How Much Will Correcting My Name On My Ticket Cost Me?
“If you don’t like your name that much, you should change it by deed poll. It’s much cheaper than changing your airline ticket!”
This was actually said to me when checking in at a Ryanair desk before a trip to Spain. My friend who booked the tickets did so in my name Franki, but my passport shows my full name, Francesca. Cue a ‘confused’ clerk when asking me if Franki and Francesca were two different people…
I was lucky in this instance that she waived the £120 last minute name correction fee as I hadn’t booked the ticket myself, but if she hadn’t, I’m not sure I’d have been prepared to spend double the cost of my ticket to correct my name..!
It sparked me to do a little research for Airport Parking Shop; what’s the average cost of correcting your name on an airline ticket?
I took 30 popular airlines that fly UK customers all over the world and I was shocked at the vast difference in the fees that airlines charge!
Why do airlines charge to change or correct a name on a ticket?
In most cases in the research, the fees are charged because it sometimes means cancelling and reissuing a ticket, which seems valid. In some instances, the airlines don’t specify this and simply say it’s an admin fee which seems a little bit unfair.
Some offer ‘grace periods’, usually 24 hours, in which you can correct name spellings for free, whilst some will allow you to change up to 3 letters for free right up until 2 hours before the flight leaves. It really does depend on the airline! Speaking of which, let’s take a look at the 30 airlines I looked into and what their policies are.
I used a combination of simply looking at their fee pages where it was clearly displayed for anyone to find and reaching out to the airline directly on Facebook messenger to ask the question. It’s fair to say that most of the airlines I asked were happy to provide me with information, apart from Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways who both refused to give me any information regarding the cost to make corrections.
Click the ✈️ to be taken to their webpage with clear details.
Flight Ticket Name Correction and Change Fees from 30 Airlines
| Airline | Cost | Fare Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Aegean |
€20 |
Any difference in fare/tax costs, these are charged too. ✈️ |
| Aer Lingus |
£80 |
Can only make changes if you booked with them directly. ✈️ |
| Aeroflot |
£22 |
You’ll need to visit one of their offices and request the reticketing option. ✈️ |
| Air Baltic |
£39.40 / $50 |
This is to change up to 3 letters. ✈️ |
| Air Canada |
Free |
Can only correct tickets on flights operated by Air Canada, can’t if other airlines are involved. |
| British Airways |
Free |
However the rules do vary depending on the type of ticket you have. Check out the conditions here: ✈️ |
| Cathay Pacific |
Undisclosed |
According to the Facebook conversation I had “Name correction is allowed only for special cases and will require approval from our team.” However, they were unable to tell me a cost. But it is probably in the region of $150 US dollars.✈️ |
| easyJet |
Free |
Spellings of names can be changed for free but changing the name to another passenger is from £25.✈️ |
| Emirates |
£10* / £20** |
If there’s a spelling error, you can change your name. However, they do not allow you to transfer your ticket to someone else. *For bookings made directly through the Emirates website, ticket office or contact centres. **£20 if you made a booking through a travel agency ✈️ |
| Finnair |
From €25* / €200* |
*This is what you’ll be charged for a name correction. **As for name changes, this is the price you’ll be charged. ✈️ |
Name correction fees range from Free to over £100!
| Airline | Cost | Fare Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Iberia |
Around £80 |
Website says name changes are forbidden, but the Facebook chat agent advised: “Names can be corrected depending on the number of letters” and for more info, I needed to call their team in Spain. But from personal experience, it costs about £80. Note, don’t offer to book flights for a stag do; I ended up having to change 2 names..! ✈️ |
| Japan Airlines (JAL) |
£40 |
Nothing specific about name corrections or changes, but their site references a ticketing service fee for name changes. Best to contact the airline directly. ✈️ |
| Jet2 |
Free |
Genuine errors of up to 3 letters can be changed for free, but not whole names. If you want to transfer the ticket to a new person, it’ll cost you £35 + flight price difference ✈️ |
| KLM |
Free |
Corrections can be made for free up to 30 hours before you fly – Flight restrictions apply so be sure to check their T&Cs. ✈️ |
| Lufthansa |
Free / *€100 |
Name corrections can be made completely free of charge. *Name changes are also free but only before a ticket has been issued. If a ticket has been issued then you’ll be charged €100.✈️ |
| Norwegian |
Free / *£60 |
For small spelling corrections, such as changing up to 3 characters per name, it is free. They may be able to help you with a name change even if it’s a larger mistake, as long as you can prove it’s the same person. *For LowFare LowFare+, a name change will cost you £60. ✈️ |
| Qatar |
Unknown |
If you want to make a correction before the ticket has been issued, you can make a change of up to 3 characters. If you want to make a correction after the ticket has been issued, then you’d need to contact their office. Please note, you may not swap names as that is not allowed. ✈️ |
| Qantas |
£30 |
You can change details up until midnight on the day of booking free of charge but after that, there’s a fee. ✈️ |
| Ryanair |
Free / *£115 |
They have a 48 hour grace period in which you can make changes if you’ve booked directly. After that, you may still change up to 3 characters for free. *But if you need to change your full name, then there is a fee. ✈️ |
Name correction fees can be standalone fees or on top of fare differences!
| Airline | Cost | Fare Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore Airlines |
USD50 |
Contact the team on singaporeair.com/contactus to correct your name. ✈️ |
| Swiss International |
N/A |
You are not allowed to change your name after the booking is made. ✈️ |
| TUI |
Difference in fare |
https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/info/booking-terms-and-conditions ✈️ |
| Turkish Airlines |
N/A |
They do not allow name correction or name change. |
| United Airlines |
Free |
The helpful facebook agent G says “We do not collect any fee for a name correction. We do want to put some context to that; by name correction, we mean situations like a typo, a change to the last name after getting married or getting divorced, and adjustments to match what is on the passport.We can also only perform name corrections under certain circumstances – to be more specific, we can only do it for reservations that have all flights exclusively with United.” |
| Virgin |
Free |
Legal name changes and spelling mistakes can be changed for free. You can’t transfer a ticket to another person, a new ticket will need to be purchased ✈️ |
| Vueling |
€50 |
This is a cost each way + fare difference. 24 grace period is free if booked direct. ✈️ |
| West Jet |
Prices vary depending on fare/location |
There is a name change fee but the price will vary depending on your class and your location. You can make the changes by calling them. ✈️ |
| Wizzair |
Free / *£39.74 |
Name corrections such as typos and misspellings can be change free of charge. *But there is a fee for a name change. ✈️ |
How much does it cost to correct your name on your plane ticket?
Average cost to correct a name: £40.94
Most expensive airline name correction fee: Ryanair at a massive £115 in advance.
Cheapest airline name correction fee: Emirates at £10
What I found most often is that the name correction fee could be subject to ticket type, when and how the ticket was booked, how the correction is made and some would also require you to pay any difference in fare / taxes.
Some airlines stated that changing married names could be done for free, whereas some stated that corrections simply weren’t allowed and you’d need to cancel and rebook your ticket. To be on the safe side, take extra care when booking your ticket as a simple spelling mistake could cost you more than the flight!
Before booking, be sure to double check the correction policies, simply click the plane ✈️ symbols above to be taken to the airline policy on name corrections before you book.
Have you had any nightmares when it comes to correcting a name on a ticket? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments!