So you are planning to apply for a visa & when you go through the required documents you see something called “proof of accommodation” . No, this does not mean you need to submit your address proof or the rental agreement you have with your current landlord.

“Proof of accommodation” means you need to submit either hotel bookings or some other validation that your accommodation is taken care of when you are visiting the travelling country.

Update : It is now mandatory to get COVID Insurance when you travel Abroad. Click the below link to get your COVID Insurance at cost price. 

In this article we are going to explain how you can get proof of accommodation for Schengen visa (although the same is applicable for all visas) for free . In fact you will be able to get your whole visa at a fraction of the cost and save upto 30% on your travel expenses with our association with blinkvisa.com

If you already know about proof of accommodation and would like to know how you can get your flight & hotel itinerary for free then you can directly jump to How to get proof of accommodation for free ? section in this article.

What is proof of accommodation ?

As mentioned earlier, proof of accommodation is a document or certificate that ascertains that you have already made arrangements for stay when you visit a Schengen country. This document needs to be provided to the visa consulate when you apply for a visa . That means you need to book your flight & hotel before you apply for a visa.

Proof of accommodation can be either hotel vouchers, an invitation from the host with a copy of their passport (proof of sponsorship) or if you have taken a pre-paid tour package a copy of that will do.

You can get both flight itinerary and proof of accommodation from us for free. To know how read on

Why does the Visa consulate need to see proof of accommodation before travel ?

The Visa consulate wants proof of accommodation before you apply for visa application. Having a solid proof of accommodation helps the consulate determine 1 thing:

Do you have enough money to cover all your expenses abroad?

If you want to read the official statement, here it is

So proof of accommodation is used by the consulate know if you can sustain yourself in Europe for the duration of your stay.

You need to also mention the same in your personal cover letter to help the consulate determine the purpose of stay.

“The means of subsistence for the intended stay shall be assessed in accordance with the duration and the purpose of the stay and by reference to average prices in the Member State(s) concerned for board and lodging in budget accommodation, multiplied by the number of days stayed, on the basis of the reference amounts set by the Member States in accordance with Article 34(1)(c) of the Schengen Borders Code. Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation may also constitute evidence of sufficient means of subsistence.”

What this means is after you have submitted the proof of accommodation it is easier for the consulate to determine if you have enough money to sustain the duration of the trip.

The amount needed for you to get a visa varies among the schengen countries that you are planning to travel but on average, you need to have atleast EUR 100 per day of stay in Europe, after you have paid for your hotel and flight.

Which means if you are planning a 20 days trip to Schengen countries. You need to have atleast EUR 2000 in your bank.

What is certificate of accommodation ?

It is the same as proof of accommodation, It can be any one of hotel vouchers, Proof of sponsorship or a tour guide receipt. you need to attach it when you are submitting your documents for Schengen visa.

Can I bookings from booking.com or agoda.com and use that as proof of accommodation ?

Yes. You can absolutely use your bookings but there are 2 problems with this approach

Reduction in Financial Proof : You need to pay for all the hotels which would eat into your financial source & cause you problems when you apply for your visa if you do not have extra bank balance.

Risk of losing your money : Although some of the bookings on booking.com have free cancellation options, many hotels can still hold a “pre-authorisation” amount on your card which can be anything between €50 to €2000. And even if you cancel the hotel booking in 10 minutes it would take at least a month for that amount to be released back to your card. as per booking.com :

5 Reasons to not book your flight & hotel in advance before visa is approved

Loss of money if visa is rejected

There is no guarantee that your visa will be guaranteed and your visa can either be rejected or can be altogether voided due to the pandemic. It is not wise to make such a big commitment without guarantees that your visa will be approved. In case of an emergency you can always book a return flight and get back to your home country so it is not wise to commit for a hotel booking for your entire duration of stay just to show a proof of accommodation certificate.

No Flexibility to change your travel plan

If you were to book all the hotels for your travel at a time, then you will not have the flexibility to travel as you wish . What if you want to spend one more day in Berlin ? Nope you can’t since you have already booked a room in Amsterdam & So on . From a traveller’s perspective it makes a lot of sense to book your first 3 days of your travel and book the rest as you go along.

Reduces your bank balance proof

When travelling to Europe, you need to show that you have atleast EUR 80 (preferably EUr 100 ) per day of stay . If you book all your flight & hotel in advance you will be not be able to show this amount and your visa will be rejected. So it is wise to make your actual bookings only after your visa is approved.

Go where your heart takes you

This is related to the second point, but you cannot plan on a whim when you make all your bookings before your travel. What if you want to extend your trip by 5 days ? You cannot since Schengen visa is issued only for the days you mention in the cover letter.

visa is granted only for the number of days you mention in your travel plan

A common misconception is that Schengen visa is issued for 90 days which is not true. Your visa will have an expiry date and the total number of days you are allowed to stay mentioned in your itinerary. It is hence wise to add a buffer of 5 days on either side of your travel to give you flexibility when you are making your travel plan. Our hotel bookings will help you achieve the same.

How to get proof of accommodation for free ?

At travelvisabookings.com, you can get your proof of accommodation without any cost to you . We have partnered with blinkvisa.com to give all our customers not just 100%, but 200% of your booking with us as cashback. So for every dollar you spend with us you will get $2 as cashback So not only will your visa application be simpler, your whole travel will get cheaper.

With us you can convert your visa expense (including travel insurance cost), into your travel expenses.

This is how it works :

• Select any of our visa packages with us.(View our plans)
• Get 200% of your purchase value as coupon code directly to your email.
• Create account on blinkvisa.com, Use the coupon code and your account will be credited with balance.
• When you are ready to make actual purchase such as flights, hotels, activities buy from blinkvisa at cost price.
• Reduce your whole travel cost on average by 10% on flight, 20% on hotel, 15% on activities & Eurail tickets.

Is it safe to book flight, hotel & activities with Blinkvisa.com ?

The main suppliers for Blinkvisa.com are Amadeus for flights, well known hotel companies such as Expedia, Agoda, Rakuten and for activities they are partnered with Klook & Viator. Whenever you make a purchase with them, you will be given 90% of the commissions that they get from the supplier. So it is as good as making a purchase on any other website.

Blinkvisa is one of the well known travel startups in India who have been converting Indian visa expenses into travel expense for the past 3 years.

Is Blinkvisa really cheaper for flight hotel & activites compared to other online sites ?

You can find that our yourself !!. Make a casual search for flight, hotel and activities & you will find it our for yourself. The only problem is all the prices are mentioned in INR so convert it to your local currency.

A small comparison we did of hotel prices with blinkvisa when on average they were 18% cheaper

Do you provide Schengen visa assistance ?

Yes. We have been providing Schengen visa assistance from 2015 and along with flight itinerary, you can get the following service from us.

You will get 2X cashback for every dollar you spend with us to use on blinkvisa.com

• Flight Itinerary for visa (From $20)
• Hotel bookings for visa
• Travel insurance as per Schengen visa requirements (From $10)
• Personal cover letter for your visa ($10)
• Getting you a Schengen visa appointment ($10)
• Schengen visa application form filling ($10)
• Full Schengen visa assistance with flight itinerary , temporary hotel bookings, Original travel insurance, Schengen visa form filling, cover letter & verification of all documents before submitting to the embassy ($100)

Can we trust travelvisabookings ? Is travelvisabookings a scam ?

We have been in the industry from 5 years. We follow 100% refund policy if you are not happy with any of our service & you are protected by PayPal. You can compare our oldest article with the ones of our competitors. Even this article is almost 5 years !! We are the pioneers in this industry. Here is our latest order list from this month alone . Most of our orders are other travel agents

So your visa application is safe with us and what’s more, it is free.

Select pricing from our menu bar

Select the right package for you. We have an insurance option in all packages

Fill our checkout form, with your details & requirements

If you need to add additional travellers you can add them as well here. We don’t charge additional amount for kids

If you need insurance you can add insurance as well as part of your package

Click on checkout with Paypal option. Here you can even use your credit or debit card to make payment

If for some reason your payment failed, then do not worry, you can visit below link to make payment again.

Payment failed ? No problem

Can I make changes once I place the order?

Yes 100%. Each purchase on travelvisabookings will be given a minimum of 3 changes. If you have made a mistake in your order or want to change your travel plan, then drop us an email and we will make the changes for you

Can I add more traveller names in my hotel bookings?

Yes 100%. For a small fee, you can add your co-traveller’s names in your plan. Also, as a policy we will add children below 15 year in your order for free !!

How can travelvisabookings.com make hotel bookings?

We do not use any of the booking systems online, we have our own Amaedus booking system that we use to make booking for people online. This will help us consistently get the best and the most reliable service that we desire

What if my plans get cancelled? What if I want to cancel my order that I placed with you?

Then you will get 70% refund from our end.

How to make hotel reservation for visa ?

You can make hotel reservation for visa purposes on any hotel booking site by using their free cancellation policy. But be aware that you need to enter your card details and few times, the amount can be blocked.

If you wish to not risk your card, then you can make payment with us and we will handle it for you at no extra cost. But we recommend that you make actual booking for at least the first 3 days of your travel.

Can you use dummy hotel booking for visa ?

We strongly recommend not doing dummy booking for visa since your visa will be rejected. We will make actutal booking for you and the embassy will verify them and find them genuine. and your visa will be not rejected

Can we use hotel booking for Schengen visa ?

Yes you can absolutely use these bookings for Schengen visa application. Make sure that you make actual bookings for the first 3 days and use our service for the remainder of your trip.

Sponsor letter for Schengen visa

If your accommodation will be covered by a person who is living in the country where you expecting to stopover in Schengen Area then you need to attest to the diplomatic office of the relevant country having a proof or letter of sponsorship accommodation. The invitee’s letter must have his signature as well as must be approved by the local town hall or an officer.

Proof of accommodation letter from a person who is residing in the country you intend to visit.Please note that this needs to be signed and approved from their local town hall or an officer. Below a sample of how a accommodation proof for visa application would look like

your invitee would need to create a proof of accommodation letter like the one above and get it approved by a town hall. There are some countries ,especially in Europe where one needs to attach stamps close to $30. This needs to be confirmed with the town hall.