Passport and maiden name vs. married name (Lucky Air)

My wife bought a flight ticket (Lucky Air) under her Thai maiden name and was issued a Chinese visa on her new Thai passport but with her French married name (due to administrative requirements). She was denied boarding by the airline in Bangkok for the flight to Kunming—resulting in the loss of our round-trip flight tickets, including mine since we were traveling together—despite presenting both passports at the airline counter at the same time.

🤪 Always book with the full name as it appears on your passport!! The issue comes up especially for Portuguese and Brazilian travelers, whose passport names can be really long!!

Hi there, No, you don’t always have to book with the name that’s in angle brackets...

That seems normal to me. They already struggle with our first names, so a complete change won’t go over well. In China, I always buy my flight tickets at the airport. On the other hand, in Laos or Thailand, you can trust the agencies. Never travel with low-cost airlines—they’re unreliable.

Yes, it’s actually "normal" because it also depends on the airline’s IQ... since some have no trouble making the change despite the "great" complexity of the problem. Anyway, for China and given the absence of Google in this very modern country, it’s probably best to go to the airport to have a chance of being understood.

And even at Kunming Airport, the ladies at the ticket delivery office called their supervisor, who spoke English well and resolved the issue in ten minutes. It's not easy to buy tickets from Europe. I only buy my round-trip ticket. The rest is done on the spot as needed.

It’s not easy buying tickets from Europe. I only buy my round-trip ticket. The rest is done on the spot as needed.

Hi there,

Are you talking about flight tickets for domestic flights in China? On the contrary, it’s super easy on trip.com (formerly ctrip.com) or elong.net, no matter where you are in the world.

Hi there,

Could someone clarify how to get one of these two sites to work? Without Google and not speaking Chinese, it’s not exactly straightforward.

Hi François, We’re back from a 30-day independent trip to China for two. I can confirm what Marathon said. The Chinese app Trip.com in English is great for buying flight or train tickets and booking hotel rooms. It’s accessible from any country and, of course, in China too. You can download it on your phone from the Play Store like any other app. Best regards.

Hello,

Could you help me figure out how to access one of these two sites? Without Google and not speaking Chinese, it’s not straightforward.

Hi there,

To find a Chinese website in China, why not use a Chinese search engine? In China, www.baidu.com is your best bet.

Hi Philippe, My young tech-savviness here in China isn’t enough to let me access the Play Store on my Huawei tablet (no Google, as you know), so I can’t get to those amazing sites. For my next trip, I won’t have these issues anymore. That said, I still really enjoy exploring this fascinating country on my own. Qïnqié (simplified Chinese)

When I'm in China, I make sure to download Baidu as my search engine and antivirus before leaving. It's really comprehensive, and yet I don’t speak or read Chinese.

Thanks for this really helpful info—it’ll come in handy for my next trip.

Hi there,

Thank you for this really helpful info—it’ll come in handy for my next trip!

You can also use Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, which works perfectly without a VPN and can be set to any language, including French.

Yes, it’s "normal" because it must also depend on the airline’s IQ....... since some have no trouble making the change despite the "great" complexity of the issue.

It’s not about IQ—it’s the immigration regulations of each country that dictate what airlines can do. Different destinations, different rules. Domestic flights are always easier; international ones rarely are.

Finally, for China, given the absence of Google in this very modern country, it’s probably best to go to the airport to have any chance of being understood.

It’s not about modernity—the Chinese just don’t accept that a foreign entity can spy on citizens’ social habits, read their emails, etc., with no legal recourse against the company in case of abuse.

Hello and thanks for your reply—it helps me learn a bit more about this fascinating country.

My wife bought a flight ticket (Lucky Air) under her Thai maiden name and was issued a Chinese visa on her new Thai passport but with her French married name (due to administrative requirements). She was denied boarding by the airline in Bangkok for Kunming (resulting in the loss of our round-trip tickets and mine since we were traveling together), despite presenting both passports at the airline counter.

Hi, this doesn’t surprise me at the moment in China. Arriving in Beijing, then heading to Xi’an, Yunnan, and Guilin, it’s become really frustrating every time we take a train or plane. - I travel under my legal name, e.g., Martin, but my passport says, for example, "Martin née Durand," and there are issues every time. It’s the only country where this is a problem!! Clearly, they’re being overly strict because many officials don’t understand foreigners. (In China, absolutely all trips are checked and linked to Chinese ID cards or passports.) Usually, it gets resolved—they call the supervisor, etc.—but often at the last minute! Another issue is the passport number: should we include the last one printed at the bottom or not? Anyway, my next passport will only have my legal name!!