Originally Posted by ringingup

Hi!

I almost had a heart attack when I realised today that I misspelled my partner's surname in a holiday booking (to LIS) I made a few days ago.

I called the US BAEC line and I was told that, having swapped two letters, it won't be an issue as a difference in spelling between ticket and passport is allowed for up to 3 characters.

I've asked if the name could be changed anyway, for my piece of mind, and they said they're going to do it free of charge, but he couldn't do it himself and he was going to fill in a form so that the UK office could do it tomorrow.

Is the point about 3 characters correct? Is it a IATA regulation?

I wonder why it needs to be done by the UK office though, probably because they issued the tickets?

Originally Posted by BA Executive Club

Hi all

To clarify, if you contact us to make a change due to user error such as misspelling of name (which we understand is easily done) within 24 hours we will do our best to accommodate and make any amends. There is a £30 service fee for the processing of this. With regards to the question about whether misspelled names can remain uncorrected, we of course only know if an error has been made if we are contacted directly and can only advise the best possible advice which is that the name on your ticket should match the name on your passport.

Not so long ago we didn't permit name changes on tickets at all and there was some leeway with regards to the 3 character rule. However, with the introduction of capturing additional security information etc we must advise that all details should match to ensure there are no problems when you land or depart from your destination. While noone has reported any issues with this here, I personally have come across issues in the past which can be costly in terms of delay or hinderance to travel.

I hope this helps somewhat but please let me know if I can help with anything further on this subject.

Best regards

Nicci