Max007

Hi all,

Here is the deal. I'm going on a domestic business trip in Canada in a few weeks with a collegue and I accidentally misspelled his name when booking our tickets. I simply substituted a I for a Y in his first name.

I booked both tickets at the same time on aircanada.com while logged into my account so I assume it's actually only 1 ticket for the both of us. I also correctly input his AP number.

Should I expect any problems from AC? I looked on thier web site and it's not possible to correct my mistake that way, do I need to call them and have his name correctly spelled out or does it not matter since it's close enough and the full ticket/ (PNR?) was booked under my account which has the correct info.

Thx!

Max

RCyyz

Changing a name on a ticket is do-able but incredibly difficult. Your frind will likely be able to fly, but he also likely won't get any AP miles posted to his account because of the spelling.

I think the only way to change the name is to call and have them do it. Last time I did that though it took 3 - 4 escalations before someone with enough authority could do the change. The process was adequately pleasant (they were all very understanding on the phone and they were all trying) but it seems that it takes someone of great authority to make name changes on tickets.

Stranger

1. If within 24 hours of purchase, phone them and have them change it.

2. In any event, even if past 24 hours, it may be that having them put a comment in th file could be useful.

3. Apart from the risk that they might not let him travel, they might also not properly credit Aeroplan miles.

zorn

Unless his name changed from something mundane like byn Laden to something sinister like bin Laden, I don't see it being an issue at all for a domestic flight.

What would be really hilarious if you changed his name to something girly like Candi or Brandi (with a heart over the i).

AC is only going to care if it looks like you are trying to fly the wrong people on the wrong tickets (in general) or if they will be on the hook for a big fine if they fly someone to another country that refuses to let them immigrate. That is clearly not the case here.

I wouldn't go any further than asking them to make a note of it. I wouldn't even do that. I'd just check in and play dumb if they even notice.

tcook052

Nope, one ticket per passenger and nowadays it's of the electronic variety. You can see both E-ticket numbers on the email confirmation you received as well as the ac.com reservation you can access.

FWIW, I would recommend calling AC and at least asking them to note the correct name however given it's for domestic travel it shouldn't be a big deal so not to worry.

Max007

Thanks for the info.

Any chance they would do the change for free (I'm just past the 24 hours time frame). Also, any chance I can have that taken care of by calling at the priority access phone number I have at the back of my Prestige AP card (yes i know, that amount to barely more that ZERO status...).

Max

GUWonder

I would not call the airline or try to do anything whatsoever at this point with the tickets other than to carry on as if everything is fine. Just go about your normal travel routine and don't worry about it.

Domestic or international travel, for a mistake like that I wouldn't even worry about it. The biggest issues would usually be that the check-in agent can't find your itinerary -- but using the record locator solves that problem -- and that the FF mileage credit might not register automatically -- but usually that's not an issue as long as they either force in the frequent flyer number or the passenger is willing to put in for missing mileage credit.

I wouldn't waste my time any further worrying about it if in your shoes and wouldn't even call the airline about it in advance. If you can do self check-in, that's best as then it's likely that no one will even notice whatsoever; even if you don't do self check-in, the agent might not even notice the issue unless they have trouble pulling up the record based on trying to pull it up first on the basis of the last name or a swipe of something you hand them.

tcook052

Sorry but once e-tickets go past the 24 hour mark anything AC would do would be something more like noting the correction on your PNR rather than go the whole way and reissue the ticket, which I don't is in no way necessary for domestic travel. BTW, while you each have you own e-tickets, you will share one PNR. I would try calling the elite desk but am sure it's not going to be all that much faster than regular reservations, especially as Shareholder notes in this thread if the elite numbers printed on the back of the cards are incorrect.

YEGflyer

I wouldn't worry too much - our corporate travel agent missed a letter in my first name a few months ago on an international ticket. I was worried since the name on the ticket didn't match the name on the passport, but didn't have any problems.

why fly

Hey I did the same thing on UA last month and they fixed the ticket by reissuing it... but we were flying international. Oh by the WAY N/C.

Phone the nice people at AC they will fix it.

FlyerGoldII

I do not agree with your response. These days, with the heightened security (even with domestic flights), if your colleague shows up, it is possible entry can be denied by an overzealous CATSA agent through security, or by an overzealous gate agent for boarding.

I would just contact Air Canada - an honest mistake should be changed, without fee. There have been a few times that my daughter has been mistakenly booked as my son - I had no trouble changing that.

YOWkid

Why would overzealous CATSA agents care? They don't even compare the name on the BP to any form of identity.

yyzgigi

Not sure if it is typical of all airport printed boarding passes but at IAH on Wednesday the NTSA guy was complaining that AC does not print first name on boarding passes. I examined the boarding pass and confirmed that the only name was my last name. So in fact as long as the last name is the same I could have been anyone.

Stranger

At least on web check in, they do include first name. Also in recent regular ones at least at Canadian airports.

FlyerGoldII

You are right.


I meant to say that if someone was going from/within USA, then the TSA agents do compare the name on a photo id with the name on the boarding pass.