BA flight name change

Gar3

Hello, first time poster.

Some months ago I booked a BA flight for my mother-in-law from London to Sofia for about £360. I booked online on a Saturday and the confirmation email was sent through to my work email address.

I recently checked the details of the flight, only to find that it was in my name rather than my mother-in-law's (it could have been BA's mistake, it could have been mine - I can't recall).

I contacted BA to get the name changed, expecting to pay a (relatively) small admin fee. I was told that BA rules does not allow name changes after 24 hours, and that I would have to cancel my ticket (for no refund) and book another one for nearly £500. So that is about £860 I have to pay.

I have complained to BA about this, noting that as the confirmation was sent to my work email and that I made the booking on Saturday there was no way I was going to be able to check it within 24 hours, and that this limit is arbitrary anyway - if a name can be changed after 24 hours, it can be changed after a week, a month or a year.

I have been fobbed off by BA, and I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, and if they have did they have more luck than I am at the moment?

Thanks in advance...

jpsartre

There is nothing you can do except appeal to BA's good will. If you're lucky there will be a schedule change or cancellation which allows you to cancel for a full refund although that's obviously a longshot. In the future, always double check details in the confirmation email straight away after booking.

Westin

Gar3 wrote: »

Hello, first time poster.

Some months ago I booked a BA flight for my mother-in-law from London to Sofia for about £360. I booked online on a Saturday and the confirmation email was sent through to my work email address.

I recently checked the details of the flight, only to find that it was in my name rather than my mother-in-law's (it could have been BA's mistake, it could have been mine - I can't recall).

I contacted BA to get the name changed, expecting to pay a (relatively) small admin fee. I was told that BA rules does not allow name changes after 24 hours, and that I would have to cancel my ticket (for no refund) and book another one for nearly £500. So that is about £860 I have to pay.

I have complained to BA about this, noting that as the confirmation was sent to my work email and that I made the booking on Saturday there was no way I was going to be able to check it within 24 hours, and that this limit is arbitrary anyway - if a name can be changed after 24 hours, it can be changed after a week, a month or a year.

I have been fobbed off by BA, and I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, and if they have did they have more luck than I am at the moment?

Thanks in advance...

I think you are really clutching at straws arguing that as you used a work email address you should have been given more time to check your booking. You should have instead used a private email address, or considered the access issue in advance, or been more careful in the first place with the ticket name.

Despite lots of other issues, BA are actually fairly reasonable giving you a 24h grace period to check bookings and cancel without penalty. Most airlines do not offer this. 24 hrs for most is sufficient to review and check what is booked.

BA are not fobing you off. They are simply following the booking terms and conditions that you agreed to.

malkie76

The lack of flexibility after 24hrs is to stop speculators buying cheap tickets and selling them for profit closer to the flight date. Its not a technical thing.

Heliflyguy

malkie76 wrote: »

The lack of flexibility after 24hrs is to stop speculators buying cheap tickets and selling them for profit closer to the flight date. Its not a technical thing.

Not that old chestnut. :rotfl:

So why do Flybe, Air Malta, Norwegian, Vueling to name a few allow name changes (with a fee)?

Caz3121

Gar3 wrote: »

Some months ago I booked a BA flight for my mother-in-law from London to Sofia for about £360. I booked online on a Saturday and the confirmation email was sent through to my work email address.

I recently checked the details of the flight, only to find that it was in my name rather than my mother-in-law's

....noting that as the confirmation was sent to my work email and that I made the booking on Saturday there was no way I was going to be able to check it within 24 hours,

Why give an email address that you cannot access outside working hours (I often use work email for flights but have access 24/7 both from pc and phone)
Given your argument that you could not access mail so would not have seen it till the Monday morning, is that when you called? your posts sounds like there was more than Sat-Mon before you noticed
Why it picked up your name is likely due to being logged in and not ticking the box to say the person booking was not travelling or autofill on your pc

silvercar

You should get a refund of the taxes at least.

Now your only option is to buy a new ticket, but start your search again as another airline may be cheaper.

fifeken

Heliflyguy wrote: »

Not that old chestnut. :rotfl:

So why do Flybe, Air Malta, Norwegian, Vueling to name a few allow name changes (with a fee)?

Because they reckon they can make money that way with change fees and fare difference costs.

It doesn't make the post you quoted wrong - it's just a different business model.

Heliflyguy

fifeken wrote: »

Because they reckon they can make money that way with change fees and fare difference costs.

It doesn't make the post you quoted wrong - it's just a different business model.

Of course its wrong otherwise the airlines I listed would encounter the problem or is their business model to allow people to make money on cheap name changeable tickets?

Aside from that it is now far to easy for an airline to spot such activity.

As you said if a name change is allowed then as it will be before departure of the first flight the fare would have to be quoted again that day so any cheap restricted tickets (that may not be changeable anyway) and probably had a long advanced purchase will not quote in the same cheap class so there will be additional fare to pay plus a change fee.

Thats if you can find anyone to buy your cheap name changeable tickets in the first place.

What may have been a possible way to make a bit of money by changing the name on a ticket has long gone.

jpsartre

Heliflyguy wrote: »

Of course its wrong otherwise the airlines I listed would encounter the problem or is their business model to allow people to make money on cheap name changeable tickets?

As you mention yourself, the airlines that allow name changes will usually charge a fee plus the difference in fare which is another way to prevent cheap tickets being resold later. Like fifeken I don't see how any of this means that it's incorrect to say that BA prohibits name changes to avoid this as well. It's two different ways to achieve the same goal. The few airlines that just charge a change fee (e.g. Norwegian) and no difference in fare must not care.

mgdavid

Heliflyguy wrote: »

Of course its wrong otherwise the airlines I listed would encounter the problem or is their business model to allow people to make money on cheap name changeable tickets?

Aside from that it is now far to easy for an airline to spot such activity.

As you said if a name change is allowed then as it will be before departure of the first flight the fare would have to be quoted again that day so any cheap restricted tickets (that may not be changeable anyway) and probably had a long advanced purchase will not quote in the same cheap class so there will be additional fare to pay plus a change fee.

Thats if you can find anyone to buy your cheap name changeable tickets in the first place.

What may have been a possible way to make a bit of money by changing the name on a ticket has long gone.

Can you explain in what way this rambling argument helps the OP?