Different name on passport from booking.

AJRBADGER

It's 10pm and tomorrow is a bank holiday.

Booked a surprise for a friend, booking to Sicily (2 Ryanair flights on way out, 3 on way back) and gave it to her tonight.

However discovered that her passport is still in her married name (been divorced 5yrs). The booking is in her current name.

Is this likely to be an issue, all other ID she has is in her maiden name, and if it is - is it likely to be costly to rectify?

Caz3121

Name change fees are on the Ryanair website. A new ticket may or may not be cheaper. Only Ryanair can confirm if that is your only option (given it is not really a passenger change)

AJRBADGER

I did book via a third party.

But they are saying £30 for a name change per flight. There are 6 flights in total for this trip, but £180 seems excessive to change the name of the same person.

It's not carelessness that's caused this. It's a surprise booking for a big birthday of my closest friend. Arranged her time off and everything..... We just didn't know her passport hadn't been updated to reflect a name change (that tbh we forgot about).

CKhalvashi

AJRBADGER said:

I did book via a third party.

But they are saying £30 for a name change per flight. There are 6 flights in total for this trip, but £180 seems excessive to change the name of the same person.

It's not carelessness that's caused this. It's a surprise booking for a big birthday of my closest friend. Arranged her time off and everything..... We just didn't know her passport hadn't been updated to reflect a name change (that tbh we forgot about).

But it's not the airline or the agent's fault. £30 per flight will be for the additional work you've caused them, the airline in addition will charge name change fees (Ryanair is £45 or £60 per sector, as listed in the table of optional fees. https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/useful-info/help-centre/fees)

Before booking travel for someone, I will always ask for a copy of their passport for this exact reason. Unfortunately failure to do so has resulted in extra fees in this case.

Many people don't use their legal name in daily life (I have a number of friends in this position, normally the second name is related to family in some way), so it's always prudent to check this.

Voyager2002

AJRBADGER said:

I did book via a third party.

But they are saying £30 for a name change per flight. There are 6 flights in total for this trip, but £180 seems excessive to change the name of the same person.

It's not carelessness that's caused this. It's a surprise booking for a big birthday of my closest friend. Arranged her time off and everything..... We just didn't know her passport hadn't been updated to reflect a name change (that tbh we forgot about).

The cheapest solution could well be for her to get a passport in her maiden name, to match the booking.

onashoestring

I really feel for you - you have put a lot of effort into buying a surprise gift for your friend . Unfortunately your friend won’t be able to travel if the name on the ticket doesn’t match her passport.

When are you travelling - you mention it’s a bank holiday today  - what is the relevance — does that mean you were planning to travel this week ? 

 Ryanair charge £160 for a name change for each flight … and may take some time as 3rd parties aren’t know for their speed in dealing with these requests .  As @Caz3121 has already said buying New tickets may be cheaper . It will also be a quicker resolution to the problem if the holiday is imminent. Don’t go through third party - Check the price of buying directly from Ryanair .

If there are a few weeks before you travel I agree with @Voyager2002 a passport renewal will be cheaper the 1 week fast track service costs £142 - however currently there are no appointments available so you will have to keep checking the website. https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I hope you get it sorted and you & your friend have a lovely holiday despite any extra cost . 

AJRBADGER

onashoestring said:

I really feel for you - you have put a lot of effort into buying a surprise gift for your friend . Unfortunately your friend won’t be able to travel if the name on the ticket doesn’t match her passport.

When are you travelling - you mention it’s a bank holiday today  - what is the relevance — does that mean you were planning to travel this week ? 

It will cost £375 ++ to change the name through 3rd party ( admin fee + Ryanair charge for each leg - ) and may take some time as 3rd parties aren’t know for their speed in dealing with these requests .  As @Caz3121 has already said buying New tickets may be cheaper . It will also be a quicker resolution to the problem if the holiday is imminent. Don’t go through third party - Check the price of buying directly from Ryanair .

If there are a few weeks before you travel I agree with @Voyager2002 a passport renewal will be cheaper the 1 week fast track service costs £142 - however currently there are no appointments available so you will have to keep checking the website. https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I hope you get it sorted and you & your friend have a lovely holiday despite any extra cost . 

Yeah, we are travelling next weekend.

Yesterday was her 40th and this was a surprise gift, as said we forgot this might even be a possibility as she has been separated from her ex husband in 2012 and divorced 7 years ago (I said 5 yrs earlier, but blame my maths as it was 2015 apparently). To further complicate it, in the 25yrs I've known her, she's always been known to me by her maiden name as she kept that professionally even when married (she owns a small business called something like Jane Smith Events (not the name of her/business - just an example)). However she has never bothered to change her passport (issued December 2013).

Anyway it is neither here or there, it just seems like utter robbery the charge for making a change like this. I'm sure this happens fairly often with women's surnames.

Issue for us it's not direct flights. It's 3 flights out, 3 flights on the way back. (Ryanair, Ryanair, easyJet out) (easyJet, KLM, Ryanair back). Was booked via an agency on Skyscanner.

Pollycat

AJRBADGER said:

onashoestring said:

I really feel for you - you have put a lot of effort into buying a surprise gift for your friend . Unfortunately your friend won’t be able to travel if the name on the ticket doesn’t match her passport.

When are you travelling - you mention it’s a bank holiday today  - what is the relevance — does that mean you were planning to travel this week ? 

It will cost £375 ++ to change the name through 3rd party ( admin fee + Ryanair charge for each leg - ) and may take some time as 3rd parties aren’t know for their speed in dealing with these requests .  As @Caz3121 has already said buying New tickets may be cheaper . It will also be a quicker resolution to the problem if the holiday is imminent. Don’t go through third party - Check the price of buying directly from Ryanair .

If there are a few weeks before you travel I agree with @Voyager2002 a passport renewal will be cheaper the 1 week fast track service costs £142 - however currently there are no appointments available so you will have to keep checking the website. https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I hope you get it sorted and you & your friend have a lovely holiday despite any extra cost . 

Yeah, we are travelling next weekend.

Yesterday was her 40th and this was a surprise gift, as said we forgot this might even be a possibility as she has been separated from her ex husband in 2012 and divorced 7 years ago (I said 5 yrs earlier, but blame my maths as it was 2015 apparently). To further complicate it, in the 25yrs I've known her, she's always been known to me by her maiden name as she kept that professionally even when married (she owns a small business called something like Jane Smith Events (not the name of her/business - just an example)). However she has never bothered to change her passport (issued December 2013).

Anyway it is neither here or there, it just seems like utter robbery the charge for making a change like this. I'm sure this happens fairly often with women's surnames.

You made it more expensive by booking through a 3rd party instead of direct with Ryanair.

AJRBADGER

Pollycat said:

AJRBADGER said:

onashoestring said:

I really feel for you - you have put a lot of effort into buying a surprise gift for your friend . Unfortunately your friend won’t be able to travel if the name on the ticket doesn’t match her passport.

When are you travelling - you mention it’s a bank holiday today  - what is the relevance — does that mean you were planning to travel this week ? 

It will cost £375 ++ to change the name through 3rd party ( admin fee + Ryanair charge for each leg - ) and may take some time as 3rd parties aren’t know for their speed in dealing with these requests .  As @Caz3121 has already said buying New tickets may be cheaper . It will also be a quicker resolution to the problem if the holiday is imminent. Don’t go through third party - Check the price of buying directly from Ryanair .

If there are a few weeks before you travel I agree with @Voyager2002 a passport renewal will be cheaper the 1 week fast track service costs £142 - however currently there are no appointments available so you will have to keep checking the website. https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I hope you get it sorted and you & your friend have a lovely holiday despite any extra cost . 

Yeah, we are travelling next weekend.

Yesterday was her 40th and this was a surprise gift, as said we forgot this might even be a possibility as she has been separated from her ex husband in 2012 and divorced 7 years ago (I said 5 yrs earlier, but blame my maths as it was 2015 apparently). To further complicate it, in the 25yrs I've known her, she's always been known to me by her maiden name as she kept that professionally even when married (she owns a small business called something like Jane Smith Events (not the name of her/business - just an example)). However she has never bothered to change her passport (issued December 2013).

Anyway it is neither here or there, it just seems like utter robbery the charge for making a change like this. I'm sure this happens fairly often with women's surnames.

You made it more expensive by booking through a 3rd party instead of direct with Ryanair.

Sorry edited my above post. It's not all Ryanair.

Ryanair, Ryanair, easyJet on outward. easyJet, Ryanair, KLM on homeward.

Pollycat

AJRBADGER said:

Pollycat said:

AJRBADGER said:

onashoestring said:

I really feel for you - you have put a lot of effort into buying a surprise gift for your friend . Unfortunately your friend won’t be able to travel if the name on the ticket doesn’t match her passport.

When are you travelling - you mention it’s a bank holiday today  - what is the relevance — does that mean you were planning to travel this week ? 

It will cost £375 ++ to change the name through 3rd party ( admin fee + Ryanair charge for each leg - ) and may take some time as 3rd parties aren’t know for their speed in dealing with these requests .  As @Caz3121 has already said buying New tickets may be cheaper . It will also be a quicker resolution to the problem if the holiday is imminent. Don’t go through third party - Check the price of buying directly from Ryanair .

If there are a few weeks before you travel I agree with @Voyager2002 a passport renewal will be cheaper the 1 week fast track service costs £142 - however currently there are no appointments available so you will have to keep checking the website. https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I hope you get it sorted and you & your friend have a lovely holiday despite any extra cost . 

Yeah, we are travelling next weekend.

Yesterday was her 40th and this was a surprise gift, as said we forgot this might even be a possibility as she has been separated from her ex husband in 2012 and divorced 7 years ago (I said 5 yrs earlier, but blame my maths as it was 2015 apparently). To further complicate it, in the 25yrs I've known her, she's always been known to me by her maiden name as she kept that professionally even when married (she owns a small business called something like Jane Smith Events (not the name of her/business - just an example)). However she has never bothered to change her passport (issued December 2013).

Anyway it is neither here or there, it just seems like utter robbery the charge for making a change like this. I'm sure this happens fairly often with women's surnames.

You made it more expensive by booking through a 3rd party instead of direct with Ryanair.

Sorry edited my above post. It's not all Ryanair.

Ryanair, Ryanair, easyJet on outward. easyJet, Ryanair, KLM on homeward.

But by using a 3rd party agent you have agreed to pay their change fees on top of what the airline charge.

Airlines have name change fees to stop people booking up cheap flights and then selling them on.

Whenever you use a 3rd party agent, you make any changes or issues harder to resolve (and more expensive in this case) than if you book direct.

Hope you get it sorted anyway.

onashoestring

Sorry to say but the fact that it is 3 different airlines complicates things even more -

If you had booked directly with KLM there would not have been a charge to correct the name and you could have done this yourself on their website uploading the valid documents as proof . Easyjet also do not charge you to correct a name and you could have done this directly yourself . 


The 3rd party agent will now need to contact each one of the airlines and request a name correction providing valid documents as proof - they will then  have to wait to see if this is approved by the airline - all of this will take time - this is why they charge an admin fee for each leg that needs to be corrected . 

Not wishing to be the bearer of bad news , but being realistic- as your trip is for this weekend you could end up with the situation where 1 or 2 of the airlines make the corrections in time for your trip but not the 3rd leaving you with unusable tickets . 

Can you book a new direct flight to your destination for your friend  (possibly without all the changes )  ?Whilst you won’t all the travelling together , if it is the only way to save the rest of the holiday it may be worth consideration. Book directly with airline / not 3rd party . 

I sincerely hope you get it sorted and please report back and let us know how you get on .