What is a travel itinerary and how to confirm it for a Schengen Visa?

Nowadays, it is possible to travel around Europe not only in the traditional way, i.e., with a travel itinerary but also on your own. This kind of travel has many advantages – after all, you decide for yourself which sights are worth visiting in the area, in which hotel to stay and how to spend your vacation time.

Package tours offered by tour operators have their own peculiarities. The agency approves the travel plan and schedule in advance and takes responsibility for transfer, hotel booking, and other issues. When deciding to travel independently, it is necessary to consider that this option requires more significant and thorough preparation. You choose all the organizational problems in this case. It also concerns the preparation of necessary documents.

One of the most essential papers necessary is the itinerary of the trip. The traveler must provide it to get Schengen Visa category C – for tourist trips in Europe.

What is Travel Itinerary

A travel itinerary is a document containing information about the movements planned by a traveler in the Schengen area. Usually, during the visa interview, embassy or consulate officials require the foreigner to provide proof of airline reservations as travel itinerary confirmation. The traveler must prove that his travel plans are true and that he will return to his country of residence before the visa expires. 

Confirmation Process of Travel Itinerary 

The process of confirming a travel itinerary for travel to Europe is as follows. Consular or embassy officials ask the applicant to choose between:

• unpaid confirmed airline reservations (if travel dates are not yet known);
• paid refundable airline tickets;
• paid non-refundable air tickets.

In most cases, the tourist gets the opportunity to provide a confirmed airline ticket reservation. The representatives of consulates and embassies realize that not every tourist has the desire to buy expensive tickets until the visa is approved. According to My Schengen, in such cases, officials may request the original airline ticket from the applicant when the visa is issued.

Airline tickets or confirmed reservations must be provided in printed form at the visa interview. They must contain the following data:

• Passenger’s first and last name (as in a foreign passport);
• airline name;
• flight number;
• airline reservation code;
• flight information (date and time);
• international airport code;
• ticket price.

When submitting documents, it is essential to consider that the data about travel itinerary provided to officials must correspond to the dates of travel, as well as the plans and purposes of the country visit.

Some airlines can provide their customers with the service of booking airline tickets for up to three days or a little longer for a small fee – from 10 to 30 dollars. This option is suitable for presenting the airline reservation just before the interview.

There is also the option of booking airline tickets for free. As a rule, airline websites allow you to book a ticket without payment for up to 48 hours. This option is suitable if the tourist receives a Schengen visa under an accelerated procedure (1-3 days).

Agencies selling airline tickets offer their clients the service of extending the booking of airline tickets for 6 to 14 days. During this time, the applicant can have time to get a Schengen visa, as 2 weeks is the standard term of consideration of the application after the visa interview. The cost of such a service is from 80 dollars.

If the booking period expires before the visa is issued, the agency can provide a new reservation free of charge within an hour. You can do this by entering the passenger’s name, surname, and booking code on the website.

Verification and Refundable Tickets

You can check whether the reservation for the selected air tickets is valid on the airline’s website or using special services. You can do this by entering the passenger’s name and surname and the booking code on the website.

The purchase of refundable tickets can be an alternative to booking. According to Polly Johnson (My Schengen agency), this option is suitable for those who want to protect themselves and return the money for the ticket in case of visa denial. Many airlines offer These tickets, each of which has its own refund process. The disadvantages of such tickets are their high cost and the penalty that the company may charge for the refund.