Spelt name wrong when booking flights

Pollycat

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Difficult to know when a spelling error isn't an amendment.

Well, if the OP's name is James and he's spelled his name Jammes (he put an extra character in his first name) I'd say it was pretty clear that it was a mistake and not a 'name amendment' or 'name change'.

jammerr

Thanks for everyone's replies and help. Unfortunately I have had to suck it up and pay. In the grand scheme of things £90 is not the worst case scenario.

In future:

BOOK DIRECT WITH THE AIRLINE (even if it costs slightly extra)
Double and triple check before you hit the confirm button and get someone else to check

Pollycat

jammerr wrote: »

Thanks for everyone's replies and help. Unfortunately I have had to suck it up and pay. In the grand scheme of things £90 is not the worst case scenario.

In future:

BOOK DIRECT WITH THE AIRLINE (even if it costs slightly extra)
Double and triple check before you hit the confirm button and get someone else to check

I think it's pretty mean (and poor customer service) by TravelUp to charge you the amendment fee if Virgin would have allowed the change for free.

I'd be "not recommending" them to anyone who will listen.

Caz3121

Pollycat wrote: »

I think it's pretty mean (and poor customer service) by TravelUp to charge you the amendment fee if Virgin would have allowed the change for free.

I'd be "not recommending" them to anyone who will listen.

most third party floggers charge 'service'(?)/'admin' fees on top of what the airline charge - they tend not to work for free (whether the admin fees are 'fair' is another debate)

jammerr

I agree Polly. They have done nothing wrong as their T&Cs state though morally I feel they have. It would be a different case if it were a proper name change.

I suppose they need to make their money somewhere. This is the risk you take when booking through smaller agents as I have now learnt. Cheap is cheap for a reason

Pollycat

jammerr wrote: »

I agree Polly. They have done nothing wrong as their T&Cs state though morally I feel they have. It would be a different case if it were a proper name change.

I suppose they need to make their money somewhere. This is the risk you take when booking through smaller agents as I have now learnt. Cheap is cheap for a reason

It might have been worse.
You could have booked with eDreams.
Every day there's a different complaint on the Air Travel board of Tripadvisor.

jpsartre

Pollycat wrote: »

I think it's pretty mean (and poor customer service) by TravelUp to charge you the amendment fee if Virgin would have allowed the change for free.

It's probably how they make their money. I doubt their markup on flights is very high, in fact they may even be selling them with a loss in the hopes that enough passengers will need to make changes at a later stage.

Pollycat

jpsartre wrote: »

It's probably how they make their money. I doubt their markup on flights is very high, in fact they may even be selling them with a loss in the hopes that enough passengers will need to make changes at a later stage.

Maybe so.
But it's hardly going to get them repeat business.

And as the saying goes:
"A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world.”

Alfrescodave

jackieblack wrote: »

Not really, (and you'd probably want to avoid using a term like amendment as it is too vague)

I think it would be generally accepted that, for example, changing Spusan Smith to Susan Smith is a correction of a spelling error (OP stated they spelt their name incorrectly / put an extra character in their first name)

Changing it from Jemima Jones to Susan Smith would be a name change

What's vague about amendment ? its a change (usually to a document) which could apply to correcting a spelling mistake or an incorrect name.

Generally accepted by whom ? this question by OP shows that there is no generally accepted criteria for correcting flight documents. Changing Aron Brown to Ron Brown is that a name change or a spelling mistake?

Ideally the Travel Industry should agree and issue guidelines for changing travel documents but won't as the revenue versus effort is considerable

jackieblack

Alfrescodave wrote: »

What's vague about amendment ? its a change (usually to a document) which could apply to correcting a spelling mistake or an incorrect name.

Precisely, it could apply equally to either scenario and they are often treated very differently, which is why it's important to be precise about what you are asking for.
https://www.aph.com/community/holidays/change-correct-name-airline-ticket-cost/

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Generally accepted by whom ? this question by OP shows that there is no generally accepted criteria for correcting flight documents.

'Generally accepted' by the majority of airlines, apparently, according to anecdotal evidence based on the vast multitude of queries regarding this very topic that are posted on this and other travel forums, although I'm sure there are exceptions and that others experience might be different


Of course, some customer service agents are more friendly and helpful than others, (but sometimes that depends on the tone used by the customer contacting them)

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Changing Aron Brown to Ron Brown is that a name change or a spelling mistake?

Could potentially be either - I'd suggest that the resolution in that scenario could vary depending on the terminology used when contacting the airline

Alfrescodave wrote: »

Ideally the Travel Industry should agree and issue guidelines for changing travel documents but won't as the revenue versus effort is considerable

The confusion/anomalies appear (again, based on anecdotal evidence) to mainly occur when a third party is involved. Travellers booking direct with the airline appear to get a problem like this resolved much more quickly and easily than when an additional layer of bureaucracy has been introduced.