Help Please!!

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Archanaanchan, May 18, 2019.

  1. Archanaanchan

    Archanaanchan IL Hall of Fame

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    Hello everyone,

    I am back to my fav forum after a long time. This time around i am posting here for a quick help for a friend.

    I have a friend who is travelling with her parents and 7 months old baby from India to Us. Her flight is on sunday, early morning.she happened to book the tickets through some agency. Recenty when she checks her ticket, she found out that her fathers second name has an 'h' extra when compared with the last name in passport.
    She calls the agency and also the airlines if this is an issue. Both of them say if there is no exact match with the name in passport tgey may not issue the boarding pass and her dad cannot travel with them.She is flying with qatar airlines. She cannot cancel and rebook the tickets this point of time since there is only business class seats available and costs very high.inspite of repeatedly requesting the airlines to make tge small correction in ticket, they are not ready to since it involves american airlines( she has to take american airlines to fly from dallas to her place ).

    1. Has someone come across this situation? How did you handle this?
    2. Does a single letter mistake matter?
    3. Is it a good idea to just go ahead and request while.onboarding?

    Please pour in your suggestions !
     
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  2. nolucklife

    nolucklife Senior IL'ite

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    Both Qatar and American should be contacted here.Qatar should update name on their flights and American airlines on their .At the most they will ask a copy of her Dad's passport to verify.
     
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  3. Rihana

    Rihana Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Welcome back Archana.
    If it involves only one airline, they are willing to accommodate. You said they have contacted the agency and Qatar airlines. They can try contacting American Airlines, and if they change the name, Qatar might be more willing to listen.

    The only option seems to be to call airlines and keep trying. After that, try luck at airport. If they deny, then be prepared for father to go home that day and fly at a later date.

    Buying business ticket 2-3 hours before flight time -- any chance tickets are cheaper than as airline would rather sell a ticket than fly that seat empty?

    ETA: checked with a friend. Last name has to match in visa, passport, ticket. But, they might make accommodation at airport. So cannot get online boarding pass, but can try luck in person.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2019
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  4. startinganew

    startinganew Gold IL'ite

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    In official documentation (not for airplane travel), when we had such a discrepancy, we were asked to get a notarized document stating that both the spellings refer to one and the same person. So if getting such a notarized document is not too much trouble for them - then maybe they can carry that along when they try their luck at the airport.
     
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  5. Archanaanchan

    Archanaanchan IL Hall of Fame

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    Did you experience this ever? Or did someone that you know.
     
  6. peartree

    peartree Platinum IL'ite

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    Is the agency that booked not helping?

    I gave a wrong name for my child (gave my older one's name instead of younger) and called the agency, they just corrected it. I also called the airlines directly (Cathay) and they told me they have it corrected. So just call both airlines and have them correct it. Shouldn't be an issue!
     
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  7. Archanaanchan

    Archanaanchan IL Hall of Fame

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    They are saying its too late now !Qatar is not ready to make the changes. Changes can be made within 24 hrs of booking. How long did you take to request for the change?
     
  8. Archanaanchan

    Archanaanchan IL Hall of Fame

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    Hey Rihana,
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts:)
    When she calls the airlines they repeatedly tell her change is not possible. But as you say, she can try her luck at the airport and i so wish they consider her request. I just wanted to hear from someone on this forum who have tried their luck the simliar way, so i could tell her it is possible.
     
  9. nolucklife

    nolucklife Senior IL'ite

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    I work for An airline IT .Each airline has its set of rules and now since she is close to her departure date all I can suggest is she can go to the airport ask the agents at the ticket counter, if they can help.She should also call American Airlines customer care and explain them her case ,they are usually good in these cases.I had similar issue with my last name last year with British where they refused to issue tickets .I talked to the supervisor in the airport and had them call their reservation center to get it corrected. My nephew had similar issue they asked his passport copy as a verification and corrected and issued new itinerary.
     
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  10. peartree

    peartree Platinum IL'ite

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    Must have been a couple of days later!! Only my husband noticed when I forwarded the itenerary and they changed it. It was well before the travel date though.. so not sure if that makes a difference!!
     
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