What’s in a name, when my passport and e-ticket differ?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Don’t let a dream holiday to Koh Samui be ruined by a misnomer (Getty/iStock)

Q I have booked a flight from Heathrow to Bangkok and an onward connection to Koh Samui through an online travel agent. When the e-ticket was emailed I noticed that I had made a mistake with my first name. It says “Steve”, but my passport says “Steven”. I immediately contacted the agent, which told me that I would have to cancel the whole ticket without a refund and buy another one, and by the way the price had gone up by £200. What is your advice?
Steve(n) B

A Some online travel agents give the strong impression that they wait for customers to make mistakes and then pounce, demanding vast amounts of money by misleading people on the penalties for changing and the options for putting things right – including getting a new passport in the name on the ticket. You could try to wing it at the airport, on the basis that your error may not be noticed or acted upon, but if you want certainty then it is just a matter of getting a new passport in the name of Steve, for a fee of £75 – a fraction of what the agent is demanding.

If you renew a passport, the Passport Office allows “small changes to forenames” compared with your existing documents. It gives the example of Jane to Jayne – so Steven to Steve would certainly work. “Fill in and sign your passport application using the name you want to see printed on your passport,” it says. But you also have to explain the change in the “additional information” box, in which case I would write: “I am known as Steve and have that name on my plane ticket.”

The one tricky stipulation could be that you are requested to “send two documents that show you’re using your new name”. One of those could be your ticket. The other could be a driving licence or bank statement, or a letter from a local council or government department addressed to “Steve”. But if you can’t find anything suitable, make an application anyway: with such a modest change in your name, and a good reason for doing so, I imagine it will be issued without a problem.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder