What’s in a name?  It turns out quite a bit.

 

In light of the latest travel “scares” over the past 3 weeks, it seemed like a good time to talk about looking after yourself when making a reservation.   Before anything else, please remember that to an airline, the most ideal situation is one where you pay money and don’t actually fly.  What I really mean is that airlines are not your friend.  They are not particularly accomodating and they are focused on extracting as much money from you as possible. 

 

When you are flying, names are important.  The security we have in place today is largely predicated on matching an ID with a name to your ticket.  Airlines have discovered that if you have the wrong name on the ticket, it’s a revenue opportunity as opposed to a honest mistake to be fixed.   With the recent travel worries, names are being scrutinized even closer than they have been in some time.  What you don’t want is to have a ticket that has a name that does not match your ID. 

 

First, make your reservations and ticket purchases with patience and care.  If you are booking not only for yourself, take the time to find out exactly how someone’s name reads on the ID they plan to use.  Get their birthdates right too.  Before you “confirm” the reservation and make that purchase, confirm each person’s information including their name. 

 

In my family, it is tricky business.  My wife uses her middle name as the name she goes by.  My daughter (step-daughter), has a different last name from both mine and my wife’s.   Now, you would expect family to get this stuff right but they have a mother/grandmother who has incorrectly booked tickets with the wrong name for them more than once.   Their brother/uncle has done the same thing at least once.   What’s worse (and I don’t know how you plan to ensure avoiding this), they’ve done it after I ensured that my wife reminded them of her full name as shown on her driver’s license.    Since my daughter is now 14 years old, she’s now going through security on her own when traveling to see her family.  It’s become doubly important to ensure her name is correct because she uses her passport as her ID.

 

What can happen?  A lot.  Remember that the ticket you buy determines your “class” with the airline.  If you’ve bought a non-refundanble, no changes ticket, most often the airline will require you to pay fees to change the ticket or even cancel it.  Those fees can add up to hundreds of dollars too. 

 

You have to get the name right and you must triple check the information you’ve giving the airline (or travel website or travel agency) matches your ID.   If you do make a mistake, you are now at the mercy of the airline.

 

If you do make a mistake, go to work instantly on trying to get it resolved.  If you purchased through an online or traditional travel agency, work through them.  If you bought it directly from the airline, start calling them.  The quicker you try to fix it, the more likely they are to treat it as an honest mistake.   Calling the night before your trip just gives them leverage.

 

If you do run into trouble with an airline when speaking to them by phone, consider another strategy.  Go to the airport and speak to an agent directly.  Yeah, it’s gonna cost you a trip to the airport but that probably is going to cost a lot less than the potential fees you’ll be charged.  By going to the airport, you’re placing a human being located here in the United States in direct face to face contact with you and that’s a more difficult position for that person than phone or email contact.  Second, you can ask to speak to a manager.  But be smart.  Don’t go at the busiest time of the day.  You want to find an agent who is slow or completely unbusy.  Take your ID with you as well as a printed copy of your purchase (you did remember to print out your transaction, right?)

 

If this is for someone else, that person needs to be with you or they’re the one who needs to go.  Preferably, you want to have whoever bought the ticket and whoever is traveling on the ticket at the same place at the same time.  Granted, that’s not always possible. 

 

Don’t assume that just because “family” is making your reservation, they’re paying attention.  Be pro-active and write down the exact spelling of your name and your birthdate for them. 

 

Don’t assume that the airline will just change it at the airport the day you’re leaving.  If you’ve waited that long, you’ve given them all the power.  Take action as soon as you realize your mistake.

 

Do review the reservation and purchase one more time after you’ve made the transaction.

 

Do make sure your ID is current and, if possible, carry back up with you.

 

Don’t check in online until you’re certain that your name is correct.  Once you do, the ball game is over.

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