Dakar's Blaise Diagne International Airport (DSS) is where a lot of onward-ticket problems for Senegal start, because the airline desk checks your exit before you ever board. A dummy ticket, also called an onward ticket, is a real PNR booked for visa or border-check purposes without paying for the flight. Find your time window below and act.

If you have a week or more

Good. This is the easy version.

Open your own government's entry guidance for Senegal. British passport holders can read the UK government's Senegal entry requirements; other countries publish similar pages. Note what it says about visas, passport validity and health documents, and write down the date you read it.

Then decide your exit. Pick a date inside the stay you expect and a route that leaves Senegal. Book the temporary reservation now, not the night before. A week gives you time to fix a typo in a name.

Use the spare days well. Check that every name on the booking matches the passport letter for letter, including middle names if your passport shows them. Look at your connections as well. If you transit another country, its rules can apply too, and the desk at your first airport may look at the whole itinerary.

Action: read the page, pick the date, get the booking, and verify the name against your passport.

If you have 24 hours

Narrow, but workable.

Skip the research spiral. Do three things in order. Confirm your passport details. Get a verifiable booking that departs Senegal inside your expected stay. Check it on the airline's own site so you know the reference works. Our guide to onward ticket versus return ticket helps if you're unsure which one the desk wants.

Print one copy. Save a PDF. Email it to yourself.

One more check. Make sure the departure date isn't before your arrival date. It sounds silly, and it happens when people rush. Make sure the airport codes are right too. DSS is Dakar; a typo sends the story somewhere else.

Action: book, verify, print. Then sleep.

If you're at the airport now

Short sentences. Calm hands.

The check-in agent is probably using the IATA Timatic database to compare your documents with Senegal's entry conditions. They want a reason to say yes. Give them one.

Ask politely what they'd accept as proof of onward travel. Then get it. A booking you can show on a phone in 10 to 15 minutes is often enough to keep the conversation going, as long as the name matches your passport and the reference is real.

Don't argue. Don't improvise a story. Say where you're going and show the document.

If the queue is long, step aside and let others through. You'll think better away from the counter. Keep your passport, your visa documents and your phone together in one hand, so nothing gets lost while you're working on it.

Action: ask what they accept, produce the booking, confirm the name.

If they've already refused you

Stay calm. A refusal at the desk is not the end of the trip.

Ask the agent, politely, exactly what was missing. Was it the exit booking, a visa, a name mismatch? Each has a different fix. If the problem is the exit proof, you can usually solve it on the spot with a verifiable booking and a quick re-check. If it's a visa or authorisation, you need the proper channel, and no ticket will fix that.

Keep the agent's wording. It tells you which rule applied. Ask whether you can be rebooked or whether the desk can recheck once you've fixed it.

For the wider question of what officers notice, see whether immigration can tell a dummy ticket.

Action: ask what was missing, fix that exact item, request a recheck.

If you've landed and the officer asks

You're in front of the officer. Keep it brief.

Answer the questions asked. Where are you staying? How long? Where next? Give the same city that's on your booking. If the officer asks to see your exit proof, hand over the printed copy or open the PDF.

If something doesn't match, don't argue at the booth. Say what is true and ask what they'd accept. Many questions end there.

Remember that officers handle many arrivals. A clear, quiet answer is the fastest route out of the hall. Keep your hotel confirmation handy as well, since the first questions often concern where you're sleeping tonight.

Action: short answers, matching documents, no side stories.

A word on honesty

A dummy ticket is a real booking you haven't paid for as a flight. It isn't a forgery, and it shouldn't be presented as one. Your plan to leave should be genuine, and if your plans change, extend your stay through the proper official channel rather than leaning on an old reservation.

This is general guidance, not legal or immigration advice. Check the current rules with your government, your airline and the Senegalese authorities before you fly.

If you need the booking right now, get your dummy ticket here.