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I found a thread on NomadForum.io discussing OnwardFlights.com and FlyOnward.com, both services seem legit as many people on that thread have used them.

EDIT: FlyOnward.com now stopped working - see answers for more info

Each company provides the same service in appearance, but there seem some confusion.

User "lonelyblogger" wrote:

flyonward.com I booked a test ticket from Thailand to Vietnam and they sent me a Vietnam Airlines ticket from Bangkok to Ho Chi Ming city, the code was valid when I checked with VNA's website. I love it

Then user "andrewkent" wrote:

I just used onwardflights.com [...] I provided them with the confirmation number and date of the flight, the agent punched it into her computer, and she handed me my boarding pass without asking any other questions.

Finally, user "lonelyblogger" wrote:

I used both. Onwardflights.com photoshops tickets, Flyonward.com books real tickets. Onwardflights is cheaper for a reason.

I'm not sure if that last quote makes sense though as user "andrewkent" wrote before that he used this service and "the agent punched it into her computer". You would think that at that point the agent would find out if the ticket was fake? Or maybe she was not checking the data, just adding it as reference in her airline's database. Confusing.

The question that really matters: do both company provide a flight confirmation that can then be checked later on (i.e. by immigration or airport staff, when leaving or entering a country)?

If you know more: is there any difference in the service provided? Any details on these services/companies would be appreciated.

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    It seems you found a straighforward explanation yourself, is there any reason not to believe it? It's not about the “quality of service”, one of them produces falsified tickets, the other real tickets you won't use, a different kind of fraud. It's up to you to decide which one you want to commit. I would not use either if you are going to a country where officials could be expected to verify your info and care about it (as opposed to countries with “pretend regulations” that just want to see some official-looking document).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Nov 26, 2015 at 7:55
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    Is advice on defrauding immigration officials within travel.se's purview?
    – Urbana
    Commented Nov 26, 2015 at 8:14
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    I used flyonward.com three times in the last 7 weeks. In all three cases I got real confirmed flight reservations which I could verify on the airlines' websites. Only in one case an immigration officer actually wanted to see a ticket on arrival. Showing him the PDF on a phone was enough. I have not used onwardflights, so I can't answer your question
    – Peter Hahndorf
    Commented Nov 26, 2015 at 10:48
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    @AdrienBe In many countries it would be illegal to mislead the immigration inspector as to your intentions, whether or not the PNR exists. The other point is that, my suspicion is that, despite claims to the contrary, this website is generating a PNR, not a ticketed reservation (hence the auto cancellation after 48 hours), which may fall foul of a very strict interpretation of the rules. Also, why any airline allows a travel agent to abuse its reservation system like this is a bit of a surprise as well. Qatar's revenue management team would blow its lid if this was happening on their system.
    – Calchas
    Commented Nov 26, 2015 at 13:36
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    @AdrienBe A PNR (passenger name record) is a database record on the airline's computer that holds the information about you and your flights. But crucially it is a separate system to ticketing, which are financial documents. It is possible to create a "confirmed" reservation on a flight for a particular person, get the 4 to 6 digit alphanumeric code (the PNR reference) and see the flight on the website without actually having paid for it or actually having a ticket. The computer will usually delete the PNR if a ticket is not attached to it within a few days.
    – Calchas
    Commented Nov 26, 2015 at 14:21

2 Answers 2

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Appears flyonward.com no longer deliver the tickets.

flyonwards.com buys fully refundable tickets in your name and automatically cancels the ticket 24 or 48 hours afterwards, depending on your selection. You receive the receipt and ticket from the airline.

In regards to the legality of it, it's exactly the same as buying a fully refundable ticket from a travel agent (here flyonwards) and cancelling it later on.

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    FYI: Three of us were traveling from Singapore to Bali. We all received payment confirmation, but no ticket. The support is dead silent (it's been like ~10 days now). Strange thing is that my colleagues were buying tickets from them previously without any issues. At this moment, I would advise against using this service!
    – redacted
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 8:07
  • Weird. I have used them a dozen times, and they always came through for me. However I haven't used them recently. Let's hope it's just a temporary problem.
    – Sylver
    Commented Sep 30, 2017 at 8:54
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    Be warned that there are many, many reviews of flyonward.com that describe it as taking your money without delivering a ticket. I'd guess that whatever ticket booking system it formerly used has cottoned on to its mass ticket cancelling shenanigans and blocked it from buying tickets, and whoever maintains it has just left it up in a broken state
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Oct 28, 2017 at 12:47
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    Confirmed. I used flyonward.com in Nov 2017. I never received my plane ticket.
    – Adriano
    Commented Mar 5, 2018 at 11:13
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flyonward.com is now dead and redirects to an insecure squatted site.

But I discovered a new competitor at onwardfly.com that charges $9.99 for what seems to be the same service that onwardflights.com provides for $7.00.

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