help needed purchasing international airline tickets
 

Hello everyone,

I live in Charlotte and a friend of mine from Brazil is coming to visit me but the airline tickets are $1,000 more expensive there. Can I purchase the tickets at my end and send her the number? How hard that is? Never done that before. Thanks.

If somebody like Expedia or the individual airline site will ticket it, then I see no reason why you couldn't do this. Just get an e-ticket and you should be all set.

The only problem is that the person traveling has to have the credit card that you used to charge the tickets in their hands when they check in at the airport-some airlines want to see that it is not a fraudulent card.(I am dealing with this with my son trying to travel from India where he is working to Germany and its a pain!)

dutyfree,

I have never in all my years of flying have been asked to show the credit card used to buy the ticket. I don't think this would be a problem at all.

Depends on the airline. I have heard of issues with UA and SQ when showing up with a ticket bought with someone's CC.

I've seen warnings which state that the credit card used for purchase should be available at check-in for close to departure bookings (doesn't mean they'll actually ask). And I wouldn't rule out the possibility for tickets originating from certain countries particularly if there are high instances of credit card fraud.

I agree it depends on the airlines. I've had LH ask us for the card. BA says its also required BUT if passenger is not the purchaser, showing the cc is not required - just the usual passport, visa, etc. Never had anyone ask at CO, KL.

For YEARS I traveled on tickets bought on a company credit card which I did not have access to. I was never asked for the credit card anyplace (and that includes several international flights)

Coming from overseas to the states is when I have been asked to see the credit card that purchased the ticket so just beware .

Credit card is not the only form of ID for picking up an eticket. In the example of tickets charged to a company credit card, something else will be used eg passport or national ID card.

If you book through a discount website the airline should have no record of what your credit card number is anyway. The ticket is not paid for with your credit card it comes from funds that the website has to buy the ticket in your name. So even if they did ask you for the credit card you used there would be no way for them to verify that without contacting the travel site. Which they wouldn't give out anyway.

As far as needing a credit card...I've never heard of that in my life. I've flown countless times and was never bothered with such a request. Same applies to people I have bought tickets for with my own credit card. International and domestic. If someone is asking to see your card I would ask for their supervisor as it sounds like something fishy is going on.

we were denied boarding on a flight - a family of 5 with younger children - because we did not have the CC with us. Appealed to supervisor and eventually made a huge scene to no avail. This was a domestic flight heading home after a great vacation. Finally had to get new tix with a CC that we had - on another flight.

I would call the airline. DH and 2 DS's are off to Utah soon, and they will take the CC that I used to buy their tickets, but I will call DL to find out what best procedure is.

"Point of Sale" restrictions apply to airfares; it's very common that a ticket for round trip travel between country A and country B is more expensive if purchased in B than in A. For example, a ticket purchased in the USA next month for Charlotte - Rio - Charlotte is $700 cheaper than one bought in Brazil for a Rio - Charlotte - Rio flight using the same airline and on the same dates. The airlines can and do charge more for flights from A to B than B to A for the same days - think Chicago < > Hawaii in January. Until 2005 there were "SITI" and "SOTO" (Situated In, Ticketed In, and Situated Out, Ticketed Out") tariff rules that permitted this differential pricing; these were abandoned but the airlines have found reliable work-arounds.

I think you'll have difficulty accomplishing what you're trying to do, but good luck. I do think your best bet is for you to purchase the ticket and be reimbursed by your friend, rather than sending your credit card information to somebody.

Odin,
When there's a credit card requirement, it's not used for ID purposes but to prevent credit card fraud.

casey_reed84,
I almost never book through third party sites, but doesn't the charge typically come through from the airline? I asked my TA to issue a ticket recently that I couldn't duplicate online and the charge for the ticket came through from UA with a separate charge from the issuing agency for their fee.

There's nothing fishy going on with asking to see the credit card used for purchase. I've had my credit card details stolen (not the card itself) and used to purchase airline tickets.

Not sure if this was already mentioned, but couldn't this be resolved if the friend from Brazil gives his/her CC details to the OP in order to make the purchase? I used my DIL's card to buy their tickets for our trip to Italy.

Some sites may not accept a credit card with a billing address in Brazil.

Momliz, something else had to be going on with your tickets or else you didn't tell us the whole story. I use one credit card almost exclusive for on-line purchases, reservations, etc. That way if that credit card is compromised I can shut it down quickly without impacting my normal credit card activity. I don't carry that card because I only used it on the internet. I have purchased international tavel, domestic, and tickets for my sons. No one has every asked for the card especially my sons.

I would think this could be done, after all, some people buy tickets for others as presents, but I have no experience with Brazil.

I've flown within the US 4-5 times in the last couple months (on 3 different airlines) and never once was asked to show a credit card for the e-ticket. They check other ID to make sure you are the person. IN fact, I seem to recall them asking me online who the traveler was going to be on the ticket.

Again, the credit card issue has nothing do to with confirming your identity. If you used someone else's credit card to pay for the ticket, that's the card they'd want to see, not a card in your name.

Not all airlines have such a policy (most probably don't). Delta only does so for close to departure bookings and elite frequent flyers are exempt. And just because they have such a policy doesn't mean it'll be enforced with any consistency so it's not surprising that the majority of passengers would never encounter this.

fmpden - it was for credit card fraud purposes. It was in Denver returning to IAD, and I was the same as you - I had one card that I used exclusively for online purchases and I deliberately left it at home. But, the small print on the ticket was pointed out to me, where it says that you need to present the card used to buy the ticket at the gate. We are a pretty average looking family, Mom, Dad and three boys. This was about 5 years ago.