Will this Really Work for Air Tickets??

[nwsteve]

We booked United(Copa) tickets to Lima via Houston and Panama City a couple of weeks ago. Over the weekend, we received notice of a schedule change and due to the formatting I noticed for the first time a typo in my DW's last name spelling even though it is the same as mine (we have 2 "n"s and they dropped one of them.

I called this United this am and reservations told me it is almost impossible to make the name correction given it has another airline involved--Copa is code share partner. Instead, they supposedly noted in the reservation, the correct spelling and told me to get to the airport extra early. We did also book Business Class so maybe that will help.
BUT, is what the agent told me really going to work when we check-in with passports with correct spellings, of course? I am particularly concerned when we return from Eucador (GYE). Anyone with experience and/or suggestions for other action I should be taking. Flights are the first week in Oct so we have some time.
Thanks in advance.
Nwsteve

 

[Helios]

I would take the credit card receipt along also to show your payment for the tickets.

 

[RockyMtn]

Shouldn't be an issue. Passport should suffice. Have had my name spelled wrong on a number of tickets over the years and as long as it is close it won't be an issue.

 

[pixelville]

DH has travelled internationally with shortened version of name or a space within the first name that didn't belong, etc. Haven't run into issues.

 

[MichaelB]

This sounds like one of those things that shouldn't be a problem. It could be if someone behind a counter is having a bad day and wants to take it out one someone. Best thing you can do is smile and be polite. The CC receipt idea by Helios is smart.

Strange that the airline won't make a change, even if it is a codeshare. Making changed to reservations is a fundamental part of their business.

 

[pb4uski]

Why can the airline rebook with the correct name and then cancel the flawed name (at no charge of course)?

 

[photoguy]

Sometimes I've found customer service reps just say that a change is "impossible" because they don't want to be bothered. Might be worth it for the OP to call again and perhaps get a more helpful rep.

 

[turbo89]

Sometimes I've found customer service reps just say that a change is "impossible" because they don't want to be bothered. Might be worth it for the OP to call again and perhaps get a more helpful rep.

This X2!

I just did something similar with DirectTV. They auto-enrolled me on some stupid sports package. I called and cancelled, they said they couldn't reimburse me.. I argued and lost. I called back ~ 30 minutes later, got someone new, got the charges reversed, a $20 account credit and $3/month off.

... I was much more courteous the second time... a friendly demeanor seems to make a difference.

 

[travelover]

........Might be worth it for the OP to call again and perhaps get a more helpful rep.

Great advice. These customer service reps seem to be a bunch of uncoordinated, unaccountable low paid employees, so spin until you win. The bad news is that if they don't follow through on their promise, you have to just spin again and again by calling the same 800 number.

 

[growing_older]

I have a long and easy to misspell last name. Have travelled many times, including internationally, with variations of the spelling, sometimes multiple variations on multiple legs of the same flight. Never had a problem, but I do bring my passport with the correct spelling with me. I think the problem they are trying to avoid is using someone else's ticket, so minor typos have never caused me a problem.

 

[ivinsfan]

When booking online with a major airline get a FF number and when you log-in, you will find a place to enter all your secure flight data for you and everyone that flys with you. Including DOB and passport numbers, all that stuff. Fill it out and save to your profile. This really cuts down on the chance of you entering a fat-fingered or minor mistake when you are concentrating on booking and paying for tickets. Also, makes it much easier to check-in on-line. A missing letter in the name almost sounds as though it came from an entry that you made. You say that "they" dropped the letter, your original confirmation email should give the spelling that you actually used.

I know that won't help much with this flight, but it might save you some grief in the future.

 

[nwsteve]

When booking online with a major airline get a FF number and when you log-in, you will find a place to enter all your secure flight data for you and everyone that flys with you. Including DOB and passport numbers, all that stuff. Fill it out and save to your profile. This really cuts down on the chance of you entering a fat-fingered or minor mistake when you are concentrating on booking and paying for tickets. Also, makes it much easier to check-in on-line. A missing letter in the name almost sounds as though it came from an entry that you made. You say that "they" dropped the letter, your original confirmation email should give the spelling that you actually used.

OP here. Actually this reservation was made by an United agent because they were apparently doing work on their system. It would not let me book the international portion. She actually did the key stroking. We do have our profiles correct in United's system but some reason she opted to enter the tickets directly.
This trip had another wrinkle in that I actually had to book it twice. The first time the United system was such a mess, had to use an agent and she ended up booking the Copa legs as a separate leg. DO NOT LET AN AGENT DO THIS TO YOU! The next day I was confirming the reservations and saw the fare was not over a 1000 less. Since I was within the 24 cancel at no cost period, I called and rebooked. This agent confirmed had I tried to fly on the original itinerary, I would have had to claim our baggage in Panama City and recheck for the leg in Lima. Not a good thing with a layover of about 90 minutes.
Nwsteve

 

[ivinsfan]

When booking online with a major airline get a FF number and when you log-in, you will find a place to enter all your secure flight data for you and everyone that flys with you. Including DOB and passport numbers, all that stuff. Fill it out and save to your profile. This really cuts down on the chance of you entering a fat-fingered or minor mistake when you are concentrating on booking and paying for tickets. Also, makes it much easier to check-in on-line. A missing letter in the name almost sounds as though it came from an entry that you made. You say that "they" dropped the letter, your original confirmation email should give the spelling that you actually used.

OP here. Actually this reservation was made by an United agent because they were apparently doing work on their system. It would not let me book the international portion. She actually did the key stroking. We do have our profiles correct in United's system but some reason she opted to enter the tickets directly.
This trip had another wrinkle in that I actually had to book it twice. The first time the United system was such a mess, had to use an agent and she ended up booking the Copa legs as a separate leg. DO NOT LET AN AGENT DO THIS TO YOU! The next day I was confirming the reservations and saw the fare was not over a 1000 less. Since I was within the 24 cancel at no cost period, I called and rebooked. This agent confirmed had I tried to fly on the original itinerary, I would have had to claim our baggage in Panama City and recheck for the leg in Lima. Not a good thing with a layover of about 90 minutes.
Nwsteve

Did they charge you the on-line fee? Even if they didn't, under these circumstance if you are uncomfortable about the name, I would keep calling and pestering them to fix their mistake. The original record should show it was a telephone booking.Phone booking has turned into a complete crap-shoot. It seems to be so error prone.

 

[nwsteve]

Actually there was no hassle on not charging the agent fee with either agent booking. They both seem to recognize the online booking was non-functional at time of booking. Even they had an issue.
Thanks to the assurance of the other travelers who posted, I am thinking I will probably not call again since it is always at least a 15 minute wait. The rep who made the entry in the comments section with the correct spelling seemed to well fit the earlier description of "drone-like" capabilities.
Nwsteve

 

[ivinsfan]

Actually there was no hassle on not charging the agent fee with either agent booking. They both seem to recognize the online booking was non-functional at time of booking. Even they had an issue.
Thanks to the assurance of the other travelers who posted, I am thinking I will probably not call again since it is always at least a 15 minute wait. The rep who made the entry in the comments section with the correct spelling seemed to well fit the earlier description of "drone-like" capabilities.
Nwsteve

That's probably what I would do, if they go into your booking no guarantee there won't be a bigger problem when they finish "correcting" it.

 

[Koolau]

We now have so many rules and regulations that most of us could be denied reentry into the US on some whim (or ITSHTF while you are out of the country.) You're probably okay, but I'd push this issue with the airlines. Otherwise, do what everyone else does. Assume that most rules are only enforced against "bad" people - until they decide you're the bad person (this would be a bad time to pi$$ off a TSA agent or customs agent.) See my tag line and YMMV.