most of the reason its barely bent is because I am pretty sure cure and passenger manifests are submitted for "evaluation" before boarding day. This is also why what used to be a relatively cheap easy process of buying tickets on the day of the flight (due to the airlines want to have a full plane and thus make the flight overall cheaper for them) has become prohibitively expensive and drawn out.

I didn't get charged that much but when I book my last flight, the operator left off the last letter of my gf's last name. Not wanted to take a chance, I called back within the hour and said they misspelled it. I was told that since it was already in the system, I would be charged to have it changed. I think it was something like $35 or $50...not too extravagent but it just made me think about what if these airlines just decided to purposely misspell random names and then charge to have it fixed. That's a pretty good way to increase profits. I wouldn't mind seeing a class action lawsuit on this to at least have airlines show what kind of cost is associated to changing the name in the system for a flight that is weeks away from departing.

Get him a fake ID with your name on it. Check in through a kiosk or online. If he needs to check bags have someone else in the party check them. The TSA agent will only glance at the ID when you go through security.

I don't have any advice for Austin (I think he's screwed), but will warn other travelers that a related thing happened to me with United Airlines.

This past summer, I bought 2 e-tickets to fly on a trip to relatives, 1 in my name and 1 for my girlfriend. We broke up about a month before we were scheduled to fly out. When I went to cancel her ticket and request a refund weeks before the flight, I was told it could only be credited for a future flight in her name even though I PAID FOR THE F-ING TICKET. The credit would be good for 1 year from the date of cancellation and there would be a $140 re-booking fee when the credit was used. I called back and talked to 3 different CSRs just to make sure this was the policy without exceptions, and they were all steadfast on the rules. Needless to say I was flaming pissed.

Post-trip, we got back together, so we'll use the credit on some other trip, but I'm still pissed about the outrageous re-booking fee which amounts to about 37% of the total ticket price!

BUYER BEWARE!

The reason they do this is to keep people from buying "advance purchase" tickets at low rates and then selling them close to the departure time for a much higher price.

This is why they originally started checking IDs at the airport (way before 9/11): airline revenue protection.

@bravo369: did you end up paying? i can't imagine that they would charge you for a typographical error that's on THEIR part.

@Jim Topoleski: With 4 weeks until the flight they should bend. If it weren't for shitty customer service regarding (in many cases) needless policies, the airlines wouldn't be having so much financial trouble.

Post 9/11 this is going to be a major issue.

Like Meg said, you are going to have a pretty good story.

Of course there are ways around this. Like flying without a photo id (good luck passing security), but then what happens if the plane were to (God forbid) crash ?

@ZukeZuke: This is not uncommon. In fact, I'd wager that everyone airline has this policy. If you buy a ticket in a more expensive fare class (yes, there are different fare codes, even in coach/economy) you can received a full refund. But most of us go for the cheapest ticket, which is the most restrictive.

The rules are there when you purchase the ticket. It should not be a surprise.

This happened to us recently. I booked my boss on a flight to an important business conference. When my boss's brother-in-law died suddenly, he couldn't go as he was helping his distraught sister with funeral arrangements, etc. He asked me to change the name on the ticket so his colleague could attend the conference in his place. The airline wouldn't budge. They don't do name changes, at all.

So his colleague bought a separate ticket, and my boss was able to get a "store credit" minus a $100 penalty, and use it towards another business trip within 90 days.

But they won't budge on the name change at all. Even when my boss, who thinks he is the God of the business world, said "Oh yeah? Put them on the phone with ME. Watch, they'll change it, you're just not trying hard enough." So it was kind of funny to see him humbled. I got a chuckle out of it.

This is the biggest problem with our so called security at the airport. jet blue use e-tickets. If the friend is not chekcing bags at the ticket counter or there is room to check the bags under avalid ticket you can simply edit the e-ticket html. This can be done by saving the e-tcket file to your local hard drive and then using an html editor to change the name fields. Now the ticket matches the ID and as long as now interaction takes place at the ticket counter your golden. I made the same mistake for on of my kids. Kids are even easier because no ID is required if you runder 18. Which makes it hard to prove your under 18. Quite the hole

Seems like a security issue with me.

You gotta make sure each ticket is the for the right person.

Sounds like a pain, but always to get these things done right.

@wickedpixel: Wow. Worst Idea Ever!

One idea I've toyed with for this: print your boarding pass online, save it to Word or something, rather than printing it straight from your browser, and edit the name.

Obviously, the roadblocks come when IDs would be checked. I'm not sure if JetBlue ever checks IDs (keep in mind, they're the one with the passenger list) but if the TSA doesn't have those new boarding pass checkers at the checkpoints, which would probably bring up the real name on the ticket, all they care about is that the name printed on the ticket and the name on the ID match. Oh, and I wouldn't expect it to actually be done, but beware the fake ID: a lot of states' IDs react to blacklight, and most airports check for that.

@wickedpixel: that's quite possibly the best idea i've heard yet...

to end up in federal prison.

@spongebue: Second Worst Idea Ever! See @wickedpixel for the worst idea ever!

Take advantage of the TSA's failure to properly check IDs against reservations.

Check in online, and get your boarding pass printed at home. Then open up the HTML page in an editor and print out the boarding pass again, but this time with the REAL NAME matching your ID. Bring both boarding passes (the real one, and your forged one) to the airport. Got through the security line with the forged one. They will check the name on your ID against the forged name on the boarding pass.

Then, once through, present the real boarding pass to the ticket agent. There, they will check that the name on the boarding pass matches the reservation.

@ZukeZuke: That's about the saddest story I've ever heard. So you broke up just long enough to get screwed on the tickets, and then got back together again. Wow.

I'm looking at a similar situation and I need someone to verify that what my wife and I did will work. We're going to Mexico after the New Year. We both have passports, but my wife's is still in her maiden name. When I booked the flight and hotel, I booked both in my name and her maiden name. When we check in for the flight (I know the hotel doesn't matter), if she just presents her passport for identification, there won't be any issue, correct?

@spongebue: All of my e-tickets came up with the info form the website automatically on check-in, so this is just an awful idea.

i would call back, act super-nice to the csr on the phone. write down their name & use it repeatedly - this has a disarming effect. break out the old "miss manners" book (learn to use those ancient words "please" & "thank you") & pretend that it was a booking error that you just noticed. if you're really good at the b.s. (& you caught the csr particularly happy or drunk), it just might work.

or, if you want to be brave, here's one we tried back in college when a few of us were too young to get in the bars: after you go thru the checkpoint, pass your id back using secret ninja hand-off motion!

of course, the bars never had metal detectors, hordes of government agents with badges & guns, nor big red lines on the floor that say "DO NOT CROSS! this line contains 92.5% entrails of the last person that crossed this point before being called".

you know, come to think of it, that trick never worked in college either. well, good luck!

In the future, ask first, book later. Tickets can be pricy and all airlines I've seen outline the name rule very clearly a bunch of times before purchasing. Alaska Air made me verify at least 3 times before I got my ticket that the name was EXACTLY the same as the passenger, no exceptions.

Isn't it better to spend 30 minutes on the phone beforehand and not lose money than to spend a few hours on the phone and be out a lot of cash?

@IndyJaws: You should be fine if it's all in the maiden name. I make no guarantees but it seems like no reason for them to question her name later.

All these comments suggesting fake ID's or altering names on boarding passes are jokes right? I mean, why would you do something like that to save a few hundred dollars? It's probably going to cost you a lot more than that in legal costs should they notice you're f--king with them.

Not worth the risk.

@IndyJaws: I suspect that as long she carries just the passport, there shouldn't be an issue. Has she changed her name yet? If not, then it's definitely not an issue.

@Ratty: But if you check in online, who's to see? The only time you ever need your boarding pass is TSA and at the gate. When I've flown the last few years, your ID is checked only at TSA. These guys don't do anything but make sure what's printed match up, so who's to see otherwise? The gate agents don't even look at the things, they just scan the barcode and let you go through.

In February I booked 2 tickets online to go home for my father's funeral. When I was printing them I realized I had booked both tickets in my name, yeah I wasn't thinking straight. I called Continental told them what happened and they e-mailed me corrected tickets within minutes without any fees. Granted I was paying an arm and a leg for booking a flight four hours ahead of time, but still they made it seem pretty routine.

Don't do a fake ID, but altering the boarding pass has zero risk.

@wickedpixel: I've seen the TSA people looking very close to IDs lately, even passing a black light over them. Not a good idea at all.

@Corporate-Shill: You most certainly can get by security without showing a picture ID, you'll just be marked automatically as a secondary. Despite all the fun terry wrist fears of doom and gloom, it is still legal to travel within our own country's borders without having to zie papers please. On the other hand, jetBlue can refuse to check you in based on the lack of ID, they're your issue, not TSA. If you're buying a ticket and you don't know who's going or the dates/times aren't in ink, buy a full fare ticket for peace of mind. It can be fully refunded in case the person you plan on going can't and itineraries can be changed without a fee. If you really have no clue who your #4 is, just don't buy the ticket until you do.

@readams: that's an interesting idea! now, what would be the best course of action in changing "michael bolton" to "samir nagheenanajar"?

We recently flying continental I ran into a similar situation. There was a typo on the kiosk why printing my boarding pass. I called over one of the agents, showed him my passport and he changed the name... one minute later I had my boarding pass. I know it might be a risk to go to the airport and say "OMG whats wrong with this ticket" but if it saves you 800 I would do it. Mac-phisto's advice is also useful. (the calling and speaking politely not the passing the card back).

What ever you choose to do, goodluck.

@readams: but altering the boarding pass has zero risk.
How so? I agree that it carries a low risk of being caught, but not zero risk. What if the flight gets cancelled and you have to rebook at the airport?

Checking in online, NOT checking bags and then showing up to TSA with no ID is actually your best bet as you don't encounter jetBlue who are checking IDs at their counter to PROTECT REVENUE, not for security issues. TSA will allow you to travel with no ID at all as long as you undergo a secondary screening. They want to make sure you have no weapons, not that you're not slipping by an airline fee, don't complicate it by showing a false ID to a gov't agent. No ID and expired ID are the same in the eyes of the TSa, I always told people to put away their sob story and 50 pieces of expired and pictureless ID and just present as without ID, it's the same in the end, little extra pat down and bag search.

@IndyJaws: Should be OK as far as the airline and hotel are concerned, but if she's changed her name, I'd bring some kind of official document proving it... I wouldn't be surprised if you have issues in customs, if the name change has taken place electronically and the printed name does not match what the computer pulls up.

Also in the future you could purchase a fully refundable ticket

@spongebue:

One alternative that doesn't require you to use a fake boarding pass to go through security - buy a fully refundable ticket for a different flight in your own name for the same day you're flying. Check in on that ticket, then use it to pass through security. Then, once you're on the other side, call the airline and cancel the fully-refundable ticket. Then, board the plane with the ticket in someone else's name.

@wickedpixel: @wickedpixel: @wickedpixel: @spongebue:

I've done this before on Southwest: print 2 copies of your boarding pass. Doctor one copy to have your real name on it. Bring a set of colored markers with you. Show the boarding pass with your real name to the TSA. They match it with your ID. The TSA person will mark it with a colored marker. Put that boarding pass away when you get through securtiy. Take out the real boarding pass with someone else's name on it. Mark it with your colored marker. Give them the boarding pass at the gate and walk onto plane.

I had a terrible experience with a name change on JetBlue a few years back. I booked a ticket on the phone since I was using my roommate's credit from a cancelled flight (no problem, they said). Except they put his name on the ticket instead of mine and then had the nerve to insist I was trying to pull one over on them.

Supervisor: "Well, we always read back the name on the ticket, so you *must* have agreed to it."

"Well I'm really confident I know what my own name is, so the agent *must* have done it wrong."

Grr...

@numberoneasa: Uh, you're still pretending to be someone else to TSA. Doesn't sound like a great move. I've heard stories of TSA running a background check on suspcious no-ID passengers and then quizzing them on it.

@IndyJaws: everything i've seen in regards to a woman who has not yet changed to her married name legally is to have EVERYTHING in the maiden name: airplane tickets, hotel reservations, anything. since all her ID information has her maiden name on it, that is what they'll go by. i work at a financial institution & i can't tell you how annoying it is when people don't get their name changed in a timely fashion & bring in the supporting paperwork. they want their married name on their checks & debit card, but they still haven't changed their Driver's License & won't bring in a marriage certificate! how are we supposed to know?

everything should be booked in whatever matches her ID's.

All the more reason that I fly Southwest. When I booked the ticket for my last flight, the computer transposed my first and last names. When I mentioned it to the attendant at check-in, she got on the computer and changed it, no problem, no charge.

@spongebue: All of my boarding passes had bars that were scanned and brought up my name from my ticket for the TSA/gate agents, which was checked against my passport.

Well, you could always go through the Better Business Bureau. They aren't legally required to do anything, but JetBlue is likely to not want their name smeared. One thing's certain, they've not only lost a customer but I'll never be one now!

@readams: What is it with people in this article advocating fraud?

@readams: Then take advantage of federal prison for a long time!

@esd2020: Looking at it from JetBlue's standpoint, it would seem highly suspicious. A random, non-family member using someone else's credit card to book a flight? Call it "nerve," but I would call shenanigans too...

@LauraDandoo: This would be one of those situations where you have a VERY good case for changing the name. Obvious mistake + caught quickly + good sob story = no airline agent with an ounce of compassion would deny you. I know I wouldn't have questioned this one back when I was a res agent. It's the customers who call back two weeks later that end up having an hour-long argument with our support desk, with the final result being a note in reservation: *Have advised customer that he cannot change the name on the ticket*

Why not have a child take the ticket? Last I checked, kids don't have ids.