One of the requirements of applying for a Schengen Visa is a round trip or flight itinerary. Now, does that mean that you actually have to shell out precious money on an air ticket to avail the visa? And then, at the end of the process, what if your Visa Application is rejected? Will you also have to bid goodbye to your airline money? Sounds awfully scary, doesn’t it? But be assured: that is not what the Embassy is actually looking for. The Visa Processing Panel at the Embassy does realize that it would be utter stupidity to expect travellers to purchase a full-fledged airline ticket before their visa comes through.

So, what do they really mean when they say that you need to submit a flight itinerary for visa application? Well, the explanation it is quite simple. A flight itinerary is not the actual airline ticket at all. It is just a dummy flight ticket with a reservation number printed on it. However, you must remember, that though the full and total airline fee is not taken for a dummy itinerary, a small nominal fee is definitely charged for processing your travel information. In essence this itinerary is a document which details your flight plan to a single or multiple Schengen countries along with the flight name, number, booking ID, IATA codes, arrival and departure dates. Because of all these details, your dummy itinerary will look quite a lot like the real ticket. But remember, it is not!

Why Do Embassies ask for a Flight Itinerary for Schengen Visa Processing?

There are three primary reasons why embassies ask for a flight itinerary.

1. To control your stay and the stay of hundreds of other visitors to the Schengen region. A round-trip ticket highlighting your arrival and departure dates helps them keep track of Schengen visitors during a specific time period.
2. To decide how long they should issue the visa for.
3. To ensure that you are applying at the correct embassy or consulate.

How to Acquire a Flight Itinerary for Visa?

It is easy enough to acquire a flight itinerary for your visa application. Several airline booking services can do it for you for a nominal fee, and so can the airline themselves directly. Some airlines even offer the service free of charge.

The reservation is usually valid for only a short period time – a week at most. In case you delay buying the real ticket within that span of time, your reservation can even get cancelled, and you will lose even that nominal amount.

Some embassies, however, are not satisfied with you submitting only a flight itinerary to fulfil your Visa Application requirements. They want to see the real, live airline ticket in hand and have the authority to ask you for it. They consider it as proof of your proposed journey abroad. But these are only in very rare cases and are not the norm. Another expectation you should be prepared for is for the Embassy to ask you to furnish your airline ticket while collecting your visa.

All said and done, the fact remains that in 99% of Schengen Visa Applications cases, travellers need not purchase the real airline tickets for processing their visas. So, act smart and save your bucks instead of losing it all in case your visa application gets rejected!