I am a Turkish citizen, and we need a visa to visit EU member countries. You are not 100% sure if you will get the visa, so may want to make a flight and hotel reservation first, and then buy them if you get the visa. So reserving the tickets is preferred.
Maybe, but other countries still have it. Vietnamese have one of the worst passports on the planet. Their govt. won't let them leave without proof that they will come back, usually in the form of a job, cash in the bank, spouse and tour or reservation based trips.
