A dummy ticket is a flight reservation made in an airline's reservation system and held without paying the fare. It has a PNR (booking reference) that can be looked up on the airline's website while the hold is live, and visa applicants use the PDF as their flight itinerary. It has no e-ticket number and cannot be used to board. Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV) charges ₹699 per passenger.
- A dummy ticket is a reservation, not a paid ticket, and it cannot be used to board a flight.
- It has a PNR that opens on the airline's Manage booking page while the hold is live, but no e-ticket number.
- The airline sets how long an unpaid reservation stays live; there is no industry-wide figure.
- The EU Visa Code names a flight reservation as a Schengen supporting document; for UK, US, Canadian and Australian visas a flight booking is generally optional.
- A few rules, such as New Zealand's visa waiver, ask for a paid ticket, which a reservation does not meet.
On this page
A dummy ticket is a flight reservation made in an airline's reservation system and held without paying the fare. It has a PNR, the booking reference every passenger gets, and you can look that reference up on the airline's website while the hold is live. Nobody has paid for the seat, so there is no ticket behind it and it cannot be used to board a flight.
Visa applicants use it as the flight itinerary in their file, but not every visa needs one. The EU Visa Code names a flight reservation among the documents a Schengen consulate may ask for. For the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia a flight booking is generally not a required document. A few rules, such as New Zealand's visa waiver, ask for a paid ticket, and a reservation cannot stand in for it. The sections below cover how a dummy ticket is made, what is printed on it, who asks for it and where it falls short.
Other names for a dummy ticket
Dummy ticket, dummy flight ticket, dummy air ticket, flight reservation, flight itinerary and blocked ticket all describe the same PDF: a reservation with a PNR and no ticket number. Which name you meet depends on who is talking. Consulate checklists say "flight reservation" or "flight itinerary". Travel agents and online sellers say "dummy ticket" or "blocked ticket". At an airport the same kind of booking comes up as proof of onward travel, which is a separate use with its own rules.
The word "dummy" refers to the missing payment, not to a fake booking. The reservation exists in the airline's system; only the ticketing step is missing. The technical line between a reservation, a ticket and an itinerary is drawn in flight reservation vs flight ticket.
How a dummy ticket is made
A dummy ticket is the first half of an ordinary airline booking. An agent enters the passenger names, route and dates in a reservation system and saves the booking. That creates a passenger name record (PNR), which holds the itinerary, the names and a ticketing element. On an unpaid booking the ticketing element is a deadline for payment, called the ticketing time limit. Issuing the ticket is a separate, later step that happens only when the fare is paid. A dummy ticket stops before that step.
The airline and the fare rules set the time limit when the booking is made. It can be a few hours or several days, and once it passes the airline can cancel the reservation. Because the airline sets it, no seller can promise that a reservation will last a fixed number of days. How long a dummy ticket stays valid explains the time limit and how to plan around it.
At Dummy Tickets Visa (DTV), our booking desk makes the booking for you. You enter each passenger's name exactly as in the passport, date of birth and nationality, plus the route and travel dates. You pay ₹699 per passenger, and the PDF arrives by email or WhatsApp, typically 10–20 minutes after the payment is confirmed. We choose the airline and flight. You can name a preferred airline in the notes box, but that is a request, not a promise.
A PDF made in a design tool or a free "generator" is a different thing. It has no record in any airline system, so the reference printed on it finds nothing when someone looks it up. Why a generated PDF fails explains the difference.
What is printed on a dummy ticket
The layout differs by airline, but a dummy ticket carries the same core details as the first page of any booking confirmation.
| Field | What appears |
|---|---|
| Passenger names | Surname and given names, split the same way as in the passport, one line per passenger |
| Flights | The airline's code and the flight number for each segment |
| Route, dates and times | Departure and arrival airports, with local dates and times |
| Booking reference (PNR) | Usually a six-character code of letters and numbers, used with the surname on the airline's "Manage booking" page |
| Status | A status for each flight. The code or word differs by airline. It shows the seat is held, not that the fare is paid. |
| E-ticket number | Not present. It is created only when a fare is paid and the ticket issued. |
The missing e-ticket number is the clearest difference from a paid booking. A ticketed booking carries a 13-digit e-ticket number that starts with the airline's three-digit code. A reservation has a booking reference and no e-ticket number, because no fare has been paid. Our sample dummy ticket page shows the layout before you order.
One detail is worth checking on any reservation, whoever made it. When a booking is made through an agent's system, the agent's code and the airline's own code for the same booking can differ, and only the airline's code opens the booking on the airline website. Verifying your PNR shows how to check it with the reference and the passenger's surname.
What is a dummy ticket used for?
A dummy ticket is used mainly as the flight itinerary in a visa application. Many consulates want to see a route and dates that match the rest of the file, and a reservation gives them that without you paying for a flight before you know you have a visa. How the wording differs from one checklist to the next is covered on our flight reservation for visa page.
Schengen visa files
The EU Visa Code lists a "reservation of or return or round ticket" among the supporting documents a consulate may ask for to judge whether you will leave before the visa expires. Germany's missions in India put "Flight reservation" on their checklist for visits to family and friends and add: "A booked flight ticket does not result in a preferred processing of the application."
Visas where a flight booking is optional
For the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia a flight booking is generally not a required document. The Home Office guide lists "flight bookings (unless transiting)" among documents that are "less useful as evidence". Some applicants still include an itinerary so the dates line up with their leave letter and hotel booking. Whether a UK visa needs a flight ticket covers that choice.
Rules that ask for a paid ticket
Immigration New Zealand tells visa-waiver travellers: "Your onward tickets must be paid for before your travel." A held reservation does not meet that wording, whoever makes it. A paid ticket does, and a refundable fare limits the cost if plans change. Indian passport holders are not in New Zealand's visa-waiver group and apply for a visitor visa instead.
Proof of onward travel
The second use is at the airport or the border, when an airline agent or an immigration officer asks to see that you will leave the country. The airline decides what it accepts at check-in and the officer decides on arrival. The seller of the reservation decides neither. Proof of onward travel explains how those checks work.
What a dummy ticket cannot do
A dummy ticket cannot get you onto a flight. Check-in issues a boarding pass against a ticket, and a reservation has none. For the trip you actually take, you buy a ticket once the visa is issued. Can I travel with a dummy ticket describes what happens if you try.
It cannot promise a visa. The reservation is one document among many: the officer also reads your bank statement, leave letter or NOC, cover letter, hotel booking and travel insurance. We cannot tell you how a particular officer will read your file. What a reservation does is show a concrete travel plan that can be checked.
It cannot stay live for as long as you like. The airline's time limit decides that, and DTV does not publish a fixed validity period. Our advice is to receive the reservation one day before you need it and to check the PNR on the airline website before you submit it. The booking form asks "When do you want to receive it?", and the reservation is issued on the date you choose.
Dummy ticket vs fake ticket vs paid ticket
The three can look alike on paper. What separates them is what sits behind the PDF.
| Document | Record in the airline's system | Opens on the airline website | E-ticket number | Can be used to board | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dummy ticket (reservation) | Yes | Yes, while the hold is live | No | No | A service fee, ₹699 per passenger at DTV |
| Fake or edited PDF | No | No | Sometimes an invented one | No | Free or cheap, and a false document |
| Paid ticket | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | The full fare |
A dummy ticket is cheap because the fare stays unpaid, and it is exactly what it says it is: a reservation. A fake PDF claims to be something it is not, which is a far bigger problem in a visa file than a reservation that has lapsed. The risks of a fake flight ticket are set out separately. When buying the real ticket up front makes more sense, for example under a rule that asks for a paid ticket, see dummy ticket vs real ticket.
Is a dummy ticket legal?
Making and holding a flight reservation is an ordinary booking, and the EU Visa Code itself names a reservation as a supporting document. Trouble starts with dishonesty: an edited PDF, an invented PNR, or telling an officer that a reservation is a paid ticket. If anyone asks, say it is a reservation. This is general information, not legal advice; is a dummy ticket legal gives the fuller answer with its sources.
Checklist before a dummy ticket goes in your file
- Your checklist asks for a flight reservation or itinerary, not a paid ticket, or lists it as optional.
- Every name matches the passport letter for letter, with surname and given names split the same way.
- The route and dates match your visa form, cover letter and hotel booking.
- The PNR opens on the airline's own website with the booking reference and surname.
- You set the receiving date to the day before you need it, not weeks ahead.
- You plan to buy a real ticket for the flight you actually take.
Need a flight reservation for your visa file?
A reservation with a PNR you can check on the airline website. ₹699 per passenger, typically delivered 10–20 minutes after payment, or on the date you choose.
Frequently asked questions
Is a dummy ticket the same as a flight itinerary?
In a visa file, yes. Consulate checklists call the document a flight reservation or flight itinerary, and sellers call it a dummy ticket. It is the same PDF: a reservation with a PNR, a route and dates, and no ticket number. Read your own checklist's wording, because a few destinations ask for a paid ticket instead. Flight reservation for visa explains the wording.
How long does a dummy ticket stay valid?
As long as the airline's ticketing time limit allows. The airline and the fare rules set it when the booking is made, and it can be hours or several days. Dummy Tickets Visa does not publish a fixed validity period. Receive the reservation one day before you need it and check the PNR first. Dummy ticket validity has the detail.
Can an embassy check my dummy ticket?
Anyone with the booking reference and the passenger's surname can look the reservation up on the airline's website while it is live, and that includes consulate staff. We cannot tell you whether a particular consulate checks, or when. What you can control is that the PNR opens before you submit. See do embassies verify dummy tickets.
Do I have to send a passport copy to get a dummy ticket?
Not to Dummy Tickets Visa. We ask for each passenger's name exactly as in the passport, date of birth and nationality, plus the route, travel dates and an email address or WhatsApp number. There is no passport scan and no account. Sharing passport details safely covers what any seller should and should not ask for.
How much does a dummy ticket cost?
At Dummy Tickets Visa it is ₹699 per passenger, the same price for a one-way or a return reservation, or about US$8.50 through PayPal or card outside India. A multi-city itinerary costs ₹699 per two flights, per passenger. The price list covers hotel bookings and combined orders.
What happens to a dummy ticket after my visa is approved?
Nothing you need to use. It is a reservation, not a ticket, so there is nothing to fly on. The airline can cancel an unpaid booking once its ticketing time limit passes. Book and pay for your actual flight separately, on dates that fit the visa you were given. After visa approval explains the next steps.
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.