel booking is set up in that window too, then confirmed with the desk on WhatsApp, which sends you a payment link. Delivery: usually within 30 minutes during office hours, Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00 IST. Orders placed outside office hours are issued when the office next opens. If the desk cannot create the reservation as asked, you are refunded in full.

Prices for what should be the same product vary several-fold between sellers, but price is not the main risk. Watch for these instead:

• A cheaper tier called an “itinerary” or “standard” PDF with no booking behind it.
• Past-dated tickets, or tickets sold with an e-ticket number for a fare nobody paid.
• Promises that an unpaid hold will stay live for a fixed period. The airline sets the hold, not the seller.
• Claims that every embassy accepts their tickets. No seller can know that; only the consulate decides.
• No company name, address or GSTIN, and no written refund terms.
• Review badges you cannot click through to an independent platform.

Questions people ask