Passport Number Change, Existing Gol flights with old passport number

I'm getting a new passport which will give me a new passport number.

Now, I have domestic flights in Brazil already booked, and for some reason Gol always asks for passport when booking, so I entered my passport number at the time.  My new passport will not have the same number.

Any issues here?  I will also be carrying my old passport with me as it has my Brazil tourist visa.

No problems at all since you'll be carrying the old passport too. The airlines can't legally demand your passport on a domestic flight at any rate. They will huff and puff and try to intimidate whoever they can, but they still aren't above the law of the land.

The law is clear, you only need a passport for international flights, end of story. They have the legal right (and, in fact a responsibility) to confirm your identification, but that's all they can do. That can be accomplished with ANY photo ID, which satisfies the law. I ran into the same problem on a flight from Porto Seguro - BA to São Paulo and the boarding attendant flatly refused to allow me to board because I didn't have my passport. I presented photo ID (Canadian Driver's License) and she then changed the story and said it had to be a Brazilian document or the passport and wasn't backing down. I then produced the original Brazilian Certidão de Casamento, which not only had my full name, parents' names, passport and CPF numbers and even that wasn't enough to satisfy this overly officious trogladite. I then told her that I was fully aware of my legal rights and that if she continued to refuse to board me that I would not only register a complaint with the Federal Police, but also bring on a civil action naming the airline and her personally as defendants and seek both monetary and punitive damages. Still she was unmoving. When I took out my cellular phone and called the Federal Police and asked them to have one of the DPF Agents at the airport delegacia attend the gate for my formal complaint she almost swallowed her dentures, she became meek as a lamb and promptly allowed me to board. I politely reminded her at that point that she was NOT an Immigrations Officer, but rather a lowly airline employee and thanked her for her superlative demonstration of passenger service.

Problem with this country is that Brazilians NEVER complain about anything, they get treated like crap and just roll over and play dead, so anybody that serves the public thinks of themselves as being more powerful than Almighty God himself. They take full advantage of it knowing that maybe one in a thousand (and only the most informed foreigners) will ever stand up to them. The fact that they get away with it almost all of the time simply perpetuates the problem. I refuse to allow anyone to trample on my rights and I will go to the wall if need be to preserve them. I've even been known to shout down DPF Delegados when they were patently wrong, I'm polite, so as not to risk a charge of "Desacato a Autoridade",  but I stand my ground and won't back down no matter what. I've never failed to achieve the desired result.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

Interesting!  I didn't know that at all about not needing the passport for a domestic flight. 

I was in a situation a couple of years ago where we frantically ran to the airport to catch a domestic flight to Porto Alegre via Gol.  When we arrived, I realized immediately that in the hurry of things I had forgot my passport.  I felt horrible.

We asked the girl at the line for Gol if it was "ok" and she said "yeah, if you have your Canadian Driver's license, it's fine".  We went to the kiosk, and it was't working properly, so we had to get in line and get the lady at the desk to print our boarding passes.  She told me she couldn't print my pass because I needed my passport.  We argued with her for 15 minutes while she tried to find the other person that said it was ok and then check with a manager, etc.. All in all they told us no, and we didn't get our pass.  Now that I hear your experience, I would have fought harder for it.  They booked us for another flight the next day without penalty at least, but still... small consolation.

However, I'll just bring my passport from now on to save all the trouble :)

Thanks...

Check this though.

http://www.aeroportoguarulhos.net/en/departure

DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

Documents required for passengers of other nationalities
- Foreign Passport.

- National Registry of Foreign Affairs (RNE).

- Diplomatic and Consular Identity.

Interesting just how everyone here ignores one very small detail, the fact that this country actually does have a Constitution. Nothing in Brazil is above the Constitution, not the laws, not the politicians and not government or private agencies. That said, here it simply doesn't seem to matter for the simple fact that Brazilians simply don't complain when their rights are being trampled and for the most part foreigners here are just too afraid to, in order to avoid possible adverse consequences.

Art. 5

II - Nobody shall be obligated to do or not do anything, if not by virtue of law;

I really doubt that the requirement is based on law, but rather on policy. At any rate, if it is by law it is clearly unconstitutional because in itself the law violates other sections of the Constitution.

XV -Freedom of movement, in times of peace, in national territory, ANY person can, in terms of law, enter, remain, or leave it with their assets;

It has long been held by the courts in Brazil that the Federal Constitution offers the same protection to EVERY person (it does not say Brazilian or even citizen, but rather person). So nobody can violate your rights simply because you're a foreigner, not even if you're in an "irregular" migratory situation. The courts also have long held that there should be an absolute right to equal treatment. So just for that reason if nothing else requiring a foreigner to produce a passport on a domestic flight violates the Constitution, in that Brazilians may use any form of identification which bears a photo.

For the most part airports in Brazil are now privatized, despite the fact that they're subject to oversight by ANAC (Agencia Nacional da Aviação Civil) which is a government body. That notwithstanding, ANAC is also not above the Constitution and thus has no authority to create rule, regulations, policies, etc., that violate the Federal Constitution.

When you know these facts, assert them firmly and don't back down it's amazing how the story changes, and quickly.

Cheers,
James