Travel panic: misspelled name edition

March 22, 2024 4:04 PM

How strict will this situation be?

So, i booked an international flight a few months ago, am a seasoned traveler, usually dial in all of the details. However, somehow my name must have gotten auto-filled on the booking as the shortened form of my name Dave instead of David.
I didn't notice until it was time to check in, and there was a hangup trying to enter my passport info.
I tried calling the carriers hotline, and they tell me that i can't make changes since it's now within 24 hours of travel. they warned me i wouldn't be allowed to fly.

Has this happened to anyone? and is it really so specific that they wont accept that the shortened form of my name is still my name and I am me.
So that's my question. do I have any hope of getting on the plane.

posted by OHenryPacey to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total)

You have hope of getting on the plane, but you will need to talk to the agent at the desk, so I'd show up early.

(I have done this to my partner, not using their legal name, it ended up being fine, if very anxiety inducing)
posted by larthegreat at 4:19 PM on March 22 [2 favorites]

Yeah, this happened to me, and we had to fix it at the airport. One of my kids has a similar name situation. We managed to get it straightened out but it was a very stressful situation. We had Expedia on one phone and the airline's customer service on another phone and actually held the phones together so they could talk to each other, which is amusing now but was not at the time.

So yes, you do have hope because we managed to get it straightened out while we were checking in, but it really is that big of a deal and you should do everything you can to fix it now.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:41 PM on March 22 [3 favorites]

Mine was also an international flight, which I think added to the difficulty.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:47 PM on March 22

I had the a similar situation. Think Johnny v John. I walked up to the counter outside of TSA. Went to check-in. They asked for my ID as I held my breath. I had given them both my passport and DL. The only question I got was, "Window or Aisle?" This was right after travel started back up after Covid. I did show my covid vax card that had my non-legal name.

Major non-event.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 5:04 PM on March 22

Timothy/Tim here and I run into this from time to time. People do notice it and occasionally higher-ups have had to sign off but apparently it happens often enough that there are procedures in place.

Now, the fact that my middle name is listed as “D“ on my passport… That has caused me some real problems.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:07 AM on March 23

The level of strictness will (in my experience) vary depending on the gatekeeper, TSA or otherwise. I've been in this situation and had a middling experience compared to folks above--it was not a non-issue, but it resolved in 10-15 minutes of examining my documentation, looking closely at my face, etc.
posted by cupcakeninja at 6:54 AM on March 23

I've had similar issues happen with international flights - my two first names get smushed into one name on the ticket and then the passport scanner thinks it's a mismatch. The check-in agents helped sort it out.
posted by creatrixtiara at 12:44 AM on March 26