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HELP with name change due to misspelling

HELP with name change due to misspelling

Old Dec 20, 2014, 12:19 am
  #1  
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HELP with name change due to misspelling

Hi,

I am sorry for any trouble that I might cause with this question.

My friend booked a ticket from Finland to Vietnam through travel agency. The itinerary including Cathay - Finnair operated flight to Milan and Cathay operated Flight from Milan to HongKong then HongKong to Vietnam.

In such a rush, she has misspelled her name. I have checked online that both Cathay and Finnair allow to change name due to misspelling. But my friend can only correct it through travel agency yet the travel agency reply to us that

They tried to change name but it is impossible due to restricted fareclass and the system responsed the ticket will be cancelled.

I tried to contact Cathay and they answer me that the travel agency need to contact them and do everything by themselves.

How can I talk to my travel agency because I want to have a clear document or policy from Cathay which instructs the travel agency how to change name clearly. With that, I hope I can talk to them so that they are more active in dealing with the issues.

I found these two documents from internet. One from Cathay and one from Finnair. It clearly states that it is allowed to change name due to misspelling.
I already gave them but they seems not interested in helping me.

http://www.cxagents.com/cxa_content/...TA_12Feb12.pdf
http://media.finnair.com/easy/docs/A...s_Oct_2010.pdf

I hope I won't cause too much trouble here and thank you very much in advance.

Trang
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 12:43 am
  #2  
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Did your friend use a Vietnamese agency? Does your friend actually have a ticket issued (as in, does she have ticket numbers) or did the agency just reserve her seat?

I ask because Viet agencies everywhere are notorious for claiming that the tickets were issued when in fact they were just put in reserve, with the agency hoping to find a cheaper fare to keep the difference (with the passenger not knowing any better).

I'm betting their reluctance in changing the name is from their being afraid that your friend would find out their ruse.

If that's not the case, the travel agent is still wrong and your friend should continue to hammer them until they actually do it.

Good luck.
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 1:40 am
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I have asked for a name change before and there was a HK$500 "fine" associated with it.
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 1:46 am
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Originally Posted by CX HK
I have asked for a name change before and there was a HK$500 "fine" associated with it.
Was yours a name error or an actual change?

For the OP how much of a change is it?

And didn't think @ Vietnam agencies with a ruse like that before- thanks for the heads up ^
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 5:12 am
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If the error is only one letter is should not be a problem. Some airline call centre staff don't really know the rules and will automatically say no and try to force you into buying another more expensive ticket. If the error is more than this I'm afraid you will either have to pay a hefty change fee (if the airline allows this) or buy another ticket.

Airlines may be difficult because they are worried they will be fined by immigration authorities. I suggest you talk to immigration at your final destination and get them to say what their position is. Get the name/phone number of the person you speak to so that you can inform the airline if necessary.

Finally, do not mention this problem to airline staff unless they ask. Most don't want to take responsibility and their default setting is NO.
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 7:31 am
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Yes... and as a TA, I can tell you that unless the first name is completely wrong, and not one or two letter here, then all the travel agency need to do is to put an OSI on the reservation to advise that due typo name should be xxxxxx.

The reason the TA might be reluctant to change the ticket is that if the ticket has been issued, then you need to cancel and reissue the ticket, and there will be a fee involved. It is only free if the ticket has not been issued.

Now, having said that, name changes are permitted only with first names. When you need to change the last name, the above will apply. Cancel, rebook and reissue - especially when there are TWO airlines involved.

Originally Posted by winchpete
If the error is only one letter is should not be a problem. Some airline call centre staff don't really know the rules and will automatically say no and try to force you into buying another more expensive ticket. If the error is more than this I'm afraid you will either have to pay a hefty change fee (if the airline allows this) or buy another ticket.

Airlines may be difficult because they are worried they will be fined by immigration authorities. I suggest you talk to immigration at your final destination and get them to say what their position is. Get the name/phone number of the person you speak to so that you can inform the airline if necessary.

Finally, do not mention this problem to airline staff unless they ask. Most don't want to take responsibility and their default setting is NO.
No, no, no. Don't do this at all ...
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 1:48 pm
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Thank you so much for all your answer.

@LAXative: No, I book it through an agency based in Sweden.

@Guy Betsy: Yes, I acknowledge that my friend's situation is very complicated. As we put the LAST NAME completely wrong. It is due to the automatic filling feature of the web browser.

Do you think that they are reluctant to help us as the name is so difficult to change and the situation involves two airlines. But is there any chances that it is getting easier as the route inside Europe (Finland - Italy) operated by both airlines Cathay + Finnair. Can we just request name change to Cathay as a new ticket is issued any way?

Thanks again for all your reply.
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Old Dec 20, 2014, 1:49 pm
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What if I am willing to cancel and issue a new ticket? In this case, is it such an arduous procedure for them that they are not willing to do this.
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Old Dec 21, 2014, 9:20 am
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Originally Posted by trang.neoguri
Thank you so much for all your answer.

@LAXative: No, I book it through an agency based in Sweden.

@Guy Betsy: Yes, I acknowledge that my friend's situation is very complicated. As we put the LAST NAME completely wrong. It is due to the automatic filling feature of the web browser.

Do you think that they are reluctant to help us as the name is so difficult to change and the situation involves two airlines. But is there any chances that it is getting easier as the route inside Europe (Finland - Italy) operated by both airlines Cathay + Finnair. Can we just request name change to Cathay as a new ticket is issued any way?

Thanks again for all your reply.
Because the first sector of the ticket is with AY, CX will not do anything.

You really need your TA to sort it out. And yes, you most likely will have to cancel the entire ticket, fork out the penalty, and rebook. But that's the trouble with on-line travel services. There is no human interaction and when there is a problem like this, you get cold reception. Whatever happened to going into a travel agency and doing your booking? Then things like these can be easily resolved.

But I have sent you a PM. Reply to me and I will suggest best course of action to take.

Last edited by Guy Betsy; Dec 21, 2014 at 4:57 pm
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Old Dec 21, 2014, 11:16 am
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Many years ago my wife had her first name misspelled, we did nothing (we didn't even catch it), and we flew with no problem. We only knew it after the fact when I look at her boarding pass again.

Few years ago my colleague had his last name misspelled (Chen instead of Chan), at first the check-in agent can't find his ticket, then she tried Chen instead of Chan and found it, and let him fly anyway since she knew Chen and Chan are the same in Chinese and it's an honest mistake.

Not sure how bad your misspelling is, but just these two examples show that they are pretty flexible with name misspellings....
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Old Dec 22, 2014, 5:07 am
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@Guy Betsy: Thank you very much. I have sent you an email.

@Cathay Boy: Thank you. I hope my friend can have some luck like your friends but I was afraid. Since our case is pretty serious. (as to my knowledge )
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Old Dec 22, 2014, 7:25 am
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Its really quite complicated - but trang.neoguri's friend would need to liase entirely with TA and not with CX. CX will not touch ticket when ticket has not been used and besides, the fare is only available from Finland so CX in HK won't /can't do anything.

AY is on as codeshare as CX flight number. So the info must be on the CX reservation. But even if the agency puts in a OSI message on the reservation to say that due to typo, it may be ok for CX, but AY may very well refuse passage to passenger ex-HEL and back.

Its not just a misspelling of the last name. Its entirely wrong. So there really is not way to just reissue the ticket with a change of name. That is only possible with first names with misspellings or titles. It cannot be done to last names.

Example : GUY PACIFICA
Booked as : GUY BO

trang.neoguri needs to get TA to liase with their GSA in Finland to get special authorisation to reissue the ticket to a different surname. The ticket is also in S class , which probably means non refundable. But sales agency / GSAs outside USA/Canada may not be as kind or helpful especially if the TA is not a large CX sales agency. So any sort of support is iffy at best.

Change fee might apply to the tune of around EUR 250 or thereabouts or more - if a reissue is possible. I explained to trang.neoguri that his friend should have double checked the name before she pressed enter.. and to also have considered getting travel insurance, or even had considered walking into a travel agency to book the ticket. Sure most of the time people think they don't need the extra cost but when something like that happens, that is when a good TA can make the difference between not taking your calls and going the extra mile to sort things out.

Otherwise it might be a very expensive 700 euros lesson.

Sorry to have to break the news to trang.neoguri.

I understand his problem but I can also understand the travel agency's dilemma. As if they do anything wrong, CX will come back to them with a debit memo and ask them to foot the cost of ticket. So they need to first understand the problem and how they can fix it for the passenger and also protecting themselves. But as it is also an online agency - and many of us have experienced that, chance are that the person on the phone probably has ZERO experience in dealing with things like this.

PS - a creditcard charge back isn't going to work either.

Last edited by Guy Betsy; Dec 22, 2014 at 5:04 pm
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Old Dec 22, 2014, 7:55 am
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Thank you very much Guy Betsy. I do acknowledge how serious the trouble is. This is definitely the most expensive lesson that we have learned. Hope bad thing is only for this year. .

Once again, thank you.
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