Just wondering if anyone has any experience with my current dilemma. I called USAirways today (on a whim) to reconfirm our February flights to St. Croix. Realized as I looked at the confirmation email I received last April that the agent misunderstood my pronunciation of my daughter (Kate's) name. It says we have a ticket for a "Keith". I explained to the guy on the phone today (who was also difficult to understand) that her name was Kate. He said the only thing he could do was put a note in the record indicating and "hopefully" the agent at the desk would be o.k. with that come our flight day.

I am very nervous, needless to say. My husband is a Gold member on USairways but we all know that all of that means little these days. He was going to try to go to the Club sometime in the next week to see if they could help him.

Just wondering if any of you have had a similar problem and found a way to fix it. Hate to pay $1,000 for a confirmed ticket!

I haven't had instances where the spelling was so different, (meaning a generally male vs. female name) but I have had instances where they mis-spelled a passenger's first or last name.

I did as you did and called the airline, they put a note in the system of such, and I never had a problem.

I hope the same works for you. I think it will be fine, in all honesty....mistakes happen. But, be aware in the future to spell every letter of both first and last names when making a reservation. I learned it that way, too.

I bought a ticket on line and when prompted to enter my name I hit the b on the keyboard. My computer then automatically entered my full name. It wasn't until I was checked at security that I realized that the ticket was made out to Bob and my passport had my name as Robert. It took questioning by two levels of security before I was able to board the plane.

ccrosner. This also happened to me on our last trip. I went to print my boarding pass and noticed that was name was not spelled correctly. They quickly changed it. They said they didn't want me to have any problems. I could then print my boarding pass. Good luck. Owa

Thanks for both the encouraging and honest info. Wish the name were the right gender...but I am hoping that they will see how close Keith and Kate are. Will still pursue with USAir in advance on the chance it can be fixed.

Bobrad--your experience is probably closer to what we will go through. Hope a 10 year old girl looks innocent enough to let her go through.

owa--nice to get some encouragement from a "friend"

I would suggest going to the airport and getting it changed face to face or keep calling until they do and send you a confirmation you could print off your computer or one sent by snail mail. Me personally I wouldn't take the chance without something in hand.

I too had this problem with USAir. I had purchased tickets over the phone and the agent changed a T in my last name to a P. I made numerous phone calls to USAir trying to get it corrected before we flew, but had no luck. I was told once a "ticket" is issued no change can be made. Luckily we had no problems when we did travel.

I saw someone trying to check in at airport Fri morning with same problem
Person was given a hard time, and to "make changes" were requiring $100 on the spot.
On the Caribbean side, I've seen everything from no problem to won't let you in the country.
I would make sure it's fixed before you go.

Thanks for all the additional insights.

Pam61--glad you had no problem but your experience calling, I'm sure, was quite frustrating.

blamona--I'd actually be happy if they just told me to pay $100 for the peace of mind. The idea of getting stuck in one of many airports (we have about five flights) doesn't make me happy.

Our current plan is to have my husband, a Gold club member, go to the USAirways Club (where he's also a member) this week and talk to them personally. We find the Club staffs to be as helpful as they can be. Keep your fingers crossed that it works.

My backup plan is to "buy" another frequent flyer ticket for my daughter and pay to resubmit the miles for her current ticket.

You shouldn't have to pay to fix their mistake, and I wouldn't do it! Of course, that's me and I can be ah, persistent, would necessary.

Try e-mailing the airline. I feel that I get better responses in general when my inquiries are in writing than when dealing with someone on the phone. Mention all relelvant info, including that your husband is a gold member.

Good luck!

Call the airline and explain the problem to them and ask them to correct the error. It will be much better than having a problem or being denied boarding at the airport. Tell your story about how the situation happened and ask them, politely, if there is anything they can do to assist you. If you don't like the answer, call back and may be the next person will assist you. Also, if you are close to the airport, stop by at a time when the ticket agents aren't busy and ask if they can assist you. It helps a lot to be very polite and self-effacing, explain that it was a misunderstanding over the phone...ask if they can do anything to help you. Technically, it requires the change fee, but it is entirely up to the discretion of the agent about charging the fee.

Good luck!
Julia

There's a happy ending to the story

My husband went to the USAir Club (forget what it's called) before his early morning flight this morning. He explained the situation and the agent said that he would authorize the change as soon as their computers came back up. My husband said the agent seemed to feel sorry for him that he was at the airport at 5:30 a.m.

Of course, I then went online to check and the change wasn't there. So I called USAirways. The agent on the phone first said "we can't change the name." Then he said, "Wait, I think I have authorization to do so." Put me on hold and came back and asked me to spell my daughter's name.

I thanked him profusely, told him that he had given me the best Christmas present (trully, that's how important my daughter and St. Croix are to me!), etc. etc. He then said, you should thank John so and so because he's the one who authorized it.

So we're all set. I will say that I realized between my first posting and calling USAirways today that I really should have my daughter's formal name (Katherine not Kate) on the ticket as we may need to use her passport to board. So I just "nonchalantly" spelled her formal name when he asked--which of course sounds nothing like Keith!!

Cannot thank you all enough for your encouragement and from bringing me down off the ledge

Happy holidays to all!