The hotel booking or dummy hotel booking for a Schengen visa is authentic proof of paper that is required for backpackers or van travelers( van traveling is something that you visit the whole destinated Schengen country by using van (A home type van)). But in both cases, you need to submit a hotel booking along with your visa application for visa approval.
A dummy hotel reservation is simply a hotel booking specifically used for the purpose of getting a visa. The booking is created depending on your travel dates and once you know the outcome of your visa application, the hotel reservation dates can be changed or the booking can be cancelled if your visa gets rejected. The added advantage of getting a dummy hotel reservation is you do not pay for the hotel up front, so you will not lose any money if your visa gets rejected. There is just a basic service charge to the travel agent who does everything for you.
Why Do You Need Dummy Hotel Bookings for Visa Applications?
There are several answers to this question.
First of all, let us touch upon the main reason for the need for dummy hotel bookings for visa applications: On most embassy website, you will find a list of requirements that you need for your visa application. On each of these requirement lists, you will find a few requirements that are the same for almost all countries:
- a hotel booking or reservation for your entire intended stay
- a flight reservation with return flight
It is not exactly clear why the embassies require this information, because on the same page you will usually find a sentence stating, “It is advised against purchasing any tickets before the visa application has been approved.” It can be argued that this might be an outdated requirement, dating from the time when visa agents would book and hold the ticket for you until you confirmed that you wanted it. The other argument is that the embassy and visa officer do need to know your intended travel dates so they can approve your visa accordingly. No matter what the reason behind this requirement though, it is still mandatory and still a requirement you need to oblige to.
In other words; the embassies want proof of a reservation of both your flights and hotels, but they do not want you to actually pay for anything yet (in case your application is rejected).
As per the Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of The European Parliament and of The Council of 13 July 2009, establishing a Community Code on Visas known as “Visa Code”, Proof of Accommodation is a rule of the visa application procedure that each Schengen country ought to apply to their foreign visa seekers.
You can get a dummy hotel booking for Schengen visa is by spending very little cost instead of spending a huge amount to buy a complete hotel room. Embassy or consulate recommended attaching a dummy hotel booking along with your visa application, because if you attach a complete hotel stay and your visa is denied then you will be lost a huge chunk of money. So, always attach valid proof of accommodation/hotel booking with your Schengen visa application, which may lead increase in your visa approval chance.
However, there are specialized companies such as Schengen Visa Itinerary that will support your visa application by providing you with a dummy hotel booking confirmation for a small fee. This service is completely safe and is the most inexpensive way of dealing with hotel bookings prior to obtaining your visa.
They also offer Flight Reservation and affordable Travel Insurance to complete your visa requirements.
Flight Itinerary 