Changing the name on holiday booking?

dcGT

Hi All,
I'm wondering if anyone can help. A holiday was booked a while back. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the two people is unable to go. The travel agent has said that it's not possible to change the name of that person who has booked. Is there any legal/consumer rights here? It looks like about €400 will be forfeited. Aparently, the travel agent are saying that the airline does not allow changes to the names.
Any help would be great.

Cheers,

DC.

MOH

Any idea who the airline is?

jor el

With all the airlines going "budget" these days, name changes are one thing that have been dropped in some cases, or attract a fee greater than the price of the ticket in others. The agent may well be right, but the terms and conditions should be in your original booking so you can see from that if it's allowed or not. Bare in mind though that a name change will likely cost a lot of money.

dcGT

MOH wrote: »

Any idea who the airline is?

I believe it's Delta.

DubLegs

Did they ask for payment up front? As with "instant purchase" tickets - that guarnteed a cheap fare - it is near impossible to change a name.
if they do they (airline) would charge a fortune to do it - pretty much the same price as the main ticket.

Do you have travel insurance you may be able to claim off?

board om

DubLegs wrote: »

Do you have travel insurance you may be able to claim off?

that would be the best idea. if it is a genuine reason that is covered under the insurance you are sorted. just check the T & C's on the insurance.

dcGT

It was booked though a travel agent online. Nothing was physically signed, but terms and conditions were accepted at the time. How would the travel insurance claim work?

Thanks,

DC.

board om

dcGT wrote: »

It was booked though a travel agent online. Nothing was physically signed, but terms and conditions were accepted at the time. How would the travel insurance claim work?

Thanks,

DC.

just get the t & c's for the insurance policy and see what is covered. say, god forbid, a relative passed away the day before you are due to fly out. then the cost of cancelling the holiday and rebooking it would be covered.

did you take out the insurance at the same time as the flight or did you get it seperatly?

actually now that i think of it, did you book the flights on your credit card? because holidays booked on your credit card are also covered under your credit card insurance. it might be a bit more limited than a full travel policy you might take out elsewere but you would still have some kind of cover.

Galadriel

As you've only paid the deposit its very strange they won't let you change the name, I would ring them back again and confirm, on Deltas website they mention something about name changes for $75 fee.

antoinolachtnai

You may have some rights. The agent and the airline are acting unreasonably in refusing to allow you chang the name by the sounds of it and as such they may be acting unlawfully.

Talk to National Consumer Agency and European consumer centre I'd say.

jahalpin

antoinolachtnai wrote: »

You may have some rights. The agent and the airline are acting unreasonably in refusing to allow you chang the name by the sounds of it and as such they may be acting unlawfully.

Talk to National Consumer Agency and European consumer centre I'd say.

I can't see how they are being unreasonable. The OP booked online, the name change condition is almost always emphasized in the ticket summary.

The airlines are able to sell bargain tickets as they are able to target people who are able to book well in advance. The more restricitve the ticket, the cheaper it is.

The OP is also flying to the U.S. and so a name change may have security implications.

miju

if it's delta airlines check this link , this link and most importantly their list of change fees which is here

ps: it seems you'd be looking at approx $200 / €129 fee to change each name from flights originating outside of the US

hope that helps

dcGT

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'll check those links out and see what the best option is.
By the way, the travel insurance involved is the yearly travel insurance, not just cover for this journey.

Cheers,

DC