First and Middle names transposed
 

I have a congregant who is flying El Al to Israel on our congregational tour this December. The Tour company's affiliated travel agent booked her 11-year-old son's ticket with his first and middle names incorrectly listed, i.e. they booked him as John Steven Jones instead of Steven John Jones. The tour company sent her to the travel agent to make the change, and El Al did the same. The tour company refuses to change it unless she pays a $250 fee plus buys a reissued ticket for a higher fare, claiming that she "gave them the wrong name" (which is a lie).

My questions are to confirm that she does indeed need to change the name on the ticket so he doesn't have hassles or get denied boarding, and also to understand why a simple name change would be so difficult to accomplish. Thanks for any insights.

Do you still have the information you sent to the travel agent?

I don't know if she emailed it or did it over the phone. I'll ask her that.