Manila to London

[steve monty]

I just wondered what other people done when buying tickets for their wives or fiance to here in the UK from Philippines. Did you buy your tickets here? If so, I thought she had to have the credit card which it was purchased with at check in? Or did you send money over to purchase there?

I know there have been a lot of granted visas here at this forum Maybe you could give us advice on how you went about it. cheers everyone!!

[lastlid]

What we have done is book through an agent here in the UK. That way, so it seems, my wife doesnt have to show my credit card or card detail at Manila airport.

My understanding is that if you book directly with the airline, from here in the UK, then they will ask for the credit card used for payment at the check in in Manila.. That happened to me in June when I booked directly with Etihad, for example.

[RickyR]

Only some airlines require you to present the credit card used, however if you book through a travel agent (including online travel agent) rather then the airline direct, then this isn't necessary at all, although the travel agent may want you to provide a photocopy of your passport and credit card.

Airlines also accept a photocopy of the card at checkin (except Etihad).

Another option, if you want to make life easy for yourself, request you credit company for a second card for your fiance/wife in her name. This is just assigned to your account, and book the card using this. I do this for my wife.

It's generally cheaper and easier to book tickets online from here. Use websites such as kayak, travelsupermarket etc to search.

[Englishman2010]

As a word of caution, it's not just Filipina's they ask to see the credit card you booked with. A few months ago I was flying with RBA from Manila to Bandar Seri Begawan, I'd booked the flight on line with RBA. The counter check in girl at NAIA asked to see the card I'd booked with. As it was a round trip back to MNL, she also asked to see a copy of my Cathay Pacific ticket out of The Philippines so that I couldn't break the 21 day rule. Fortunately I had everything in my hand baggage. The RBA check in girl did the same thing in Brunei when I was leaving there en route to the Philippines

[lastlid]

Yep. I also got caught out with Etihad as they wouldnt let me do the advanced check in the night before. I had to wait till much nearer the actual flight before I could check in and then I had to present my credit card. Like I said, I had booked with Etihad directly.

Note. They werent very helpful when I phoned them about not being able to do the advanced check in the evening before.

[RickyR]

I had a nightmare issue with Etihad, I was in a rush travelling from Manila to the UK, and I booked a business class ticket using my bosses credit card. the booking went through, but then the following morning was suspended. I said that i could provide a copy of the card and passport as per the website requirements, but they said that the credit card holder with the credit card must attend an Etihad Airways office. We cancelled the booking, and made the same booking again straight away through expedia for the same price.
Problem solved!

[lastlid]

Funny you should say that, Ricky, as I used Expedia to book my wifes ticket from Manila to Manchester, the other day. And it was the same price as KLMs price. Yes. They assured me that my wife would not have to present my credit card or card detail.

I enjoyed the Etihad flight in June, but they sure did hack me off with their overcautuous requirements. I mean I had already paid for the flight weeks back and they chose to check my ID at the time of checking in.

[steve monty]

I was actually thinking of getting Madel to fly with Etihad!

It was the only flight which had a short lay over and cheap. There were more expensive flights but with all round travel time of around 25-30 hours!! I wanted to get the wife a short lay over so not get bored. This was searching with Expedia and Kayak. travelsupermarket to fly from were all UK airports, I could not put Manila.

[lastlid]

I was actually thinking of getting Madel to fly with Etihad!

It was the only flight which had a short lay over and cheap. There were more expensive flights but with all round travel time of around 25-30 hours!! I wanted to get the wife a short lay over so not get bored. This was searching with Expedia and Kayak. travelsupermarket to fly from were all UK airports, I could not put Manila.

Steve....
I guess your wife must be flying to London. As the stopover in Amsterdam is much shorter with KLM than with Etihad for us (2.5 hours compared with 4). Ethihad is considerably cheaper than KLM to Manchester, one way. But in our case I am meeting my wife in Amsterdam. And she isnt too keen on flying on an Arab airline for some reason.

You say you could not put Manila. How do you mean? I simply phoned Expedia and they booked the ticket from Manila as the point of origin.

[scott&ligaya]

Hi Steve, have you checked with Qatar, short stop over in Doha, got excellent one way prices in May for my honey and our little ones and they were most helpful with the little angels so god rep from me

[stevie c]

Hi msteve i transferred money from my account here in the uk to my wifes bank in the phils. She then withdrew the money & them went to the travel agent & booked her flight all she had to do was return to the travel agent the next day to collect her ticket

[stevie c]

Hi Steve, have you checked with Qatar, short stop over in Doha, got excellent one way prices in May for my honey and our little ones and they were most helpful with the little angels so god rep from me

I agree with scott my wife flew with Qatar & everything went to plan they wre very helpfull especially as it was my wifes first time to fly

[stevewool]

what we did steve , was to send the money to emma and she booked the flight herself through a friend who works in a travel company the flight was the same price that i paid , we used etihad and all went well too

[malditako]

my husband send me the money and i booked the flight straight to emirates airlines office in makati

[Moy]

while the husband in the UK HE BOOK the flight for the 5 of us.. but worthy at the end

[alanmf1]

Steve,
I booked Lyns flight on line with Qatar!
Short stop over and many Filipinos on the flight to UAE!
Hope all goes well!

[lastlid]

Bit of a mystery solved here. According to KLM, who don't ask for credit card presentation at check in, some airlines choose to verify at the point of check in like for example Etihad. And some do their verification checks beforehand.

A good reason to not use Etihad to pay for a spouses ticket from Manila, if paying from the UK with a credit or debit card.

[sars_notd_virus]

My husband booked and paid via http://www.opodo.com/ Cathay Pacific-HK / British Airways HK-London Heathrow (17hours) ... a little bit more expensive but worth it

[tone]

I ended up using Emirates and went to Birmingham purchased the ticket (using my credit card) was issued an E-Ticket which I emailed to her.
Emirates drove me mad to be honest but we got there in the end!

basically the issue was if I purchased on the internet then Rain would have to show the credit card it was booked on.
But an over the counter transaction was seen as a cash sale so thats the way it went.

Good luck mate

Tone

[DaveUK]

When I paid for Yam's ticket with Cathay for her flight to the UK, I checked with Cathay and all they wanted was for me to complete an authorisation form saying she was flying, but I'd paid with my card. As a precaution, I also gave her a photocopy of my card as that was mentioned by Cathay's customer services, but they never asked for it at check-in.

[ana07cutiepie]

hi to all, I can relate to this situation also.

During my first experience of travel in Thailand last year. My bf booked me a ticket with thai airways when I checked in the girl in the check in counter won't let me because she was asking for a copy of the credit card which I don't have and so my bf talked to that girl via phone and confirming that he is the owner of the card and bla bla bla but then the girl won't let me fly as she said it is one of their rules which we obviously don't know so it was all wasted. Then now my question is that my bf booked me a flight to Austria with the Qatar airways with a travel agent. Do I still need to show a credit card?? and there was little mistake of the title it was Mrs. instead of Miss/Ms. Is that also a problem??
Please guys enlighten me

[RickyR]

If the booking was made and paid for via a travel agent, you shouldn't (I won't say won't, because there is a 0.0001% chance i'm wrong on this) need to provide any credit card details. The title whether its Mrs Ms. Captain, Doctor, Sheikh, Queen, etc doesn't matter at all, since your passport only details your name

[ana07cutiepie]

If the booking was made and paid for via a travel agent, you shouldn't (I won't say won't, because there is a 0.0001% chance i'm wrong on this) need to provide any credit card details. The title whether its Mrs Ms. Captain, Doctor, Sheikh, Queen, etc doesn't matter at all, since your passport only details your name

Thanks for the good advice RickyR

I guess much better if I will send the airline an email asking if credit card is needed or not if I booked it via a travel agent. So I'll be safe

[lastlid]

Yep. We booked via Expedia (KLM ) and my wife is in the air right now. No problems with credit card verifications.

[ana07cutiepie]

I got a reply from the Qatar Airways


Credit card verification is mandatory upon check-in for
e-tickets that are paid online only.

[RickyR]

which still doesn't really answer the question. I'd take a copy anyway, but I honestly don't think you'll be asked. I'm almost certain their reply is a standard one referring to purchased online on their website. Essentially when you pay for a booking via a travel agent i.e. expedia, you pay expedia and they pay the airline. So the airline would have expedia's financial details on its system/credit card details and not yours.
Take a copy anyway, it doesn't hurt.