There are four honest ways to get a dummy ticket for a visa file: ask a travel agent, use an airline's fare hold, buy a fully refundable ticket, or order from an online reservation service such as Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV), which charges ₹699 per passenger and typically delivers 10–20 minutes after payment. Avoid generated PDFs, which have no booking behind them.
- A travel agent, an airline hold and an online service all produce an unpaid reservation with a PNR; a refundable ticket is the only route that produces a paid e-ticket.
- An airline hold or a refundable ticket bought online is ready as soon as you finish the booking; an online service typically takes 10–20 minutes after payment.
- The airline sets how long an unpaid reservation stays live, whichever route you use.
- Where a rule asks for a paid ticket, as New Zealand's visa waiver does, only a paid ticket meets it.
- A generated PDF has no booking behind it and finds nothing when the reference is checked.
On this page
There are four honest answers to how to get a dummy ticket for a visa file: through a travel agent, with an airline's own fare hold, by buying a fully refundable ticket, or from an online reservation service such as Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV). Each of the four should leave you with a booking reference (PNR) that you can check on the airline's website before you submit your file. A fifth route, a generated PDF, is on this page only as a warning.
Check one thing before you choose: whether your visa needs a flight document at all. Schengen checklists, such as the German missions' checklist in India, ask for a flight reservation. For UK, US, Canadian and Australian visitor visas a flight booking is generally not a required document, so you can leave it out. And a few rules ask for a paid ticket, which only the refundable-ticket route meets. If the term itself is new to you, start with what a dummy ticket is.
How to get a dummy ticket: the four routes compared
The routes differ in what you end up holding, what you pay, how quickly you have it and what can go wrong.
| Route | What you end up with | Cost | Time to get it | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel agent | An unpaid reservation made in the agent's reservation system | Set by the agent; there is no standard rate | Depends on the agent's working hours | The code on your printout may be the agent's own, which may not open on the airline website |
| Airline fare hold | An unpaid reservation held by the airline itself | Set by the airline; check its own page for the current fee | As soon as you finish the booking, where the airline offers a hold online | Not every airline or fare offers one, and the hold is short, typically one to three days |
| Fully refundable ticket | A paid ticket with an e-ticket number | The full fare, paid up front | As soon as payment goes through | Your money is tied up until the refund arrives, and refund terms depend on the fare rules |
| Online reservation service | An unpaid reservation with a PNR, sent as a PDF | ₹699 per passenger at DTV, about US$8.50 outside India | Typically 10–20 minutes after payment is confirmed, or on a date you choose | The airline sets how long the hold lasts; it cannot be used to board |
| Generated PDF (avoid) | A document with no booking behind it | Free or cheap | Minutes | The reference finds nothing when checked, so it is a false document in your file |
Two questions decide which row fits you: what your checklist's wording asks for, and on what date the booking needs to be live. Every unpaid reservation, from an agent, an airline or a service, is held only until the airline's ticketing time limit, which the airline sets when the booking is made. How long a reservation stays live explains that limit.
Route 1: ask a travel agent
A travel agent with access to a reservation system can book your flights without issuing a ticket and send you the itinerary. The booking exists as a PNR in the agent's system from the moment it is saved.
- Give the agent each passenger's name as in the passport, the route and the dates.
- Ask for a reservation only, not a ticket, and ask what the fee covers if the booking lapses before your appointment.
- Ask which reference will open the booking on the airline's own website, then check it there with the surname before you submit it.
The third step matters most. When an agent's system and the airline's system are separate, each can give the same booking its own record locator, and only the airline's code works on the airline website. Checking a PNR shows what to enter and where.
Online travel portals are a different case, because what they sell before payment varies. Whether a portal's product gives you a booking you can look up on the airline website is covered in getting a dummy ticket from a travel portal.
Route 2: use an airline fare hold
Some airlines let you hold a booking without paying the full fare, typically for one to three days and sometimes for a fee. The PNR is the airline's own from the start, so there is no second code to worry about.
- On the airline's website, search your route and dates and look for a hold or pay-later option at checkout.
- Enter names exactly as in the passport and pay the hold fee if there is one.
- Save the confirmation and note the payment deadline. If you do not pay by then, the airline can cancel the booking.
The risk is timing. A hold of a day or two has to be booked close to your appointment, and airlines change which fares and routes they offer it on, and at what fee. Check the airline's own page on the day you book. 24, 48 and 72 hour flight holds looks at the airline hold products in more depth.
US regulation 14 CFR 259.5(b)(4) requires airlines selling flights in the United States to let a reservation made a week or more before departure be "held at the quoted fare without payment, or cancelled without penalty, for at least twenty-four hours". The airline chooses which of the two it offers, so you may have to pay first and cancel later. Either way the window is about a day, far shorter than most visa waits.
Route 3: buy a fully refundable ticket
A fully refundable ticket is a paid ticket with its own 13-digit e-ticket number. Use this route when a rule asks for a paid ticket, because a reservation cannot meet that wording.
Two examples. Immigration New Zealand tells visa-waiver travellers: "Your onward tickets must be paid for before your travel." The US Visa Waiver Program requires visitors to arrive with a "round trip ticket", and the regulation's definition does not mention unpaid reservations. Indian passport holders are in neither scheme and apply for a visa for both countries, but readers travelling on other passports should take this route there.
- Buy a fare marked fully refundable, directly from the airline if you can.
- Read the fare rules for any cancellation fee and how the refund is paid.
- Keep the e-ticket receipt with your file, and cancel within the fare rules if you do not travel.
The cost is the full fare, paid before you know the visa outcome. Dummy ticket vs refundable ticket works through the cost and the risk side by side.
Route 4: order from an online reservation service
An online reservation service makes the booking in the airline's reservation system for you and sends the itinerary as a PDF. This is what DTV does. It fits checklists that ask for a flight reservation or itinerary, such as Schengen checklists, where the EU Visa Code lists a "reservation of or return or round ticket" among the documents a consulate may ask for. Our flight reservation for visa page covers that wording for other destinations.
Enter the passenger and trip details
Each name exactly as in the passport, date of birth, nationality, route, travel dates, and an email address or WhatsApp number. No passport scan and no account. Up to 9 passengers fit on one itinerary.
Choose when to receive it
The form asks "When do you want to receive it?", and the reservation is issued on that date. We advise the day before you need it.
Pay
₹699 per passenger, the same for one-way or return. In India, pay by UPI QR code and send the payment screenshot on WhatsApp. Elsewhere, pay by PayPal, debit card or credit card.
Receive the PDF and check it
It arrives by email or WhatsApp, typically 10–20 minutes after payment is confirmed; the terms say delays can happen at weekends, on holidays and in busy periods. Look the PNR up on the airline's website before you submit it.
The risk is the one every unpaid reservation carries: the airline sets how long it stays live, and DTV does not publish a fixed validity period. Orders are final once the reservation has been issued, so check names and dates before you pay. DTV is not affiliated with any embassy, consulate, visa application centre or airline. How it works goes through the order in more detail.
Want to try the online route?
Enter the passenger details and the date you need it. ₹699 per passenger, typically delivered 10–20 minutes after payment is confirmed.
The route to avoid: a generated PDF
A free or cheap "generator" lays out a page to look like an itinerary and prints a reference on it. No reservation exists behind that reference, so it finds nothing on the airline's website. In a visa file that is a false document, not a shortcut.
It costs nothing to make and can cost you the application if anyone checks the reference. Why a generated PDF fails explains what goes wrong, and whether a dummy ticket is legal covers where the line sits between a reservation and a false document.
Which route fits your visa appointment
Choose by your checklist's wording first, then by your appointment date.
- The checklist asks for a flight reservation or itinerary (for example the German and Swiss Schengen checklists in India): an agent, an airline hold or an online service all match the wording. Pick the one that can be live on your appointment day.
- A flight booking is optional (UK, US, Canadian and Australian visitor visas): you can leave it out. If you want dates in the file, any of the reservation routes works. The UK visa flight ticket question shows how the Home Office treats flight bookings.
- The rule asks for a paid or round trip ticket (New Zealand visa waiver, US Visa Waiver Program): only route 3 meets it.
- Your appointment is tomorrow: an airline hold or an online service, received the same day, then checked on the airline website.
- Read your checklist's wording: reservation, itinerary and paid ticket are not the same thing.
- Get the reference that opens on the airline's own website, not only an agent's code.
- Time the booking to be live on the day you need it, not weeks ahead.
- Check the PNR yourself before you submit the file, whichever route you used.
- Keep the confirmation or receipt in case your dates change.
Frequently asked questions
What details do I need to order a dummy ticket online?
Each passenger's name exactly as in the passport, date of birth and nationality, plus your route, travel dates and an email address or WhatsApp number. Dummy Tickets Visa needs no passport scan and no account, and one order can cover up to 9 passengers on a single itinerary. Check the spelling of every name before you pay, because the PDF will match what you type.
Can I get a dummy ticket for free?
Only for a short time. Airlines selling flights in the United States must offer either a 24-hour hold without payment or 24-hour free cancellation on bookings made a week or more ahead. Some airlines sell longer holds for a fee. A free generated PDF is not a reservation at all. Free dummy ticket options compares what is really free.
How early should I get a dummy ticket before my appointment?
Receive it one day before the date you need it: the VFS appointment, the portal upload or the interview. An unpaid reservation can be cancelled by the airline once its time limit passes, so ordering weeks ahead risks it lapsing first. The Dummy Tickets Visa booking form asks when you want to receive it and issues the reservation on that date.
Can one dummy ticket cover my whole family?
Yes. One Dummy Tickets Visa order can hold up to 9 passengers on the same itinerary, at ₹699 per passenger. Enter each name exactly as in that person's passport, including children. If family members travel on different dates or routes, they need separate itineraries. Family and group bookings explains how to fill in the form.
What if my appointment date changes after I order?
Message Dummy Tickets Visa on WhatsApp with your order ID and you will be told the quickest way to get a reservation for the new dates. Do not assume a change is free: orders are final once the reservation has been issued. With any other route, ask the agent or airline about their own change rules before you book.
Will a dummy ticket make my visa approval certain?
No. No route, including ours, can promise a visa outcome, because the officer weighs the whole file: funds, ties to home, purpose of travel and your travel history. What a reservation can do is put a checkable travel plan in the file instead of a blank space or a document that fails when someone looks it up.
- EUR-Lex: EU Visa Code, consolidated text, Annex II ("reservation of or return or round ticket")
- 14 CFR 259.5(b)(4): 24-hour hold or free cancellation rule (Cornell Law School LII)
- Immigration New Zealand: visa waiver visitor visa
- German Missions in India: checklist for a Schengen visa, visit to family and friends
- 8 CFR 217.2: Visa Waiver Program round trip ticket (Cornell Law School LII)
This guide is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Visa rules change and consulates apply them differently, so confirm the current requirements with the embassy, consulate or official visa application centre before you apply.