One Way... trust or bust?
 

I am a citizen of Canada and I am going to Denmark fairly soon to meet my partner. I plan to stay with him in Denmark for two months (he is Danish) and then go traveling. We won't be flying out of the country, mostly hitchhiking and going by train, and we have no solid plans of where we want to go. I know I am allowed to stay in the country for 90 days without a visa and I am well within that range. My question is do I need a return ticket to be allowed into the country or will I be alright with the cheap one way?

Depends on how the immigration officer is feeling that day. We're not prophets. Why not buy a one way flight home you can cancel?

Mostly because of the cost! After finding a flight that was less than $550 I thought it would be best to jump on that ASAP. And I know you are not prophets but After looking around online for a while to no avail I thought I would try a forum lol.

And if you aren't allowed into Denmark, you will have lost the cost of the ticket. Actually, you may not get that far, the airline won't allow you to board if they think you won't be allowed in.

If you cancel the return ticket after you arrive you aren't out the money, but you'll have to buy one soon in any case since you only have 90 days.

If you can't afford a return ticket now how will you afford one later? You are <i>allowed</i> up to 90 days -- but you are not <i>guaranteed</i> any days. If you arouse suspicion they may not let you in the country at all. So if they think you might over stay (visiting boy/girl friend, no return ticket, not much money, might be working in country, whatever) all bets are off.

So . . . increase your odds and get a return ticket . . .

And you may want to rethink going if you see the return ticket as that big of an expense. Even staying a month, let alone two, is going to add up in terms of food and train fares. I have no idea what the hitchhiking situation is in Denmark, but I'm thinking it's a good idea to have the money for transit as a back up...

<i>My question is do I need a return ticket to be allowed into the country or will I be alright with the cheap one way?</i>

If you're Canadian and white, they likely won't even ask anything other than if you are there for business or holiday.

You should have a return ticket anyway because if you wait until a week before your departure to get the ticket, you will be in for a shock.

it depends, so you have the choice of playing pocker with 1 pair or a full house. Up to you.

You are allowed 90 days in the Schengen zone, do if your travelling includes anything in Europe you will run out of visa.

A one way ticket is almost always more expensive than a return, two one way tickets certainly are.

You might ask whether or not anybody who has responded on this thread. INCLUDING Thursdaysd and Janisj have EVER been asked to show any sort of return ticket when they went through Immigration.

I doubt they will say yes and there's a reason for that and the fact that you probably won't be either.

Go ahead, DON'T buy a ticket now and wait until the return gets more expensive.

Dukey1 is on point.

I have never, ever been asked to show a return ticket.

The main point to this thread though is he intends to stay 2 months in Denmark and then go travelling overland. Meaning travel within the Schengen zone with the clock on his 90days ticking.
Overstay your time and you could be fined more than you save and be banned returning to Schengen for a long period. Not good for your relationship.

I guess it depends on how you read the "and" in his sentence. I read it that they would be traveling during those 2 months. He should come back and clarify.

Ooops. Nevermind. I reread it. You are right. He'll have less than a month to do stuff (unless he goes to the UK or Turkey).

return ticket, yes on entering the USA :-)

Me too Bilbo, every time.

"You might ask whether or not anybody who has responded on this thread. INCLUDING Thursdaysd and Janisj have EVER been asked to show any sort of return ticket when they went through Immigration."

I enter Europe on a UK passport, so the question, in context, does not apply to me.

In any case, if the OP is young, as the screen name implies, he is a completely different demographic. There have certainly been threads <i>on this board</i> from young travelers who been denied admission, although not, I believe, to Denmark specifically.

Uh -- Dukey -- yes I have been asked (only once several years ago - maybe in 2009 or there abouts)

I have had two different traveling companions asked at various times.

AND I once was in line at the check in counter behind a young rasta-looking fellow who was taken aside denied boarding because the agent asked for his return ticket and there wasn't one.

Don't know if he triggered some profile or not, but the one thing I heard was discussion of why he didn't have a return ticket.

I know you think I have no credibility and like to challenge, but I dod tend to post about things I actually know or have experienced personally.

I have almost always been asked how long I am planning to stay.

Sometimes - more often than not - also where I am planning to travel while in Europe.

I have never been asked to show a return ticket, but then again I always have one, so perhaps the incoming airline is who confirms that before allowing me a boarding pass?

Some young-looking rasta fellow being asked isn't quite the same thing, I'm sure that didn't happen randomly, but things have changed in a lot of ways from about 10 years ago (certainly regarding illegal immigration seekers, also). But let's face it, people aren't that concerned about a white Canadian, but we don't know the OP. Claiming you can't afford a RT ticket isn't going to win anyone over to the idea that you are definitely not going to stay or that one has a partner living in Denmark. All of that would point to the idea that one would be more likely than not to illegally stay IMO.

I've never been asked for any ticket, but don't they have information from the airline electronically nowadays about your flight reservations? I know the airline asks for your passport number and records it online, isn't all of this connected by computer? I thought airlines had to report their information for all passengers flying internationally electronically to the CBP through the APIS electronic system. Maybe they don't have something like that in Canada, don't know. Just seems with computers nowadays, all of this could be connected electronically through cooperating countries.

Bottom line, a $550 one-way fare to Denmark is not remotely amazing that one has to jump on it. In fact, you can get a RT ticket for about that amount, presuming you are flying from some place like Toronto. Air Canada has RT flights for that if you book a few months in advance, and WOW air (cheapo airline) has them a bit cheaper (RT, stop in Iceland). Financially, I think this was a bad idea.