cdt

I will be booking a Caribbean trip soon but the possibility exists that the identity of my traveling companion will change before I depart -

I'm a bit confused about how the airline "change fees" work in this situation.

If I paid for both tickets, then do I have the right to change the identity of one of the passengers (assuming I pay the fee)?

If I change the name and the date at the same time, do I just pay one change fee, or two?

I've been looking at some of the airlines' websites and can't figure out the answers to these questions.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

To be safe, I'd call your airline and ask.

I'd guess the answer is that the change fee applies to changes of times and dates, but that a ticket is not transferrable. That person for whom you bought the ticket could use it at another time with the amount, minus the change fee, applied to a new fare. (Assuming the terms of the fare permit that.) I'd bet that if it were a completely new person, you'd need a completely new ticket.

gail

Change fees generally refer to change of itinerary, not traveler.

Gardyloo

No you can't change the name of the traveler on a ticket. You'd have to cancel the reservation for the person that's not going, and get a new ticket for the person that is. If it's a nonrefundable ticket, they'd let you apply the ticket value (less the change fee) to the new ticket.

rkkwan

You can always ask your new travel companion to change his/her name to match that of the one on the ticket.



Well, probably not worth it for a Caribbean trip, but if it's an expensive RTW ticket in first/business class, it may be worth the money and trouble. Hehe.