ORDnHKG

Who would really buy a one way ticket ?

Especially for long haul flights, one way ticket is always more expensive than roundtrip.

If you have money to buy an expensive one way ticket, you would have purchase the cheaper roundtrip ticket in the first place, your scenario doesn't make sense.

fimo

Well, I've bought one way tickets on numerous ocassions, and they weren't necessarily more expensive than round-trip. And yes, they were long haul (between US/EU and Asia). I'm not sure why one would regard one-way travel as such an incomprehensible event.

Mr H

I have just bought a one way EDI-MEL - but I'm emigrating!

tom911

I wonder what happened to the OP. Maybe he doesn't have any money to access the internet and post again.

jennj99738

There could be a variety of reasons why the OP is away from home without money so I won't speculate.

If you're a US citizen, I would contact the nearest US embassy for assistance.

http://www.usembassy.gov/ for an A-Z list of embassies abroad.

oontiveros

If the OP is a UK citizen under 30 years old, he could potentially get a working holiday visa in Australia work in casual jobs. Not sure what the OP's situation is so hard to offer any kind of advice.

As for OW tix long haul, I do it all the time. It isn't necessarily more expensive than a return ticket.

zoonil

This happened to my co-worker in 1999 while we worked together on a project in Argentina. We had to go to an unplanned meeting in the UK a week later.

My friend - a citizen of INDIA, applied for the UK embassy in Buenos Aries. and while getting back to his hotel, lost his passport and money. While I sure could lend him money, plus he worked for a top notch company, and they could wire him money right away. But he still needed his passport.

So when he went to the Indian embassy in Buenos Aries, they gave him a temporary passport (valid for one year), + he was offered a $1000 loan. He had to repay the loan with interest while he renewed his passport in his home country (the temporary passport expires in one year). His passport was stamped with a note about his loan.

He toook up the loan for back-up funds, and sure enough he was required to pay back the loan with nominal interest while renewing his passport.

sobore

That would never work for a Flyertalker. You can't fly the premium classes for $1000.

edwin_p_morales

Actually a serious answer, there might actually be a fairly simple solution to this problem you know. Have you checked with the air courier companies?

Now from what I understand these gigs are WAY less common than they were 10-20 years ago. FedEx and the like has nearly killed them off. But I don't think they're entirely dead, I believe there still are a few remaining such jobs to be had. And since you're really in a predicament here you're probably not too picky, ie you'd be willing to wait around for weeks to get a flight.

If I were in your situation (I wouldn't be I think but still) I would find all the private express services and freight forwarders in whatever city you're in and show up in person or otherwise do *everything* you can to see if there's any way you can help them help you.

I suspect with persistence and patience sooner or later you'd be able to find a flight home.

If that doesn't work, google Frank Abagnale, Jr. for some tips.

zoonil

oh.. that will absolutely work for ft'ers... remember we are always scouting for cheap premium cabin deals!!

JerryFF

Given the usual skepticism on this board, I'm surprised more people haven't questioned the veracity of the OP.

DoubleHaul

Geez, doesn't anybody on here watch "Locked Up Abroad" on the NatGeo channel?

You find some sleazy drug dealer, take along a little extra baggage on the trip he/she pays for, and off you go!

Well, off you go to jail, but for some reason a large number of subjects on that show thought it was a peachy idea.

Sorry, not a constructive post, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

dragonfirebcn

If you have to run away from home, may it be in style!

SDF_Traveler

Same here. In some places/markets, round-trips can be cheaper than one-ways, but that is not always the case.

I've purchased many "discounted" one-way tickets (some Intl, US Domestic, or Domestic in other nations) either because I didn't know my return date or because I was buying a series of one-way tickets to complete a multi-city trip.

When buying intl o/w tix, always make sure (in advance) that you are in compliance with immigration law. Depending on destination an onward or return ticket may be required - other times proof of funds / ability to purchase onward travel is the requirement.

There's been times I've purchased refundable onward tickets because onward travel plans were not set in stone, but an onward ticket was required for immigration. In these cases I would refund the onward ticket and then buy a discounted onward ticket I actually need.

As to the OP, I would contact a friend, family member, or relative and ask them for help. If you can get a work visa in AU (might be possible depending on your age if you are from UK), I would look into this. A lot of other good advice here, but I am sure you'll find a way out of your predicament.

Hopefully you have not overstayed your permitted time in Australia, as there can be penalties for doing so. If you're getting close and risk an overstay, you may want to contact immigration on their 13 xx xx # -- anonymously -- explain your predicament and ask what your options are. They may have suggestions and/or direct you towards a resource that might be able to help.

stephem

Great thread!
Back in the late 1980's I had a somewhat shady friend who disappeared for months at a time. Once he had been gone for a bit longer than nornal and when he reappeared he explained that he'd been traveling around the middle east and got stranded in Israel when he either ran out of money or lost his money. He tried working some illegal jobs to earn the cash for a ticket out, they were terrible experiences (like painting the inside of a large tanker cargo hold) and he was getting paid so little he would have had to work for months to have the money to buy a ticket. So he finally went into the US embassy and they bought him a ticket on the condition that he surrender his passport (they created a special document for him to travel home on) and he could only get it back once he paid the loan back. Now this guy was not reliable about repaying loans, so I wonder if he ever got his passport back! I doubt the USG still does this...