I purchased an airline ticket from expedia for a flight to Italy using Eurofly for next month, for my Dad. I used my Dad's English spelling of his first name instead of the Italian spelling (that is on his passport) How much trouble will I get into for this. Even though he has an American passport, I found out , inadvertantly that he uses the Italian spelling of his first name on his passport. Thanks
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Oh oh. The airplane ticket first and last names MUST match the passport first and last names. This question has come up here a couple of times in the last year. It's not that you're going to get in trouble, but the bottom line is you will have to get the airline to change the ticket name, and be prepared for the airline not being eager to do this, it seems like it should be simple, just change the name--but because of security regulations it's anything but easy. If you don't get it changed and he shows up at the airport with the name on the ticket not matching the passport name, most likely he will be not be allowed to board the airplane, this is not a risk you even want to think about taking--this appears to be a black and white rule inflexible rule that apparently is related to anti-terrorism security regulations so it's a hot button issue for the airline.Here's links to prior discussion of this issue:passport name not matching ticket namewhen ticket does not match passport name
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
This happens all the time, I think that all airline sites,should, in hgue red letters ,clearly spell out that tickets must MATCH passport name exactly,, and no nicknames, no shortining, to nothing else will do. Its almost like they want people to screw up..
Yes, Peter you have a problem,, start working on the fix now, and don't be surprised that they charge you a 100 or more dollars for changing the name, IF they agree to it anyways( sometimes they say no) . Good luck
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
Of course they do, Pat. That's how they charge you the $100-200 name change fee.
It's very easy to mess up when booking--I very nearly put my dad's nickname rather than his first name in when buying our tickets. Fortunately, I am the paranoid type that triple-checks everything and caught it before any harm done.
Moral of the story: when buying tickets (especially for someone else) confirm, confirm, confirm!
As the other posters said, nothing for it but to call the airline and change the name, even if they charge you an arm and leg.