RE One way travel into Bolivia - help!
 

Hi, I am planning to travel from Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz in Bolivia by plane, but then cross Bolivia by land and then into Chile. I have been warned that this might be a problem as the Bolivian customs will not see an onward travel document, and therefore no proof that I intending to leave the country! Is there a way round this? Can I book any cheap overland tickets in advance from Bolivia into Chile, which I may not use but at least would show that I am leaving the country? Apparently this is not a problem in some other S American countries, justy Bolivia. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks
Simon

just contact an internal agent buy a cheap bus ticket

to Chile you might use it should suffice.

You would have the same problem

flying into other SA countries.

You might not get checked but best to have.

Do not forget YF/cert jab mandatory for Bolivia

It's not just arriving in Bolivia. I doubt the airline flying you from Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz will even let you board the plane without evidence that you plan to leave Bolivia. You'll need something in hand when you check in for that flight in BA.

Every country has this onward- or return-ticket requirement. The United States sure does for non-citizens. Some are more stringent about checking.

As Jeff says, it is the airline which will deny you boarding. Book a fully refundable online flight between La Paz and Arica which you can later cancel for the cost of the booking fee.

On a recent year long trip, we flew into a number of countries who supposedly had this rule about onward travel and not once were we asked either at airline check-in or immigration to show onward tickets. We were specifically warned by the airline that our flight into Santiago from New Zealand could cause us problems with out the onward ticket but we had no problems at all. I don't know about Bolivia (we were going but changed plans at the 11th hour because of the riots there), but I do know that many travellers will enter at the land borders without onward tickets. If you are an American you will need a visa:

See link to the US State Dept website:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...y_requirements

The following extract from the sight seems to indicate that it is a requirement of SOME airlines.

"An exit tax is charged when departing Bolivia by air. Travelers with Bolivian citizenship or residency pay an additional fee upon departure. While the Bolivian Government does not currently require travelers to purchase round-trip air tickets in order to enter the country, some airlines have required travelers to purchase round-trip tickets prior to boarding aircraft bound for Bolivia. Some tourists arriving by land report that immigration officials did not place entry stamps in their passports, causing problems at checkpoints and upon departure."

I would check with there airline you are using

Crellston, the information you got from the airline was wrong. Chile is actually one of the few countries in SA which does not demand proof of onward travel. They need to check Timatic, the IATA managed database for airlines containing cross border passenger documentation requirements for all countries.
As far as other countries are concerned, I think it depends a bit on how they size you up at the airport. But people have been refused boarding, so it is best to check.

Dear Jackleaves, I think you will not have any problem. When you arrive to Bolivia they make you fill form where you are going adn the time you will stay inside the country. That is all. Many of my customers have done it and I never heard of nay problem. Anyway, You should travel form Salta to POCITOS, cross the border and from YACUIBA you should take abus to SANTA CRUZ. To make around trip to LA PAZ, you have "flotas" (buses) to Cochabamba and from there to LA PAZ (take an overnight bus better), or from Cochabamba you can aslo travel to ORURO and from there a bus or train to UYUNI. a Toru will take you directly to the chilean border. Remember if you want to do the toru in the desert in Bolivia it is much cheaper from Bolivia than from Chile.
If you need more info about the neighbouring country you can contact me privatelly. I have travelled many places in Bolivia and love the area.
flitnstones