Can I book a flight with 1 passport to leave a country but on arriving at the destination country use a different passport for entry?

Question

I have 2 passports. Both passports are of the same citizenship, UK. In passport 1 have a visa for, let's say, 'country A'. In passport 2 I have a visa for 'country B'. I am living in country 'A' and want to travel to country 'B' (neither is UK). There are direct flights, it is not an issue to travel between these countries.

To leave country 'A' I must book the flight using passport 1 (same passport as I entered on and has the entry stamp / requires the exit stamp from country 'A').

When arriving in country 'B' I need to use passport 'B' as it has the correct visa. Will they question why my incoming flight booking was made using a different passport?

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Thanks everyone for the answers.

Countries A and B are India and China. It appears China will be opening up again soon / reducing restrictions on flights. I just realised it actually becomes more complicated if I book a return ticket.

From my experience for flights to India and China I have always been required to submit passport details during booking flight tickets. And as I mentioned earlier when leaving a country (with visa / entry stamps in your passport) you must use the same passport as you entered with, otherwise their system will not link the different passport numbers and you could face an issue when returning (because it would look like you never left).

Answer 1

I don't have experience with two passports from the same country, but I have two passports from different countries, and I frequently use different passports on different portions of an itinerary booked all on one ticket. This has never been a problem. This of course does not mean that it won't be a problem for you, but you have several options to address any problems that might arise.

First, the booking is not -- or at least should not be -- tied to your passport but to you. The passport that they'll submit to the destination country is the one that you check in with for that flight, not the one that you submitted with your booking (indeed, in many cases it is not necessary to submit passport information when booking a flight).

Second, if the airline for some reason requires you to check in for the flight to country A with the passport that bears the visa for country B (or vice versa), you can most likely still present the other passport to the immigration inspector when you arrive. If the difference in passport number raises some alarm because that isn't the passport they received in the advance passenger information, you can show both passports. (In fact, many countries allow this as a matter of routine when the valid visa is in an expired passport.)

As long as you're not trying to deceive anyone, as long as countries A and B are okay with your holding the other country's visa, and as long as you have these two passports legitimately, all of which seem to be the case, you shouldn't have a problem, and, in the unlikely event that one arises, you should be able to resolve it fairly easily.

Answer 2

I do this regularly. French citizens can have 2 passports, a facility I have been using for 2 decades. Only once have I been asked about the discrepancy – and that was not about the number I input in the reservation – Immigration usually doesn't have that information – but because the officer in country B couldn't find the exit stamp from country A. I showed him my other passport, he saw the stamp, and said "Okay!".

Answer 3

While this is an old question, this may still be useful for future readers:

• For ages, you did not need to provide passport info at all when booking a flight, and this is still the case in many situations.
• The first reason airlines started requiring passport info is that some destination countries requested it, so they could do some checks before you even boarded, about your eligibility to enter the country. This is called Advance Passenger Information, known as API or APIS and probably a few other names.
• This is often linked to programs like ETA/ESTA/eVisitor, where they will check that you either do not need a visa at all (e.g. national of the country) or have a visa or ETA/ESTA. It may also be linked to implementation of no-fly lists.
• In a few cases they will also use the information for exit records (in countries like the UK or the US where there’s no exit passport control, they just record exits), but they are usually able to match records without full passport info, full name and date of birth are usually sufficient for them. Sometimes even less, as many flights to do require any API information at all, so the airlines provide only the info they have on the manifest.
• There is usually no obligation to provide API info when booking or at any time prior to check-in (or even boarding). For the countries which do require API, you will not be permitted to board without that info (and a positive response from the destination country), but before that, nobody cares.

So:

• You probably don’t need to provide any information when booking
• When you provide the info, whether during booking, check-in, or boarding, provide the info for the destination country. The latest passport you submit will overwrite any previous ones (even for people with a single passport, passports do get lost, stolen or renewed…).
• Exit passport control (i.e. with an officer sitting behind a desk asking for your passport and often putting stamps into it), when it exists, is independent from airline processes: provide the relevant passport for the country you are leaving (usually the one you entered with). Sometimes they’re a bit overzealous and ask about how you will enter the destination country, just show the other passport if requested.
• If there’s no exit passport control, at best you don’t have to do anything, at worst they will ask you about the other passport, and you just show it to them at that point. You may want to check that your exit has been properly recorded (e.g. check your I-94 status in the US) after a couple of days, and/or keep proof of your exit (boarding pass) in case questions arise in the future because they couldn’t match you (but that probably requires unusual circumstances like different spellings/names).
• When you get to the destination country, show the passport relevant for that country (that country’s passport, a passport from a country which allows you visa-free entry, or a passport with a relevant visa in it). This should be the same as the one you have the airline.

So, in OP’s case:

• Provide passport B to airline during booking and check-in. If they ask why you don’t have an entry stamp (or visa or whatever may be in passport A), show passport A.
• When going through exit passport control, show passport A. If they ask how you will enter the destination country, show passport B.
• When going through passport control at your destination, show passport B.

Of course, this all presumes neither country involved has a problem with you having another passport. Not the case of the OP since both passports are for the same country (and isn’t a national of either country involved), but more of a problem with dual-nationals travelling to/from one of their two citizenship countries, if that country does not accept dual citizenship (e.g. China, but even there it seems their stance has softened, YMMV).

Other than those cases, both airlines and passport control officers are used to people with multiple passports and won’t bat an eye. Unless of course your first passport says your name is James Bond, the second one says your name is Jason Bourne, your third one says your name is Jack Ryan…