I bought a business class return ticket from Brussels to Bangkok for my wife and daughter this coming July.

Just checking the seats were together amidships I then received confirmation of the seat numbers.

In that message was a paragraph which said

"THE PICTURE IDENTIFICATION, INCLUDING CREDIT CARD USED FOR ANY PURCHASE BY PHONE OR INTERNET, SHALL BE PRESENTED AT CHECK-IN."

I contacted Thai Airways and said that I just saw this notice when asking for the seat numbers.

But you must have seen it when you paid for the seats. It is stated very clearly. So I went through the booking system again and no - it was not there. Phoned TG - "Oh yes but it is in "Rules and Conditions".

Oh yes well one always checks those. In the end if you go into Rules and Conditions, go to the section Ticketing and then a sub-sub section "Regulations" you come to a form for those silly enough to buy a ticket for someone else with Thai Airways.

Now I have to make certified copies of credit cards, ID card, Passport and tickets to hand in to Thai Airways in Brussels.

I am flying Austrian Air twelve days earlier - so I checked with Austrian - NO they don't have such a rule.

Have any other TV members experienced this problem? Is it only Thai Airways?

Yes, I have experienced this and many airlines have the same rule.

Wasn't a problem for me previously as the online travel agent took care of it all. I was only required to send copies, by email, of my passport page and front and rear of my credit / debit card to the agent.

My wife boarded Thai Airways in BKK with no problem whatsoever.

http://www.thaiair.com/booking/non_pax_traveler.html

Nothing new, normal for Thai Airways

And as you said in your post, it was in the rules & conditions

That link might help. You can sort it out by using the form on the page

Third party payments where someone else's credit card is used to purchase a ticket for another person and the credit card holder is not going to travel is how the airlines get targeted for fraud. They normally find out at some point after the flight has taken place and the fraudster is long gone. The return sector won't be used. Because of this the airlines are cautious about third party payments. They don't want to be scammed. If you had tried to book ticket to Lagos for your wife, most airlines wouldn't even accept the booking. Cash is never a problem though.

It is also totally normal in cases like yourself and completely legit. You just need to follow whatever procedure the airline asks for to prove there is no scam going on. Are you in Brussels? Have you visited the office in person with the card?

If you book through an agent the airline will be more relaxed or not even bothered. If the booking turns out to be fraudulent the agent will have to pay for the ticket in full so there will be no loss to the airline. The agent will want to be satisfied its all legit in this case.

Paying with cash or bank transfer can solve all the third party payment hassles.

this is VERY common mainly among Asian airlines and most people who fly just that tad little more know about it. The reason is not that hard to fathom: rampant cred-crd fraud. Main sources for that are Taiwan and Malaysia. Also still has to do with the old-fashioed unsafe way they still sue VISA and the like.

Yep it's a hassle with Thai when you book online for someone else

Yes, usually just passed my credit card to the traveler in case for verification.