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I am travelling from Australia to China to Vietnam to Cambodia to Australia. I have two passports, namely Russian and Australian (the first and last names are identical in both but the numbers are obviously different). I purchased all required air fares using my Australian passport. Later I found that as a Russian citizen I can enter and stay in Vietnam without a visa for 15 days (and as a holder of Australian passport I need to apply for a visa, which is extra $$$).

I can't see my passport number on the air ticket print-out, although they did asked for it at the time of purchase, so it might be in the databases. Does it matter that I used my Australian passport to purchase the airfare if I want to travel from China to Vietnam using my Russian passport so I can enter the country without a visa? Assuming airlines check for both passport number and the name details, should I present both passports when checking-in in China? I still have time to apply for Vietnam visa using my Australian passport, but it'd be great to learn I do not nee to.

andy
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    The airline will probably ask for your Australian passport to verify you booked the ticket. You could then show your Russian passport to prove you're allowed to enter the country. – blackbird Sep 29 '15 at 13:13
  • Does Australia do exit checks ? Make sure that leaving and entering with different passports won't get you in trouble – blackbird Sep 29 '15 at 13:14
  • Yours seems like a pretty straightforward case of travelling using two passports. The key rule to remember, is to show the same passport to the immigration officials when leaving a country as when entering (this only applies when the country has official exit checks, as I know Australia and China do). For the airline, you can show either passport, or both, whatever works best. – Greg Hewgill Sep 29 '15 at 18:41
  • You seem to be upset that your question was closed as a duplicate. This doesn't mean we don't like your question: just that you can find your answer at the linked question above. – Max Sep 30 '15 at 06:38
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    @blackbird57 in my experience it does not matter what passport one uses when checking in with the airline. The passport proves your identity, period; they don't check that it's the same passport you gave when you booked (there's even that story about the guy who found a traveling companion with the same name as his ex-girlfriend, because they broke up after buying, but before using, an around-the-world ticket. – phoog Sep 30 '15 at 08:01
  • @Max Except that it's not true, this question is not about immigration officials. I reopened it. – Relaxed Oct 01 '15 at 18:56
  • @GregHewgill If you read the question carefully, you will notice the OP had to provide the passport details when purchasing the ticket. That's unusual, are you sure the airline would accept any passport? Also, I doubt it's the case for Vietnam but some countries (most notably the US) require airlines to give them the passport details of all passengers. Again, which data would the airline use? It might create some difficulties. – Relaxed Oct 01 '15 at 19:00
  • @Relaxed: In my experience it's not unusual for airlines to require a passport number to book tickets. It's also (in my experience) not a problem to actually use passport B to enter a destination country after purchasing a ticket with passport A. However, I can't say with certainty that it's not going to be a problem anywhere. I believe the US APIS is primarily used to prevent undesirable passengers from boarding the plane in the first place, rather than to correlate with passports actually presented at the point of entry. – Greg Hewgill Oct 01 '15 at 19:08
  • @GregHewgill Sounds plausible but the fact is that the previous question does not even acknowledge the problem. I think this ought to be addressed explicitly. – Relaxed Oct 01 '15 at 19:17

1 Answers1

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Yes, you can, and you even have two options:

  1. Change the passport details attached to the airline ticket to use your Russian passport. You can likely do this online, or if not, give the call center a ring -- you will not be charged.
  2. Simply show up at the airport and check in with your Australian passport. When asked where your Vietnamese visa is, show them your Russian passport and they'll check that you don't need a visa.

In either case, follow standard process for traveling with two passports: on arrival show the Russian passport, and on departure, show the Australian passport at check-in.

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lambshaanxy
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