Travel agent didn't append MR to my name and my name ends in MS. This caused my first name to be put as Ms on ticket
Whenever I book a flight through any travel agency/website; they always make a data entry of my name as "BADWAL/SHUMSMR". However, this time I decided to book with Expedia India; and they just inputted my name as "BADWAL/SHUMS" without appending the MR post-fix.
Due to this, when I check my ticket details on the British Airways website, my name shows up as Ms. Shu Badwal; this is probably because my name ends with MS. Would this cause me to have any problems while checking in?
Best Answer
As Doc described in his excellent answer,
This will almost certainly not cause you any issues
But if you are still nervous about this, you can call the travel agent and ask them to add the MR suffix to the reservation as a name update.
Most airlines have a distinction between name changes (where you rebook the ticket to a different passenger) and name updates (fixing small spelling mistakes or adding a second name, but the passenger is still the same person). Usually name changes incur a change fee, but name updates are free.
This is true for most airlines that are not low-cost, and indeed the BA website tells us that if
the name of a person travelling is spelt wrong or doesn't match their name on their passport: Most spelling mistakes in the name of a traveller can be easily corrected over the phone, when all of the flights on their ticket are operated by British Airways. We don't charge for this type of change, however if the taxes, fees, carrier imposed charges or fuel surcharges on the ticket have changed since the booking was made we'll need to take any additional money due for them at this point.
(Note the catch at the end -- it's up to you if you want to take this risk).
However, note that
If you booked through a travel agent or on a travel website, please contact them directly. We can't change tickets they have issued.
For completeness, as this is not applicable in your case, but for future reference: BA has a 24 hour 'cool off' period in which you can cancel the booking and get a full refund regardless of the reason. So if they get your name completely wrong, immediately contact them.
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Can travel agent change name on ticket?
Yes, even if you have booked through a travel agent, the agent must follow the rules of the airline. Each ticket or fare basis has its own set of rules. But for the most part, the rules for name changes is the same for all tickets in a given cabin class for any given airline.Does Ms or Mrs matter on a flight?
It makes absolutely no difference. You could call yourself Rabbi Maria G and no one would care, as long as your first and last name matched your passport. Ryanair don't issue tickets? It makes no difference whether it says Mrs, Miss or Ms anyway.Does the wrong title matter on airline ticket?
Not a problem. The title does not appear on a passport, and does not matter. So long as the first name and surname match, that is all that is needed.Can I still fly if my name is misspelled?
Getting your name right seems like one of the easiest aspects of booking a flight, but it happens to the best of us. Generally speaking, most airlines allow you to make ticket name corrections. So, if you made a typo when entering your name, there's no need to worry.Raw interview: Woman says Salem travel agent didn’t book rooms
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Answer 2
I think depending on the departure locale, this can definitely cause you problems checking in. For instance, if you are departing from a busy airport in India such as Mumbai, you may not gain entry to the airport if the guard doesn't think your name matches between the check-in list and your passport.
Whereas, if you are departing from a British Airways hub such as London Heathrow, there will be plenty of British Airways staff who are directly available to assist you and listen to your explanation.
So, depending on your situation it can be very beneficial to spend some time communicating with an Expedia or British Airways representative to change your name record. I would advise first to try British Airways.
Answer 3
I work in this industry for one of the major GDS software giants and this is extremely common (I've personally fixed bugs around this area). The legacy code in the software is just not user friendly and what you described happens all the time and in some cases worst things happen (ie someone who's first name is Princess has had no name show up at all with just a title suffix for Princess).
Travel and checkin agents deal with this on a daily basis. Blame the poor design of the legacy software.
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