Name change on Flight - your thoughts ?

[Debz-L-]

Ok here goes: -

I booked flights 12 days ago flying with US Airways, upon making the booking I was asked for names etc. For the party of 5, one of which was my younger 12 year old cousin.

Upon receiving my tickets 3 days ago, I realised I had given the wrong surname for my cousin (in all the excitement and rush !!!!.

To cut a long story short his mum died 7 yrs ago, he has not had contact with his father and my mother has brought him up. He has gone by our surname (and that of his late mothers ) for 7 years now at school, doctors etc, - BUT I had stupidly forgotten that his name registed at birth was on his birthlines and passport still.

I contacted the travel agent without delay upon receiving the tickets and they got back to me today :-

I was told by the agent that US Airways do not permit name changes but after a fight they agreed to look at the situation and get back, I might have to pay either 100% or at least 50% of the cost (£729). I in turn contacted the airline direct who told me that the name change can be done but would incurr a penalty of £100. I contacted the agent who told me that they would speak to the airline and get me a final price: -

Thus being : £100 airline penalty
£ 90 travel agent fee
£ 89 for the change of ticket price from booking until now.

I was also told that the name change CANNOT be done. The initial seat on the flight would have to be cancelled and refunded (599? - different to the £729 I paid) and I would have to but the seat back at the new ticket price.

Can you please give me your thought on this and if you have ever been in this situation before what sort of penalty did you have to pay to change a name........................or am I wrong in thinking that £279 is excessive?

Thanks for taking the time to read this rant !!!

[blott]

The name on his passport and ticket must match.

If they don't, you might find it cheaper to get his name on his passport altered, although I'm not sure if you would need to get his father's permission for that or whether your mather is his legal guardian but it's an alternative to check out. If he is known by another surname anyway, that sounds a sensible thing to do if it's possible in time for your trip.

With airline tickets, it very much depends on the class of ticket that you've purchased as there are different and usually the cheapest ones mean that you can make no changes. The US Airways site says:

Coach/Lowest Available will show you the lowest available fares. If you are purchasing your reservation seven or more days before departure, these fares typically carry a fee to change your reservation and are non-refundable.

Non-refundable tickets
To make a change to a paper ticket, please go to the airport or contact your travel agent to make a change. If you have an electronic ticket, call Reservations or your travel agent to make a change. Domestic flight changes are subject to a $150 fee and westbound transatlantic flight changes are subject to a $250 fee, in addition to any difference in fare. Here are the rules:

If a reservation is canceled on/before the ticketed departure date, the value of the ticket may be applied toward future travel up to one year from the original issue date.
Travel on the new ticket must be completed within one year of the original date of issue.
If any part of the ticket is unused after the ticketed departure date and the reservation has not been canceled, the ticket has no value.

Once the value of a nonrefundable ticket has been applied towards the purchase of a new ticket, the original ticket is considered valueless

[Katys Grandad]

Sorry to hear about your problem. You don't say when you are due to fly so I'm not sure if this suggestion helps.

One option is to cancel the reservation and apply the proceeds to a new booking within 12 months. Your ticket doesn't have to be refundable to do that. You can either re-book for the same trip on the same dates or take a completely different trip (the new ticket doesn't have to be to/from the same places). I've done that on more than 1 occasion without a problem but I think you have to cancel the entire booking, i.e. you can't just cancel 1 passenger - check with US Airways. I appreciate that this might not work in your particular circumstances.

I know this doesn't help now but my advice for the future would be to avoid Travel Agents when booking flights with scheduled airlines. You'll get better service and price match guarantees when booking direct and they won't add that outrageous £90 'travel agent fee' when you need their help if things go wrong.

[steph_goodrum]

If you have time I would also see about getting anew passport. I dont know if to do swo you would ned to either get his surname changed by deed poll of a letter from a solicitor stating that he is known by the name of XXXXX.

I know they are very strict about it, although it was 16 years ago when my daughter was 5 her best friend was terminally ill and Make a Wish were organising trip to Florida for the family but had a real job as her mother and father had separated when she was a toddler and her mother had reverted the whole family to using her maiden name, but she could not get a passport issued in that name because her birth certificate showed the marital name. She ended up having to make some sort of declaration what she was formally known by before she could get the renewed passport.

As in your cousins case it is obviously not a situation that is going to change then this may be the best option, and will prevent future occurences. If your mother has cared for him for 7 years then I would assume she must have either legal guardian status or adopted him to be able to deal with his affairs.

The charges to change it do sound excessive for the work that is involved but sometimes, if you have agreed to a contract and make a mistake the you just have to swallow it and move on. It's unfortunate but the onus is always on a person to check the details before they agree to a contract.

[Carla]

Does your Mum have legal custody of your cousin? If yes and he has gone by her surname for 7 years tell her to go to a solicitor and renounce his right to use the previous surname. This is a legal way of changing a child's name and doesn't require finding or having any contact with the long absent father! You can then apply for the passport in the name that the child uses and which matches his airline ticket. From that point onwards all legal documents will be in his known as name.

We did this for my son when he needed his own passport when he was 16, so that he had our surname and the one that he had used since he was a little boy, rather than his birth father's. I had to swear that he would never use his previous surname again unless he changed it back legally when he was an adult. It cost us approx £60, 11 years ago.

[Debz-L-]

No, my parents do not have legal custody, it has never been an issue and would have been a bit more of a lengthier process because he still had a living parent.......................even though no one knew where he was for many years.


What does everyone think of the charges I have been asked to pay?
£100 airline penalty
£ 90 travel agent fee
£ 89 for the change of ticket price from booking until now.

Are they in excess or shall I just swallow hard and give in? ..

I cannot believe that the airway can do this for £100 flat fee but cannot do it without invcolving the travel agent ??

PS Thanks for all you input, its really appreciated [msncry]

[shedenuk]

The laws for changing your name in Scotland are much simpler than in the rest of the uk.
You should try ringing the passport office on this number (0870 5210 410) to see what would be required.

If he has been known by this name for a while it may only take a letter from school or doctor to get the change on the passport.
Might be worth a try.

Good luck

[Carla]

Don't give up. Speak to a solicitor who handles child custody etc.. He/she will know what you can do. You'll need to sort things out for the child in a few years anyway, and by doing it now you could save yourself a lot of money too.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Debz-L-
No, my parents do not have legal custody, it has never been an issue and would have been a bit more of a lengthier process because he still had a living parent.......................even though no one knew where he was for many years.

[/quote]

[Fourdents]

Sorry if this seems a bit of a "senior moment" question .........

Why does it cost so much to change a name etc. on a flight reservation / ticket ?

A few minutes on a keyboard to change, cancel and re-issue

£279 for a few minutes work now how much would that be an hour ?[msnoo]

[Snapper]

Debz - give these folks a call and see if they can help any: http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

Airlines do have some strange and funny rules for changing names after booking but what you are trying to do is correct an honest mistake, not change the person travelling. As this only came to light when you received the tickets it might be covered by the distance selling regulations.

As a consumer you do have some protection against unfair terms of contracts, however the distance selling regulations also have some strange clauses in them for things like airline tickets. I wouldn't like to guess what law or regulation might be applicable here but the Consumer Direct folks should be able to offer some advice and help.