Thomas Cook flight name amendment - refusing to honour fee they quoted

jennduck

I hope I'm in the right place – looking for advice on how to get Thomas Cook Airlines to honour a price they quoted me, then reneged on.

I purchased return flights for me & my husband to New York online directly through Thomas Cook Airlines on 8th Jan, for the end of March. We purchased the Economy Light fare – the cheapest available.

I accidentally, stupidly, booked my flight under the name ‘Jenny’ instead of ‘Jennifer’, which is on my passport (I’m convinced this was a Google autocomplete stitch-up but that’s neither here nor there).

When I realised my mistake on 18th Jan I used the customer service online chat to find out what should be done. The agent took my booking reference and further details and came back with the following (I saved the chat transcript): “I have checked and in order to correct the name you would have to pay £20. … The name can be corrected up to 25 hours before your flight so there is no need to worry. You still have time. In order to change it you will have to come back on chat or call my colleagues over the phone. You can do so when you are able to pay for ti.”

I went back on the online chat today to sort it and pay, and received contradictory information. The new agent said the fare we’ve booked “doesn’t allow any changes”, and I have 2 options: cancel the booking and re-book (not an option as they will only refund the taxes, not the flight fare or extras, and we can’t afford to re-book anyway) or correct the name at the check-in desk on day of departure which will cost “from” £55 per flight (he couldn’t give me an exact price as this is made “with the staff’s discretion so this is discussed directly at the check-in desk” (?!)).

I asked for my complaint to be escalated to a supervisor/manager but he would only give me the customer service phone number “if I wish to discuss this further” and said “I can’t offer any other contact options”. He also explained they do not have a team that deal with pre-departure complaints in writing: Phoning is the only option.

I haven’t phoned yet as I wanted to calm down and get some advice first. I just want them to honour the price they quoted me. I have it in writing – can I force them to honour it? What’s the best way of going about this? What are my rights?

Please help! Thanks.

davidmcn

Does it need to be amended? Jenny is obviously short for Jennifer. I'm sure if you ask them now they'll say yes it does, but I suspect if you just turned up you'd be waved through - it's not like a change of surname, and check-in staff don't really look for excuses to cause the queue to build up behind you.

shaun_from_Africa

davidmcn wrote: »

Does it need to be amended? Jenny is obviously short for Jennifer.

I would say that as the OP is travelling to the USA then yes, it should be amended.
If there is a difference of name between that on the ticket, their ESTA and the advanced passenger info sent to the USA then it's possible that there could be a problem as some of the immigration employees in the USA can be very strict when it comes to a passenger's paperwork being totally correct.

jennduck

Hi @davidmcn - you're probably right but i can't take that risk. They said in original online chat "The name on the passport needs to be the same as the name on the booking. The name needs to be corrected."

Not only this, but i complained on twitter and a third customer service agent has now said names can't be changed in advance OR at the airport for flight-only bookings with this fare, contradicting the one i spoke to earlier today online. I'm getting really scared now.

George_Michael

Can you get to an airport that Thomas Cook fly out of?
If so, your best bet might be to go there shortly before a flight is due to depart so that the desks will be manned and ask someone there if they could arrange for the name to be changed.

A face to face conversation may well have a better result than using an online chat or phone call.

Aylesbury_Duck

In your shoes I wouldn't take the risk of leaving it and hoping it wouldn't be noticed so I can see why you need to change it.

If the Economy Light Care specifically does not permit name changes, I don't see you have any choice but to re-book. What are the exact terms and conditions for that fare?

As for the £20 fee mentioned in the chat, no, you cannot force them to honour it. They are entitled to make a mistake, as you have, and if changes for £20 aren't permitted for that ticket type, you are relying on their goodwill to do so.

Aylesbury_Duck

I've had a look at the terms of that type of fare, and they're quite specific:

The names of passengers travelling on a booking can only be changed if the booking is made in the Flex Fare or with Flex Option no later than 25 hours before your first departing Flight However, please be advised once a booking has checked in online, no change of names of passengers can be made. If the booked arrangements are more expensive at the time of the change of the names of passengers than when the booking was originally made, you must pay the price difference. If the arrangements are less expensive at the time of the change of the names of passengers than when the original booking was made, you will not be entitled to any refund of the difference. On return Flights, the names of the passengers travelling on each Sector must match. It is not possible to have different names on each Sector.

I'm assuming you didn't book with the Flex Fare or Flex Option? If so, then it seems your options are to chance it and hope you get there and back on the stated name, or accept that you'll have to pay the difference for a new flight there, coming back or both.

comeandgo

Can you change your passport name to Jenny?

unholyangel

What you were told over the phone didn't form part of the contract at the time you entered the booking so you can't hold them to any part of it.

You need to look at the terms you agreed to at the time you entered the contract to see what they say about name changes.

If they aren't permitted (and if you booked the cheapest fares then this will normally be the case) then your only option is to purchase another fare. If you book via phone they will explicitly tell you it needs to exactly match whats on the passport - they will also usually price match against their own online prices (particularly if they need more revenue to hit their targets).

Money_Grabber13579

Name changes

Minor name changes are possible regardless of the fare, but a processing fee applies for Economy Light.

If you booked before 16/10/18

Our Economy Light fare allows no name changes.
Our Economy Classic allows a name change for a fee.
Our Flex Option allows up to three name changes without a fee.
If you booked on or after 16/10/18

Our Economy Light fare allows no name changes.
Our Economy Classic allows no name changes.
Our Flex Option allows a name change without a fee.
If you would like to change or correct the spelling of a passenger’s name on a booking, please contact us.

That is taken from the Thomas Cook website and I would argue that it would indicate that there is a difference between a change of name and a correction of a name. For example, it states that minor name corrections are available in all fares, with a processing fee for Economy Light. But that no changes of name are available in economy Light. So they can’t be the same thing, otherwise they would contradict each other.

It does mention elsewhere that a minor name change is up to 3 characters. Could you change your name to Jenni (from Jenny) and then ring again to change it to Jennifer? It might lead to 2 processing fees, but maybe it is the cheapest route? Assuming there are no restrictions on correcting a name twice, of course...

[Deleted User]

comeandgo wrote: »

Can you change your passport name to Jenny?

Not without changing her name legally by Deed Poll and then purchasing a new passport. Sounds like a whole lot more faff and expense...