LeviFlight

Moderators - apologies for posting in the wrong, please move to correct area (I am not sure of where that would be).

A travel agent (on behalf of an international agency) has booked a flight for me. They have my first name not as in my passport (eg Bill as apposed to William). I have asked the agent through he organization to reissue the ticket but the best they have done is put a note on the reservation of this issue. I will be flying from Europe to Korea and then again internally. In my mind I don't think I have a snowballs chance of getting through security with this error. The agent has refused to fix the issue (actually has not refused but is doing some passive aggressive weirdness by not communicating). I have told the sponsoring organization that I consider the flight not ticketed. Am I being overly concerned or is this a real issue? Thanks.

smith80678

That is considered a minor mistake in your nickname. It depends on the airline policy whether they will accept you. I think because your travel agent made a notation you should be okay.

LeviFlight

I guess there are 2 parts that concern me: airline accepting the ticket (less of a concern) and security accepting the name difference. Perhaps though that will not be an issue if have a ticket from the desk. It is rather disconcerting to be worrying about something that could go either way on the day when the agent should just fix it. why not do the job properly.

If it does go wrong it's a problem for me stuck on the wrong continent and for those in a meeting without a presenter.

kwildnj

The problem is that, in the English speaking west, Bill is a known nickname for William, For those unfamiliar with the language, they are two distinctly different names.

My question for you is how did the agency get "Bill" as your name, versus your full name? Call me crazy, but if I was a travel agency I would have asked the name of the passenger I was booking a ticket for.

LeviFlight

Yes, quite. I did expect them to ask some basic questions before confirming. this tends to be common practice with agents. I do sign my emails as 'Bill'. Earlier in the communication I pointed out my full name and it's even in the email signature directly below where I sign off it says William Smith [not my
real name], Director of.......
Sigh!

kwildnj

I would absolutely keep on the travel agency until they fix the problem they created. To me, having a ticket issued under the wrong name is 100% unacceptable and needs to be fixed.

On an aside, I can truly appreciate the issues which can arrise by regular use of a "nickname".

My father is known to all by Tony, obviously short for Anthony, which is actually his middle name. (He and his father share the same first name, and this was the solution instead of "Junior".)

However, when I was growing up, he was listed in the school phone directories under his first name. At least once per year it was thought my mother was fooling around with some guy named Tony, not realising the person listed in the directory was one in the same.

But I absolutely would not accept anything less than the correct name on the reservation, even if it means the agency has to eat some fees for the change.

If nothing else, mileage earning and any associated elite benefits will be hindered as a result of the name match issue.

redtop43

There is a certain factual issue here, which is, what did you ask the ticket to be issued as? What did you tell them your name was?

If you asked for it to be issued as William, you seem to be on completely safe ground. They didn't sell you what you paid for. Period.

If you made the mistake (I once did something like that, using an obsolete online booking profile from before I changed my name legally), then you're on shakier ground, but IIRC airlines allow agents to change tickets based on "Agent Mistake" without too much trouble.

Why use an agent if you can't get at least a modicum of service? It does seem insane.

I'm guessing though that you initiated the mistake somehow by not giving them clear information