Wrong name on airline ticket

Gilroyd

I have booked two flights Manchester to Rome in March 2026 via a well known agent. As soon as I booked I noticed my wife's first name was completely wrong. I hadn't written the wrong name, it must have auto generated but perhaps I didn't spot before confirming, or the system changed it after. I can't recall because this was August. Agent said they would help but only just found out now in November that the wrong name is still there and whilst the agent asked for a change the airline said no. It's policy is to only change a maximum of 3 letters of a name !!! and this is a whole first name change. I am now stuck with the agent saying they tried but no can do, and the airline, through bots and online service, saying they will only deal with the agent. I have two tickets I can't use (because I am not going without my wife) just because of a spelling issue that would take the airline 10 seconds to correct. I have complaints in with each but not hopeful. 

Any thoughts or advice anyone??

user1977

If it s a completely different name (and not just a obvious alternative or typing mistake) then not sure how you can expect them to distinguish between your mistake and you actually transferring the ticket to a different person? Especially three months later. Think you may need to swallow this one if there is no goodwill from the agent. 

Gilroyd

Thanks user 1977. The first contact from the agent was within minutes of the booking confirmation as I spotted it right away. The airline will know this. There is also no way I would have typed my wife's first name as another one. I do agree I need someone to look at the bigger picture and use some common sense which is often in short supply.

born_again

So was this a online agent?
You can name them.

elsien

They will normally change it for a fee. Have you asked the agent to query that?
 Which airline is it? Because you could wave the terms and conditions With regards to name changes at the agent?

Gilroyd

Born again. Opodo. Went back to airline on the day, but airline said no.
Elsien. Airline is Lufthansa. Not sure what you mean about waiving t&cs but Opodo are not giving me any options. I will be prepared to pay but it seems unfair. My wife’s name is Caroline. There is no way I typed Helen !!!! and we did tell Lufthansa on the day.

bagand96

Problem will be proving who made the mistake.  It's very hard to prove a negative, especially months later and without screenshots etc.

Obviously if you're wife's name is Caroline you'd never type Helen.  Could there be some sort of autofill in your browser?  Do you have a family member called Helen that you've booked things for on that device?

It's likely that the connection between you making the booking on the Opodo site and the ticket being booked with the airline is automated.  So Opodo's position will be they haven't made the error either.  (I say likely - there may be agents or situations where there is human intervention which would be an opportunity for error - how quickly did you get the Lufthansa booking reference and spot the error?)

The final point is booking via an online agent.  Your stuck with waiting for their customer service to act - and they often aren't very good as you have experienced.  Had you booked directly with Lufthansa you could deal with the airline directly and maybe have more success.  Some airlines give a 24 hour cancellation period after booking for example to account for situations like yours.

eskbanker

bagand96 said:

Obviously if you're wife's name is Caroline you'd never type Helen.  Could there be some sort of autofill in your browser?  Do you have a family member called Helen that you've booked things for on that device?

Really hoping it's an innocent explanation like that rather than a scenario like a famous scene from 'Friends'....

Gilroyd

There is no one in family, or a friend called Helen so must be auto generated. Also no secret love like Ross 😀. 

It is all just so frustrating. I don’t think I have done anything wrong 

elsien

What I meant was if you can find in the Lufthansa terms and conditions that a name change is possible with a fee then you can show that to the travel agent and ask them to explain why they’re saying it’s not possible when it clearly is. 

Newbie_John

Buy another ticket directly for Caroline. Check in all three and enjoy a free seat between you.

Fees to change a name can cost as much as new ticket