Changing a name on a ticket

Stellachristine

Looking for some comment and opinions on a recent experience with Brussels Airlines and Lastminute.com. Ticket raised within 24
hrs of travel, with last minute. I incorrectly entered the wrong surname for one of the travellers and didn’t notice it until I printed the boarding cards. Where obviously the surname incorrectly entered did not match the passport being carried. 

I contacted the Indian call centre for Brussels airlines, they said it was down to the travel agent to sort. I contacted the travel agent, they said within 24 hrs of the flight they could not amend the airlines ticket only they could do it. Back to the airlines call centre and even after escalating the call to a manager , I was told it was the travel agent’s responsibility.
I waited for the French Brussel’s airline to be open , I was in France at the time and asked the question again. Still told it was a no and to talk to the travel agent. 

The rest of the group was travelling in two hours and at that point I had no choice but to buy a completely new ticket. Out of pocket by £500. Looking for any knowledge on this issue.

Caz3121

The travel agent can only follow the airline policy
Brussels Airlines do not allow name changes with the exception of correcting up to 2 characters.
I expect this will be an expensive error as you will need a new ticket in the correct name

TELLIT01

The not unreasonable assumption by an airline or tour operator, when somebody claims to have entered a completely wrong surname, it that the purchaser is trying to circumvent the non-transferable element of their T&C.

Upsidedownandaround

As above it depends on what you were asking them to do.

“I incorrectly entered the wrong surname”.

By that do you mean entered wrong surname as in Smythe instead of Smith or De La Cruz instead of Smith?

Stellachristine

De la Cruz instead of Smith. But with Virgin I have changed a name in a ticket for an admin fee and I couldn’t even get that done.

Stellachristine

TELLIT01 said:

The not unreasonable assumption by an airline or tour operator, when somebody claims to have entered a completely wrong surname, it that the purchaser is trying to circumvent the non-transferable element of their T&C.

I would have been happy to pay an admin charge for the change but to buy a new ticket felt ridiculous.

Stellachristine

Caz3121 said:

The travel agent can only follow the airline policy
Brussels Airlines do not allow name changes with the exception of correcting up to 2 characters.
I expect this will be an expensive error as you will need a new ticket in the correct name

Where did you find Brussels airline policy in name changes. I couldn’t find anything ? 

Caz3121

Stellachristine said:

De la Cruz instead of Smith. But with Virgin I have changed a name in a ticket for an admin fee and I couldn’t even get that done.

I assume that was a Virgin Holiday package booking as for flight only they also do not allow name changes

Tickets cannot be transfered to other people

You will not be able to transfer your ticket to another person by completely changing the name, as tickets can't be transferred. You'll need to buy a new ticket.

https://help.virginatlantic.com/eu/en/security/name-change.html

Flight only name changes are usually only offered by the low cost carriers - Easyjet, Ryanair etc

CKhalvashi

Stellachristine said:

TELLIT01 said:

The not unreasonable assumption by an airline or tour operator, when somebody claims to have entered a completely wrong surname, it that the purchaser is trying to circumvent the non-transferable element of their T&C.

I would have been happy to pay an admin charge for the change but to buy a new ticket felt ridiculous.

I disagree.

You have asked to completely change a name with no evidence both names have belonged to the same person. You are therefore as far as I am concerned (and it looks like the airline is taking the same stance) attempting to sell the ticket to another person in breach of the terms and conditions. Brussels Airlines are correctly not allowing you to do this to prevent abuse, as while you may be genuine, the next person attempting to do this probably won't be.

The best you're going to get is an admin fee equivalent to the difference between the fare you purchased originally and the fare currently on sale, which due to advance purchase requirements is unlikely to be the same, or indeed anything less than an unrestricted full Economy fare (normally with ticket code Y, not sure about Brussels Airlines).

heatherw_01

Sadly Brussel Airlines don't allow name changes other than misspellings.
Every airline operates differently and some allow changes and others don't. 

This is a third party site, but does say the same although not sure why it doesn't state this on the brussels airline site itself.
https://www.flycoair.com/blog/brussels-airlines-name-change