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I live in the United States (Ohio), have green card, and would like to visit Taiwan. To do so I need to get an entry visa, however, to get an entry visa they want me to book a flight and get a tentative flight itinerary.

Unfortunately, I am not sure about the date which I will fly there from Guangzhou, China to Taipei? I will fly to China, Guangzhou on 10 September 2014 and I have already confirmed my flight to Guangzhou. But I do not know the exact time I'll be leaving Guangzhou, so I can not book and confirm the flight.

I just want to know from where I can get a tentative flight itinerary without paying money? This is just to show to the Taiwan embassy so they can issue my visa.

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    Did you try asking a Travel Agent? Many (but not all) can put a hold on a flight and issue you a provisional itinerary based on that. (It would be only fair to then book the real flight with them when you confirm your plans)
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Aug 30, 2014 at 18:45
  • seems like the only solution ..... :O
    – Fattie
    Commented Aug 31, 2014 at 10:40
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    You could buy a full-fare ticket and then cancel it for a refund. If it's on a credit card you're not actually paying the money out unless you happen to hit the wrong spot in the billing cycle.
    – Spehro 'speff' Pefhany
    Commented Nov 27, 2015 at 20:32

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I applied for my Taiwanese visa (Working Holiday) providing a printout of a tentative flight itinerary by just going to an airline website, selecting some dates and printing out something that looked itinerary-like (ie. has a flight number, dates, and locations). They just want a record of your tentative plans, and aren't going to hold you to it. Something like Expedia would probably suffice (I think I used the KLM website when I did mine)

You just need a printer and you'll be okay, there's no need to go to a travel agent.

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Travel agents are able to hold flights without committing to the ticket. Most will hold flights and issue itineraries without charging you, while you firm up your plans. Pop in to a local travel agency and see if they can help you out. Either be honest, ask if they can do you a favour, and bring cake... or do the whole 'can we hold seats while my plans are tentative... I'll let you know tomorrow' thing.

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Traditional flight ticket or any booking for that matter, was a two step process. Where the first step is "reservation" and the next step is "booking". The reservation stage is where you were able to get a flight itinerary which confirms the following details.

  • ITA (Airport) codes from which the flight takes off and lands.

  • Flight timings - confirming that a flight, was infact available through that route.

  • Flight number for that trip usually something like "AI121" or similar.

So the visa application needs you to provide a flight itinerary with the above details. This was just a print out from the travel agent and you were done. The travel agent charges a fee around $10 for this .

With the advent of online booking. the process is now just one step. Direct booking because the websites make money only when a "booking" is done. But the visa consulates have chosen to ignore this and still insist on a flight itinerary even though it is difficult to get hold of one .

So how do you get a flight itinerary for visa application ?

  • Call the flight agent and get one .

  • Make one yourself on word document . Though this has been rejected at times by Spain and US consulate

  • Get one from any one of the online service providers. like. I have used this a couple of times and they are good.

  • Buy a refundable ticket. Though these can be super expensive. Especially when it is on short notice.

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    Do you plan to copy-paste the same answer verbatim on all questions for which it might be relevant?
    – JoErNanO ♦
    Commented Nov 27, 2015 at 18:36

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