If your name is Peter Smith, it is done quickly. But hey, I’d still take it (with a side note in the form of a giant privilege check).When booking your flight ticket, it seems so simple: fill in your first and last name (or family name) in accordance with your passport or identification. I could no longer say I’d sweet-talked my way onto a plane, super-spy style. We can’t really keep you here,” the airline rep said, popping my burgeoning bubble of pride in my flirting skills. He scrawled an unreadable note on my boarding pass and that was that. But he told me to keep the business cards to myself so he could report a nice, clean record of only Elizabeth documents. “I have stuff that says Libby, too, if that would help show that I’m both,” I offered, so eager to provide any and all evidence that would get me home. You never know what could go wrong, what could be lost or stolen, or what extra questions you might be asked at a border. Or if you appear very forlorn and have some good travel karma on your side, you might be able to make it happen for free.Ī post shared by Libby Ryan on at 10:35am PDTĪlways travel with multiple documents saying you are who you say you are, explorer friends. Carefully check all your info during this time and you can cancel and rebook without penalty.) (Many airlines also have a 24-hour cancellation period after booking. As a general rule, the earlier you can catch the mistake, the less you’ll pay. On an American Airlines flight, you could pay anywhere from $50 to $700 depending on your route and type of ticket.
ACCIDENTALLY BOOKED FLIGHT UNDER MAIDEN NAME PLUS
Norwegian Air name changes cost $70 for short flights and $130 for across-the-ocean trips, plus a $25 service fee if you do so by phone or in the airport. RyanAir charges travelers $130 to change names online and $190 at the airport. Even some of the fees were mighty inconvenient. A last-minute flight from London to New York would throw my budget into chaos for months. So after some fervent online research from my phone in the airport and later on the shared desktop computer at my hostel, I was obsessively checking my bank account.
Your passport must match the ticket.Ī post shared by Libby Ryan on at 9:07am PDT It seems super romantic to have tickets under your new shared surname until you’re stopped at passport control. If you choose to take your spouse’s last name, begin the legal process to change your name long before you plan to leave the country (getting a new passport alone takes four to six weeks). Honeymooners also frequently face this issue. Their ticket and passports didn’t match precisely. We all know how international flight prices creep up as you get closer and closer to your departure date you do not want to be stuck buying a day-of, long-haul ticket.Ī recent story shared by The Points Guy shared a cautionary tale of travelers losing tens of thousands of airline rewards points for the same reason. But because the ticket was booked through a travel agency, it had to be completely canceled and rebooked. It was an easy mistake: The ticket swapped first and middle names. In July, Travel and Leisure reported that a simple name mixup cost one traveler $1,000.
But she added, “I’m not sure how much it will cost.” My helpful new friend handed me a card with a customer service number. My stomach immediately gripped into a boulder-sized knot and my jaw tightened in panic.Ī post shared by Libby Ryan on at 12:46pm PDT But I was blindsided when the friendly, patient airline representative gently asked me whether I realized my ticket read Libby while my passport did not.
I was thrilled at the prospect of dropping my heavy pack and carrying nothing until landing. My passport and boarding pass were flagged at the beginning of my trip as I attempted to take advantage of a complimentary bag check on my way from London to Budapest. Some airlines allow for name changes (at a cost, of course) some make you buy an entirely new ticket. It wasn’t until my turn in line at the London Heathrow Airport transfer desk, boarding pass in hand, that I realized I might not be allowed onto my flight back home. And since I’m an idiot on occasion, I booked an international flight under Libby.
Libby is on my business cards, email address, every social media account I manage and all of my bylines.
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