Question: My partner and I are (were) ticketed from Toronto to Prague on April 30. Her last name was misspelled on my Hotwire booking; the first letter of her last name was omitted. Hotwire will not change the spelling from arnett to Barnett.
I called Hotwire when I noticed it in early April. They said they would put a note on the file and suggested I call the airlines. There was no hint of alarm until I called Air Canada. Then it got scary. Air Canada was helpful in that they found me a guy in the SWISS call center in Capetown, but for some reason he was unable to rebook the flights with the correct name.
The airlines are threatening not to let her on board. I need to rebook full fare, they say. This is unbelievable! Can you suggest if there is any regulation that can help her fly from Toronto to Prague with a capital letter B?
Greater Toronto Airports Authority
A reader and her partner were almost kept off their flight from Toronto to Prague by a misspelled name on one ticket. To avoid the same type of hassle, read confirmation emails as soon as you get them to confirm accuracy.
Greater Toronto Airports Authority
A reader and her partner were almost kept off their flight from Toronto to Prague by a misspelled name on one ticket. To avoid the same type of hassle, read confirmation emails as soon as you get them to confirm accuracy.
—Alison Kemper, Toronto
Answer: Kemper's plea landed in my inbox the day before the pair's flight to Prague. Name problems on airline tickets can be tricky and time consuming to resolve. Would Hotwire be able to fix this ticketing problem on such short notice so they could take their long-awaited trip?
Officially, name changes are not allowed on airline tickets because tickets are not transferable from one passenger to another. This stricture isn't specific to booking sites like Hotwire or any single airline, but rather an industry rule intended to prevent fraud and ensure security. This airline axiom says once you book under a particular name, that's it.
"Flight regulations are very stringent in today's environment, and oftentimes the airlines themselves are governed by very rigid policies to ensure they comply," a Hotwire representative tells Traveler's Aide.
Of course in practice it's not always so black and white. Some airlines will grant exceptions in cases when a passenger legally changes his or her name and can provide documentation, for example, or in the case of obvious typographical errors. It's important to note that airlines make the decision on name adjustments, not the travel agency. More often than not, however, airlines will merely insert a note into the passenger name record (PNR) clarifying the issue without actually changing the name on the ticket.
Certainly the lowercase last name arnett seems like a no-brainer candidate for a typo exception. When Kemper first called Hotwire about the typo, the travel site's customer service team did contact SWISS to ask about adjusting the name, according to Hotwire. But although Kemper and arnett's, or rather Barnett's, tickets were issued by SWISS, their round-trip itinerary also had segments on Air Canada, Lufthansa, and Continental, and apparently they wouldn't all consent to put that capital B in place.
"Each partner has to agree to the name change independently before SWISS can reissue the ticket," says a Hotwire representative.
Hotwire did put a note in Barnett's PNR, and suggested that she call the airlines to ensure they did the same. But that was no guarantee Barnett could board her flight. The stakes would be higher once her trip was underway: It's one thing to be stuck in her hometown, but quite another to be kept off a flight in Frankfurt or Prague if an agent balked at the missing B. She could then be forced to buy a new one-way ticket to get home.
Kemper and Barnett were legitimately worried about that scenario. She had two choices: Either try flying with the typo on her ticket and hope all four airlines and security in three different countries would let her through, or buy an expensive new ticket at the last minute and forfeit the old one.
But at the 11th hour, Hotwire resolved the issue. The travel site contacted SWISS once again. The airline told Hotwire's customer service department that the name change would not be allowed by all the participating carriers, according to Hotwire. But the airline offered another solution. It agreed to refund Kemper and Barnett's tickets. They were able to book new tickets at the last minute and depart on their trip close to their original schedule.
How can you avoid trouble?
Double check names when booking tickets, both online and on the phone. Read through the details before clicking the purchase button, or ask the phone agent to read back the spelling of all names to you. You'll spare yourself a lot of grief—and cold, hard cash—if you make sure you have all names spelled correctly, without typos, and with the correct last name. You'd be surprised how often newlyweds end up with ticket hassles over last name changes, for example.
Read your confirmation e-mail carefully as soon as you get it to make sure name details are right. You may be able to cancel a retail airline ticket within 24 hours of purchase. The longer you wait to address the error, the harder it will be to resolve—and probably the more expensive new tickets will be.
If you spot a mistake on your ticket, contact the airline immediately. If you have a maiden name-married name mismatch, ask if the carrier makes exceptions to the no-changes policy. If you can't get a minor typo fixed, ask the airline to put a note in your PNR. On departure day, show up early to the airport and bring extra ID to prove your identity.
Read previous columns
Linda Burbank first began troubleshooting travelers' complaints for the Consumer Reports Travel Letter. She now writes regularly for Consumers Unionpublications and is a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. E-mail her at travel@usatoday.com. Your question may be used in a future column.
