Return Ticket Exemptions

The only thing when your permanent you don't need a return ticket, but you pay 2800 when you leave to keep your visa, your passport is stamped it is good for a year

Your right the BB stamp has nothing to do with immigration, you never go there your passport is stamped good for a year

Both of my Air Asia throw away flights were canceled (about P4,000 each) but I booked the flights through Cheapoair. What are my chances of getting a refund? I would say slim to none. I tried via email but Cheapoair replied with a US phone number to call because they needed more information. The flights were canceled, what can I add to that?

Moon Dog wrote:

Both of my Air Asia throw away flights were canceled (about P4,000 each) but I booked the flights through Cheapoair. What are my chances of getting a refund? I would say slim to none. I tried via email but Cheapoair replied with a US phone number to call because they needed more information. The flights were canceled, what can I add to that?

Long time ago someone on the Forum mentioned trying to reach Cheapoair on the phone and when they finally got through they were told only two people showed up at the Cheapoair call center due to the pandemic.

I myself would not plan a flight with online third party regardless of the price. In some cases whatever could go wrong, goes wrong.

Enzyte Bob wrote:

Moon Dog wrote:

Both of my Air Asia throw away flights were canceled (about P4,000 each) but I booked the flights through Cheapoair. What are my chances of getting a refund? I would say slim to none. I tried via email but Cheapoair replied with a US phone number to call because they needed more information. The flights were canceled, what can I add to that?

Long time ago someone on the Forum mentioned trying to reach Cheapoair on the phone and when they finally got through they were told only two people showed up at the Cheapoair call center due to the pandemic.

I myself would not plan a flight with online third party regardless of the price. In some cases whatever could go wrong, goes wrong.

I was a million miler in my previous life before retirement and booked my own travel. I learned to always book through the airlines directly and not a travel agency. I grabbed these throw away tickets through Cheapoair without considering the flights would be canceled. I did a search for the cheapest foreign travel flights and Cheapoair was offering a 15% discount voucher at the time so I saved a couple bucks but it will end up costing me in the long run, that is if Air Asia would have issued a refund. Water under the bridge, I'm here now and life is good so no need to worry about it, thanks.

I’ve flown round trip to the Philippines 15 times always round trip and staying 29 days. Now that we are moving there perminately eating a return ticket is low on my list of concerns this time, more important is travel hours, time of stop over, and never use multiple airlines. I like Japanese, Korean or Taiwan flight crews and food choice. I’ve always used Expedia for everything (except Cebu Pacific) all problems have been resolved. I usually spend the extra $35 or so for trip insurance. Other than reserving seating they have served me well, including record keeping of my trips and hotels. I liked moon dogs idea of buying disposable cheapo tickets, but my round trip tickets were under $800 bucks each including the $35 for insurance. The whole idea is to get there safe and settled in. But that’s just me.

I have better luck buying  with the airline, but must be ready to go, there are always empty seats on most flights, I never buy a round trip, you can never tell when you need to leave, a lot of stranded foreigners here when the lockdown started

Hi, are you Feel Good here in my Country Who Are with you here if you have a Fiancee Or Gildfriend you are okay.

rosemiranday2 wrote:

Hi, are you Feel Good here in my Country Who Are with you here if you have a Fiancee Or Gildfriend you are okay.

My girlfriends and boyfriends are very happy that I stay here, they know if I leave I can't return so pamper me beyond your wildest dreams. Aside? where are you coming from?

Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl wrote:

My girlfriends and boyfriends are very happy that I stay here, they know if I leave I can't return so pamper me beyond your wildest dreams. Aside? where are you coming from?

Cheers, Steve.

One of my stepsons is a nurse in England, if he were to come to the Philippines and then return to England he would be quarantined in England for seven days at a cost of 2100 pounds ($2900+ USD).

Hello Sir, About your Travel Flights  My Advice as a Travel Agent Across The Globe Please Make a  Refund if you feel you like to ravel after please do a reschedule Date.
I hope you feel okay.

@Moon Dog

yes, i have experience entering as balikbayan when arriving in Pi with my wife. no, they will not ask for onward ticket if entering as balikbayan.

   contrary to what some have stated, there is no such thing as a balikbayan visa. there is no ”visa” per se, merely a regular entry stamp with the 1 year stay privilege hand written as the date you must exit by. in my case it has always been 1 year from the date of entry.

   we travel with all of our documents( mairrage certificate etc.) but actually since her Pi passport and mine both show my last name i guess they take it for granted that we are married and have never asked to see any other document at Immigration when we fly in.

   being a mariner, i often fly back from the ship and enter as tourist solo, i always have onward ticket booked for that(its just a real itinerary, not a boarding pass) which i toss once cleared through immi. then we fly out for a short holiday together befor the 30 days is up. and fly back in as balikbayan.

  using a lot of smiles and respectful friendly attitude with immi has made each trip past their duty station a non event. i cannot stress enough how important it is to be as friendly and respectful to the immi agent as possible. they should be happy to have met you, not stressed to be dealing with you.

   hope this helps. good luck

@Glongshore stated with much confidence:

contrary to what some have stated, there is no ". such thing as a balikbayan visa. there is no ”visa” per se, merely a regular entry stamp with the 1 year stay privilege hand written as the date you must exit by. in my case it has always been 1 year from the date of entry.

Well my friend, that depends upon what you consider to be a "visa". Many consider the balikbayan waiver to be a "privilege" but. isn't a visa just that, a privilege? We have entered many times and received "BB" without even asking; my wife and myself and kids get the handwriteen "BB 1Yr" on our passports. They know my wife is Filipina and we are traveling with her and we never even asked for the BB 9A visa, they just gave it to us. And it is a real "visa",  maybe born of certain privilege but it is there, stamped in our passports on the visa pages. Sorry for the anal commenters amongst us who always enjoy incorrectly reminding us that the BB stamp is not a "visa", actually it IS a visa. Authorized by executive order.

@Glongshore

I know you are not asked for a return ticket when processing through immigration at the NAIA airport.

The last time I booked travel to the Philippines I was asked at the Delta counter check-in in Atlanta, GA if I had a return ticket, which I told the lady I did, but she never asked to see it. I intended to enter the Philippines with my wife availing of the balikbayan privilege on that visit but the airlines in the US did not care anything about that, they still want to see the forwarding ticket.

On my next trip I'll be entering as a permanent resident with a SRRV visa. I'm curious if that will exempt me from the forwarding ticket?

@Moon Dog spoketh:

On my next trip I'll be entering as a permanent resident with a SRRV visa. I'm curious if that will exempt me from the forwarding ticket?

In two trips with SRRV they never asked us for a return ticket, once  at NAIA and the other Cebu Mactan. In fact, before that we came on balikbayan countless times, never was asked for a retirn ticket or a marriage license. I'm sure it depends on the personality of the agent and whether he is having a bad day.

@danfinn

interesting.

when was the last time that you entered and received this stamped ”BB” that you are mentioning? i have never gotten anything like it stamped in any of my passports, not in the old one which expired nor in my new one. just a regular square entry stamp with a hand written notation of BB and date of validity 1 year from the date of entry, written by the immi agent on duty.

And yes, i understand that with these entry stamps we are legally allowed to stay in country with no other requirements imposed. however, my confidently stated comment that it is not a visa, per se, is based on the fact that it has no searchable registration number such as a 13a or an SRRV would have attached to it. You can not go to the bank with it and say” here is my visa number” like you can do with an issued visa from BI.

if your experiences are different from mine, i would love to hear about them, i am always open to learning new things.

The Balakbayan privilege is simple and granted  by your spouse and not a visa per se but a simple recognition. valid for a year and recognized by the notated stamp in your passport, think you answered your own question as your passport is notarized by immi.

I opened a bank account at 4 months here on a visitor visa and an ACR1 card, took the 4th bank and a meeting with the manager but did work. I am not up on Balakbayan visas but from experience without an ACR1 the banks won't touch you.

If you have a wife and on a Balakbayan visa go into the bank with your wife and try for a joint account but seems to me you will need an ACR1.

Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

@danfinn the BB stamp is better if you and your wife leave the country very much, my wife works out of the country and I go to Vietnam 2 or 3 times a year if your on a visa such as 13A it cost you 2800 every time you leave, where with the stamp no charge but the 1600 exit no annual report

@bigpearl it depends on the bank I had a joint account with my wife at BDO they took my Filipino driver's licences as ID

@bigpearl

can you get account with srrv visa

    @bigpearl
can you get account with srrv visa
   

    -@renegadesric529

Easy, talk to your marketer, if you ask nicely they will introduce you and done, pick a nationwide bank.

Given your question I would be doing a heck of a lot more research and reading of the SRRV/PRA site as well as posts here, google can be your friend.

Cheers, Steve.

@Glongshore

The conditions of special numbers etc. do not exist in the definition of "visa".

visa

/vē′zə/

noun

An official authorization appended to a passport, permitting entry into and travel within a particular country or region.

A permit to enter and leave a country, normally issued by the authorities of the country to be visited.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition • More at Wordnik

I submit that the 1 year entry visa based on balikbayan privilege fully meets the definition of a simple "visa". I am not try to prove necessarily that I am correct, it is simply my wish to disallow the pedantic amongst us from proving they are right 😂 btw, last time we entered with BB and 1yr entered into the arrival stamp on our passports was July 2017. After that it is all SRRV, entering through the diplomatic line. Remember you can do this as a special resident. Not only diplomats enter through that line (very fast and friendly)...also sone SRRV are ex-diplomats. But many people with SRRV wait in the long lines, not knowing this.

    @Moon Dog spoketh:
On my next trip I'll be entering as a permanent resident with a SRRV visa. I'm curious if that will exempt me from the forwarding ticket?
In two trips with SRRV they never asked us for a return ticket, once  at NAIA and the other Cebu Mactan. In fact, before that we came on balikbayan countless times, never was asked for a retirn ticket or a marriage license. I'm sure it depends on the personality of the agent and whether he is having a bad day.
   

    -@danfinn

I'm only concerned about check-in with the US airlines.

I know I'll be OK entering the Philippines but are the US airlines on board with the various visas and return ticket exemptions.

Like I mentioned earlier, the only place I've been questioned about a return ticket was at check-in in Atlanta. The lady was reading down a list that apparently popped up on her computer screen when she scanned me in. What would have been my chances of convincing her or making her understand that I had permanent residence status and not required to have a return ticket?

@Moon DogI'm only concerned about check-in with the US airlines. I know I'll be OK entering the Philippines but are the US airlines on board with the various visas and return ticket exemptions.

As we learned with the ever-changing covid regulations, US airlines were not always on board with visa requirements from the Philippines and they made mistakes that cost customers money that it seems was not reimbursed. Having said that, we had no problems during the 2 times we used our SRRVs and I guess I mever anticipated a potential problem. I suppose there is no way to absolutely guarantee that you will face a competent clerk at check-in and it also depends upon what their paperwork says about the conditions requiring a return ticket and it is not ambiguous. I suppose that wording could possibly be found out by a friendly talk with an agent over the phone before your travel day.

Emirates asked me for a return ticket and I answered that I am a permanent resident. So she looked for the visa in my passport and acknowledged that I dont need a return ticket.

You can always book a return ticket or a ticket out of the Phils with your phone within minutes.

@Andy_1963You can always book a return ticket or a ticket out of the Phils with your phone within minutes.

Absolutely. If there are any problems just book a ticket at the counter. With this as a backup I cannot understand what the big problem is, even if the agent is incompetent and does not understand the requirements.

I don't understand why this has to be asked and answered 1M times, over and over again - and still nobody seems to get it.

Regardless of whether you will enter/leave the Philippines within the 30 day period given under the tourist visa waiver, or if you plan to stay anywhere between 31 days - 3 years (the maximum time allowed in-country), you only need to have the following:

1 x Airline Ticket (YOUR current location to the Philippines)

1 x Airline Ticket (The Philippines to ANY location outside of the Philippines)

These can be one-way tickets or round-trip tickets.

The correct answer for YOU depends on YOUR plans. If you know 100% that you will enter/leave within 30 days, a round-trip ticket is fine (but so are 2 one-way tickets). If you are not sure if you will stay longer, and want flexibility, 2 one-way tickets will work fine (first ticket gets you to the PHL, second ticket is garbage, extend your stay, book a third ticket to use for flying out of the PHL). And lastly, if you 100% already know you will stay for x-amount of time beyond 30 days, there are a few ways of doing it, but still you need 1 ticket to enter the PHL, 1 throw away/garbage can ticket to anywhere outside of the PHL, and later on you will need your ticket to actually leave.

@porkhips chided: I don't understand why this has to be asked and answered 1M times, over and over again - and still nobody seems to get it.

You really think people are not getting this? And you say that this has been asked and answered one million times? That's the problem I have here; I must have said it a trillion times: stop exaggerating.

No, they are not getting it. Look here, Reddit, YouTube, etc. People are still confused and asking the same thing. I don't know how they can even manage to tie their shoelaces each day.

    No, they are not getting it. Look here, Reddit, YouTube, etc. People are still confused and asking the same thing. I don't know how they can even manage to tie their shoelaces each day.
   

    -@porkhips

Most wear loafers or sketchers

   ...I don't know how they can even manage to tie their shoelaces each day.
   

    -@porkhips

How to enter into a forum winning friends and influencing enemies lol.

@mugteck

Most wear loafers or sketchers

I do enjoy your dry wit Mugteck. That said I have to confess to wearing moccasins (loafers Stateside) when flying. More comfortable and of course easy to remove when asked to when going through airport security