Advice Please: One Way Ticket with Tourist Visa?

been doing it for many times with a one way ticket, no problems.

Perhaps it's different for New Zealanders, but for American tourists, return tickets are required.

OW ticket from the States is more or less the same price as RT. We have 5-year visa exemption, which is the minimum length of time we plan to stay in SEA, and we bought RT tickets ($430 tax included from LAX.) It wouldn't have saved us any money buying OW.

Return tickets are not required. Just tell them after you visit Vietnam for a few weeks, you are taking a bus to Cambodia or something.

Wow @ciambella you got a deal. That is not a usual price. Your RT return tickets were the the price of 1-way tickets! Around $800 is my experience for RT SFO to SGN.

You can get a oneway ticket to VN, normally around half price. The thing is that Vietnam wants you to have an "onward ticket", doesn't have to be round trip, just a ticket to get you out of the country. But it is a rule that, like everything here, is unevenly enforced, and the person at the checkin counter, who works for the airline and not the Vietnam government, has discretion about. It is not just for flights from the US either, it is from any port.
Last time I entered from the US, I was flying RT SGN-SFO-SGN, and Eva Air at SFO didn't ask me. Another time coming on a one way flight from SIN, the AirAsia clerk in SIN asked to see my onward ticket, and I said I was taking a bus from VN to Cambodia. No problem, guess I satisfied her question.

So if they even ask, probably you can talk your way out of it: act like a confident boss who does this all the time. Otherwise, to play the game, I have seen 5 options from expat bloggers in the Philippines, where onward tickets are enforced more strongly.

1. Buy a round trip ticket. If your plans are not firm, make sure you can reschedule the return, but changes usually cost $100-$150.
2. "Throwaway ticket" Buy the cheapest one-way ticket from VN to anyplace on a date before your Vietnam visa expires. AirAsia to KL, SIN, BKK are around $30, just consider it an added flight cost.
3. Reserve a ticket like that, but do it just before your flight, print it out, but don't pay for it yet. Not really sure how this works.
4. Buy a 'fully refundable' ticket out of VN, then cancel and get your money back when in VN. Don't mess up the refund, will cost you a lot.
5. Rent an onward ticket from a place like flyonward.com for $10. Yes, someone has turned a dumb rule into a business opportunity.

@Gobot: You probably don't need it, but FYI, that's the deal I got from Scott's Cheap Flights (https://scottscheapflights.com/). Just this year alone, our family got 5 trips (Norway, Germany, Greece, Argentina, and VN) for very good prices from his newsletters.

My 2 cents, I fly from the USA to VN and back all the time and usually on 1 way tickets as I never know my return dates.  Never had a problem, nobody has ever mentioned or even hinted about a return ticket.

Ciambella wrote:

@Gobot: You probably don't need it, but FYI, that's the deal I got from Scott's Cheap Flights (https://scottscheapflights.com/). Just this year alone, our family got 5 trips (Norway, Germany, Greece, Argentina, and VN) for very good prices from his newsletters.

Awesome, I signed up for his newsletter when he launched, seemed like a very sincere and hardworking guy, but all his flights were US based. Ok I might swing thru the US next year so I'll resubscribe, thx for the recommendation.

Nope, he has expanded to SEA earlier this year. From his response to me a few months ago:

"We have actually expanded to cover the entire world now (save for Africa, which will be launched towards the end of the year) so yes, we absolutely cover SEA."

I had changed my departure airports from LAX to all 11 cities on his list for VN (Can Tho, Da Nang, Saigon, Phu Quoc, Chu Lai, Hai Phong, Hue, Vinh, Da Lat, Ha Noi, and Nha Trang). Haven't received anything good yet, but I have faith on the guy.

@Gobot --   Just in case you want to know re: newest deal from Scott:

Saigon/Hanoi to SFO: $603. To LAX: $30 more. Airlines: China Southern. Travel period: Aug to Nov.

In my experience, however, when one airline offers a low price, others will follow.

I have a distinct impression, based more on experience and even hearsay, that the problems some have with one way tickets is not VN immigration but the airlines.  I think there are worldwide treaties that mean that if VN says you have to go for whatever reason, the airline that brought you has to bring you back even if you are penniless or even dong-less (There's an interesting cross lingual outcome for you.)  For travelers from other SEA ports including AU and NZ, the one way ticket presents a lot less monetary risk than one from the US.

Those who have a 5 year VEC, TRC or similar, or even a passport full of one-way trips, may receive the benefit of the doubt.