Hi all,

After some research it seems clear to me that you can enter Chile with a one-way ticket however airlines can refuse to do so because it is written in fine print on the Timatic system and easily overlooked by front desk staff.

My question is this:
My flight departs at 8:10am, if I arrive at the airport early (say 6:45am?) and try to argue my case, in which case I am refused to board on a one-way ticket then will I have any possible issues booking a last minute return flight from the counter that same morning? The airport is MEL (Melbourne, Australia) which is medium sized. What sort of proof of return ticket do they request? Is an internet print-out of a receipt sufficient?

Please note, I will be absolutely devastated if I do not get on that flight.

No probs - except having to advance the dough. Just get an IATA ticket from Chile either back to OZ or a forward ticket to any other country. They can be refunded at any time.

I had similar probs flying on a one-way to South Africa. The forward ticket was a charter ticket (much cheaper) and the return ticket was IATA. As soon as I was in South Africa I walked into the next travel agency and had it refunded. Took some time though.

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Hi Vaufii,
I looked into IATA tickets and it seems they've stopped using them since June 1st this year however my travel agent said she can book an onward ticket to Buenos Aires for about $600 with a $250 cancellation fee (though I still think there must be a better way).

hmm I just found this with LAN chile to Buenos Aires mid-next year:


-REFUND-
REFUNDS ARE PERMITTED WITHOUT ANY CHARGE.
REFUNDS FOR TICKETS THAT HAVE BEEN PARTIALLY USED-
IT WILL BE REFUNDED WITH THE DIFERENCE BETWEEN THE
VALUE OF THE ORIGINAL TICKET AND THE COST OF THE
TRIP ACTUALLY FLOWN.


Surely thats not right?

Try another travel agent - just to make sure. I checked the Lufthansa site and, as it seems, they do refund the ticket, but not the "Ticket Service Charge" which amounts to 15-20 €.

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Pockethead,

The easy solution is to buy a full fare, one way ticket out of the country. It's just a matter of cash flow, you have to pay for it, and then you cancel it once you land. Full fare means they are damn expensive(at least a couple grand usually depending on destination), but fully refundable. I've bought tickets on major North American airlines out of South Africa and Argentina just for the situations you describe.

Full refund is pretty much immediate and gets posted against the credit card you used to purchase. A copy of the e-ticket is usually adequate, makes it even easier if they are airline partners with your ingoing flight as when borading they will be able to see the booking on their screens. I think LAN is part of the Star Alliance so that if you chose any of their partner airlines, you would be doubly covered but it's certainly not essential as any airline will do.

Thanks guys! not as worried now, I should have plenty of money to buy a ticket in advance. I guess the $250 cancellation fee is from using a travel agent.

Hi everyone,

I was going through all the different posts related to one-way ticket to Chile that you have made very interesting, any idea if this exemption in Timatic. Is it applicable for Polish people? I am Chilean and we are planning to go to Chile for good but my partner can go just as a tourist we are not married so he cannot apply to other type of visa or not in a short period of time. We will travel from UK where we live, and we would like to buy a one-way ticket. Do you think we may have troubles?

Hi Koka, you won't have any problems at the Santiago Airport however it is the airline which refuses to fly you over because they are fined if you end up stuck there. I found a way around this however, I went into a travel agent and asked them to find me a return ticket then, before paying, I asked them to print it and give me a copy. When I showed this copy to the airline they had no problems except that I had booked it 6 months in advance when maximum tourist allowance is 90 days. The supervisor came over and I explained to him I was traveling all of South America and he asked me for some itinerary, I had my yellow fever certificate etc which isn't required in Chile so he then let me through. I was very worried but it worked out ok!