[Football16]

I leave for HK from Vancouver at 0900 HK time on Friday (tomorrow) as a tourist from Canada but have conflicting advice on whether I must show a return ticket upon arrival.

I have a one way discounted Oasis ticket but will be meeting a friend who works for another airline and will return home within the visa period and he comes and goes on standby for a lot less money than even Oasis charges.

The rule is that evidence of passing through is required or a return ticket.

Is it an enforced rule that you must show a return ticket upon arrival or a rule that is just enforced if you give them reason to be concerned as to your intentions?

Thanks. And all advice received here so far has been great!!!

[PDLM]

It's not generally enforced if you are white and/or speak fluent English.

[auss]

Although its highly likely that if you get to hong kong you will not be asked to show a return ticket. Your problem will be with checking in, i know here in Australia for instance that they cracked down on one way tickets for tourists and even if you purchased a return ticket in hong kong to Australia if you dont have residence or proof of ongoing travel on you they may refuse to carry you.

The reason being is that if you are rejected at the border the airlines can cop a hefty fine for carrying you.

[PDLM]

Sorry, yes, I was answering the question too narrowly. You are very unlikely to have a problem at HK Immigration on arrival, but you may well have a problem at check-in if you can't show some sort of proof of onward travel. Some airlines are getting very picky about this.

[lowlight]

Just tell them you plan on buying another ticket to another country once you arrive in HK. I think airlines only use this as an excuse to force you to buy a ticket.

[PDLM]

Unfortunately, the power is in the airline's hands - they may well simply refuse to accept what you say and then you have a choice: buy a ticket or don't fly (and probably lose whatever you paid for the one-way ticket). I have seen Cathay do exactly this to my g/f.

[lowlight]

Originally Posted by PDLM

Unfortunately, the power is in the airline's hands - they may well simply refuse to accept what you say and then you have a choice: buy a ticket or don't fly (and probably lose whatever you paid for the one-way ticket). I have seen Cathay do exactly this to my g/f.

Yeah Cathey did that to me on a flight to Taiwan. I even HAD a return ticket from Taiwan, but since it was with another airline (and in Taiwan, not in my hands) I got screwed. So I bought an expensive refundable ticket, and refunded it.

Yeah that's another thing you can do if they force you to buy. Just get a business class, they are usually fully refundable with no fees.

[hktraveller]

If you have a longer term (at least 6 months) multiple entry Visa to China, it should be ok in most cases. But it is no guarantee.

[KnowItAll]

>> I have seen Cathay do exactly this to my g/f.

And I thought they could do no wrong.

[PDLM]

You've got that quite wrong. There are quite a few things I don't like about CX, including:

- their new long-haul J product (which is dire if you want to do anything other than get on the plane, sleep, get off, and is particularly bad if you travel as a couple or with a child);

- the way they make it very difficult to buy tickets for other people (requiring the credit card used to buy the ticket to be presented at check-in); and

- the way they casually substitute the crappy "regional" J service on flights to Sydney without compensation.