Lucyplease:Hi all My dad has just booked some flights through Monarch for himself, my mum and his sister in law. Once he had gone though everything and confirmed the payment etc he realised he had put his sisters in wrong (he had put in his own surname) I know this was his error but when we have just logged back in to amend the name it is wanting to charge £100! I could understand if we were changing the passenger but can they still charge this £100 for an error like this. My parents are upset about this so I just wanted any advise. I have tried to call the Monarch helpline but they are closed ( Im guessing till Tuesday) Many thanks! Lucy

I don't quite agree that companies usually charge for correcting mistakes. easyJet and WizzAir have it even on their websites:

If you made a spelling error in your booking, don’t worry, we will fix that for you. Just call our Customer Service Team. Make sure you have your confirmation number with you or the credit or debit card that you used to book the flight, when you call.

I mistyped the passenger's name/phone number/email address during the booking online. What should I do?
Please contact our Call Centre for help and they will correct the errors.

That's why if you still haven't, you need to call your carrier's helpline, because you're not going to change the whole name of a passenger (e.g. Ms. Sue Thomson will be flying instead of Mr. John Doe) but merely correct the surname of the person travelling, and you can't correct mistakes online, because the system thinks it's a name change. Married people who will have their surname changed by the time their flight is scheduled for also don't have to pay for changing their name.

And do write back with the outcome, please.

Good luck! :-)

Hi Lucy

I can quite unsderstand that your parents are upset and this is an error that many people make in all innocence.

It is the responsibility of the person making the booking to ensure that all names are correct when they provide them to the airline. These names should match the details in the passport for each passenger travelling.

Each airline has their own policy on 'changing' a name with most being very strict and insisting that a fee is paid to change the name as soon as the booking is confirmed. Others such as easyJet give a days grace before charging and British Airwasy also do have some leeway.

Your first action should be to call their helpline and see if they will waive the fee, however I fear that they will indeed impose this charges as most airlines will do. Explain that you tried to call as soon as you made the booking. They may also ask for any increase in the fare between that paid and what the fare is on the day you make the name change.

This may well have been a costly mistake, so let's hope Monarch show some leniency as a New Years resolution! Do let us know how you got on.

Kind regards

Bob

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Bob
Travel expert,
www.travelsupermarket.com

Hi all My dad has just booked some flights through Monarch for himself, my mum and his sister in law. Once he had gone though everything and confirmed the payment etc he realised he had put his sisters in wrong (he had put in his own surname) I know this was his error but when we have just logged back in to amend the name it is wanting to charge £100! I could understand if we were changing the passenger but can they still charge this £100 for an error like this. My parents are upset about this so I just wanted any advise. I have tried to call the Monarch helpline but they are closed ( Im guessing till Tuesday) Many thanks! Lucy