John
Hello everyone, two mohtns ago I posted a message about my problem with United Airlines. My husband booked a flight to Vienna with my married name, however my passport still had my maidden name. We spent three days on the phone with the travel agent, UA, Austrian Airlines, TSA UA almost made us buy a new ticket for twice the price we paid originally. When we got to the airport, I had my marriage certificate, marriage license, birth certificate, driving license to prove that I was the same person. I didn't need a thing! All they asked me was if I had a name change and that was it; I presented my permanent resident card and my passport. I understand that the security measures are really high nowadays, but I feel that it is all about the business. When we were flying back from Europe, it was the same situation no problem with the last names at all. I'm not sure if it just depends on the particular airlines or we were just lucky. We have done a lot of research before we flew. If you are unsure and the airline is telling you that you have to purchase a new ticket, try to research the web of that airline to see if they have anything written about the name change. We actually found directly on the UA web their policy about the last name changes based on marriage stating that a marriage certificate was needed to link the two names. I must say, we realized that the agent did not have much authority to make the name changes because if the airlines said no, there was nothing else that the agent could do. Yet, we all make mistakes and I believe that there should be an easier way to correct a name if you can provide a legitimate proof of who you are Good luck everyone and safe trip!
John Hello everyone, two mohtns ago I posted a message about my problem with United Airlines. My husband booked a flight to Vienna with my married name, however my passport still had my maidden name. We spent three days on the phone with the travel agent, UA, Austrian Airlines, TSA UA almost made us buy a new ticket for twice the price we paid originally. When we got to the airport, I had my marriage certificate, marriage license, birth certificate, driving license to prove that I was the same person. I didn't need a thing! All they asked me was if I had a name change and that was it; I presented my permanent resident card and my passport. I understand that the security measures are really high nowadays, but I feel that it is all about the business. When we were flying back from Europe, it was the same situation no problem with the last names at all. I'm not sure if it just depends on the particular airlines or we were just lucky. We have done a lot of research before we flew. If you are unsure and the airline is telling you that you have to purchase a new ticket, try to research the web of that airline to see if they have anything written about the name change. We actually found directly on the UA web their policy about the last name changes based on marriage stating that a marriage certificate was needed to link the two names. I must say, we realized that the agent did not have much authority to make the name changes because if the airlines said no, there was nothing else that the agent could do. Yet, we all make mistakes and I believe that there should be an easier way to correct a name if you can provide a legitimate proof of who you are Good luck everyone and safe trip!