Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hadeshorn]

This is my own stupid fucking fault.

With cockiness on my side, I decide to book a 1 way ticket to Seoul. I pay for it and even sign a declaration saying I am aware of the risks.

Anyway this is fine and I shell out 1100 bux. I get home and decide to call up the Korean embassy and double check.

However they said I would be flatly refused entry to Korea at Incheon on a one way ticket.

So now I am trying to upgrade my 1 way ticket to a return ticket. Also I should have gone to the airline directly instead gone through a travel agent.

ARGH its all going to hell.

[oneiros]

Do you have an E-2, or are you coming in on a tourist visa?

[hadeshorn]

Tourist visa!

Im just saying this now. BUT avoid flight center because their cancellation fees are a BITCH!

500 dollars to cancel your fare and upgrade it. What a joke.

I wont be flying with them in the future.

[tomwaits]

I wonder if the consul say this because it is "official" policy...I have never been asked and haven't heard of others doing so..Just make sure you have enough for an onward ticket;

Actually in Japan before I was hassled about a one way ticket to Seoul and had to sign a waiver freeing the airline of responsibility if Incheon refused me...Which they didn't.

[rapier]

for peace of mind, i will be getting a refundable return ticket to London before i re-enter Korea again. Peace of mind counts for a lot over here, because the potential for mishap is great.

[lush72]

Why do you need an air ticket if you are planning to take the ferry to japan?

[hadeshorn]

I explained this to the Korean on the phone. But he was pretty adamant that a return ticket would be needed or a ferry ticket. But I said you cant get a ferry ticket unless im in Korea.

This went back to the argument of needing a return ticket to be allowed to stay to buy a ferry ticket.

Goddamn, Koreans are just so stupid sometimes.

[peppermint]

I dimly remember hearing about a travel agent- maybe Kangsan travel- where you can book a ferry ticket to Japan online, and use the reciept as proof. Might be worth running a search.

Edit- found the thread!

[Pyongshin Sangja]

The Embassy is lying to you, it's just more anti-foreigner crap. I had five tourist visas here before I got legal, I was never once asked for proof of an onward ticket. I got hassled in Bangkok by Thai Airways for going back to Korea without an onward ticket with a tourist visa, had to sign a waiver. Incheon said nothing. I came back here last summer on a one-way (with an E-2 mind you), but Incheon said nothing. They never do. At least to me.

[jajdude]

I have never entered Korea with a ticket out. Not once in a dozen times. But maybe things have changed since last November? Or maybe you just got a stickler for rules, whom you can probably just ignore and just go. I'd just go with the one way. Maybe being Canadian helped me-- so I never got a razz at the airport?

[Wishmaster]

This story is exactly why I have never paid for my flight over to Korea. No way I'm shelling out that kind of dosh to come here. Always make them pay your ticket for you. Hell, you're making it easy for them by paying the freight. Don't be dense.

[rawiri]

[quote="Wishmaster"]This story is exactly why I have never paid for my flight over to Korea. No way I'm shelling out that kind of dosh to come here. Always make them pay your ticket for you. Hell, you're making it easy for them by paying the freight. Don't be dense.[/quote]

Well the counter argument is that you are leaving yourself open to some potentially sticky problems. Any old hagwon will pay for your airfare, but what if you get there and things are all fugged up?, no matter how much research you may do on a place, if you are 1000's of miles away you won't know what the score is until you get here.

I dont know about the op. though. It's standard practice to have an airfare booked out of whatever country you are visiting, it just looks really dodgy if you don't have one. Usually a return aifare isn't that much more than a one way ticket anyways so why didn't you just get one?

[Joseph Fitzgerald]

I am coming into Korea on a one-way ticket. I will keep a copy of my contract with me. Hope that will help.

[CanadaCommando]

Yesterday, my friend went to the airport to fly in to Seoul. On a tourist visa, but she has a job lined up and is just coming into double check paper work.

Airline refused to let her fly in to Seoul on a one-way. Said that airlines are now being fined for doing so (allowing one way flights to Incheon). She had to upgrade to a return ticket on the spot!

Well, at least she has a ticket home for vacation....

[Swiss James]

Airlines get fined for sending refugees to a country- I suppose it then comes down to the definition of a refugee. Someone with a one way ticket and no obvious means of support...well you can kind of see it from their angle.