EZair --- a warning

[Sinbadssailors]

My husband's flight showed his middle name missing a letter. I discovered it when trying to upload passport info to United's site on Wednesday for Friday's flight. The site refused to accept the info because the names didn't match, and meant we wouldn't be able to check in online.

 

Irritating but not the end of the world. We travel a lot and this kind of thing has happened before, so I know 1 or 2 characters can be changed, especially in the middle name. (And go ahead, jump all over me because I didn't notice this sooner(The timeline was also Princess/EZair's only interest/concern) --- but that doesn't change what's going on. I checked in to the cruise days ago without an issue, because his middle name wasn't shown).

 

The airlines(United/Lufthansa codeshare) say they would change it for free but can't -- EZair must call to change it since they booked it. 

 

EZair says they can't do that, that the only option is to cancel and rebook and pay whatever fees/increases/penalties that entails, if the same flights are even available. That their contract with Lufthansa(and some other airlines) forbids 'name changes'. Even one character. Even though Lufthansa's own info says they allow it for 1 or 2 characters if I had booked with them directly, since it's an obvious typo/misspelling. (As an aside, if EZair's contract "forbids" it, what difference would it make when I noticed?)

 

According to EZair,  their contract with some airlines results in this restriction --- a restriction that would NOT apply if I had booked with the airline directly. That's definitely news to me. It's either true and that's bad, really bad --- or it's not true and the agent lied to me, which is worse.

And before some person tells me -- yes I'm aware, if true,  it's probably buried somewhere in the terms and conditions. But I'm absolutely sure there are others not aware of these differences due to the EZair/airline contract agreements. 

 

I don't have time to search airline contracts and EZair contracts to see how they might be different for specific airlines.

 

I spoke to four different people about this, going on 4 hours, begging them to call the number Lufthansa had given us and add the something something(I forget the exact initials) code to the booking. This would alert the airline that the problem was known over 2 days in advance, and a one character change, fixable at the airport. EZair refused to call the airline i.e repetitions of, they "don't do that", "don't have access to that" (actual quotes).

 

To be honest, I think every single person simply read off a script based on "name changes". Part of it was likely a language/communication issue since only the last person was a native English speaker and, coincidentally, the only one who seemed to understand the problem -- but a customer service agent and not part of the transportation department. 

 

And this is through the enroute number, the one that's supposed to help if my flight is delayed or canceled or I miss a connection. 

 

Added: While this was going on, I received a moveover offer. I was so irritated by this whole process that I accepted, so I can't say whether we were able to fly or not(I suspect it would've been fine, but no way to know for sure).

 

People should know that EZair, acting as the travel agent booking flights, refuses to/claims they can't call the airline. 

[Paula_MacFan]

I feel like this has been discussed several times before? EZ Air regularly lumps our middle initial into our first names and it's never been a problem. Pretty sure others have reported this same thing (lumped MI or missing MI) with no problems boarding the plane and not being worth a call to Princess.

 

Edit to say we've also flown United and not had any problems. I carry forward our Known Traveler numbers and have never had a problem with passport info on flights with the MI.

 

Maybe I'm not understanding correctly 😊

Edited April 20, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[Sinbadssailors]

Just now, Paula_MacFan said:

I feel like this has been discussed several times before? EZ Air regularly lumps our middle initial into our first names and it's never been a problem. Pretty sure others have reported this same thing (lumped MI or missing MI) with no problems boarding the plane and not being worth a call to Princess.

 

That wasn't the issue. A letter was missing in his spelled-out middle name.

 

This absolutely was a problem on the United Airlines site.

[Paula_MacFan]

4 minutes ago, Sinbadssailors said:

 

That wasn't the issue. A letter was missing in his spelled-out middle name.

 

This absolutely was a problem on the United Airlines site.

I was editing my initial comment when you were posting. 

 

Perhaps for us the difference is our United Mileage accounts keep our info and carries it forward. My point being we too have had differences between EZ Air and United and not had a problem boarding.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[LibertyBella]

Check and double check any and everything before you hit that purchase button.  I also went right to the airlines' websites after I purchased EZAir to ensure all was well with my reservations. If you make it fine onto the planes and ship, and the only problem is just checking in online, I do not think I would spend all that time and energy trying to resolve the error.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Sinbadssailors said:

My husband's flight showed his middle name missing a letter. I discovered it when trying to upload passport info to United's site on Wednesday for Friday's flight. The site refused to accept the info because the names didn't match, and meant we wouldn't be able to check in online.

 

Irritating but not the end of the world. We travel a lot and this kind of thing has happened before, so I know 1 or 2 characters can be changed, especially in the middle name. (And go ahead, jump all over me because I didn't notice this sooner(The timeline was also Princess/EZair's only interest/concern) --- but that doesn't change what's going on. I checked in to the cruise days ago without an issue, because his middle name wasn't shown).

 

The airlines(United/Lufthansa codeshare) say they would change it for free but can't -- EZair must call to change it since they booked it. 

 

EZair says they can't do that, that the only option is to cancel and rebook and pay whatever fees/increases/penalties that entails, if the same flights are even available. That their contract with Lufthansa(and some other airlines) forbids 'name changes'. Even one character. Even though Lufthansa's own info says they allow it for 1 or 2 characters if I had booked with them directly, since it's an obvious typo/misspelling. (As an aside, if EZair's contract "forbids" it, what difference would it make when I noticed?)

 

According to EZair,  their contract with some airlines results in this restriction --- a restriction that would NOT apply if I had booked with the airline directly. That's definitely news to me. It's either true and that's bad, really bad --- or it's not true and the agent lied to me, which is worse.

And before some person tells me -- yes I'm aware, if true,  it's probably buried somewhere in the terms and conditions. But I'm absolutely sure there are others not aware of these differences due to the EZair/airline contract agreements. 

 

I don't have time to search airline contracts and EZair contracts to see how they might be different for specific airlines.

 

I spoke to four different people about this, going on 4 hours, begging them to call the number Lufthansa had given us and add the something something(I forget the exact initials) code to the booking. This would alert the airline that the problem was known over 2 days in advance, and a one character change, fixable at the airport. EZair refused to call the airline i.e repetitions of, they "don't do that", "don't have access to that" (actual quotes).

 

To be honest, I think every single person simply read off a script based on "name changes". Part of it was likely a language/communication issue since only the last person was a native English speaker and, coincidentally, the only one who seemed to understand the problem -- but a customer service agent and not part of the transportation department. 

 

And this is through the enroute number, the one that's supposed to help if my flight is delayed or canceled or I miss a connection. 

 

Added: While this was going on, I received a moveover offer. I was so irritated by this whole process that I accepted, so I can't say whether we were able to fly or not(I suspect it would've been fine, but no way to know for sure).

 

People should know that EZair, acting as the travel agent booking flights, refuses to/claims they can't call the airline. 

Misspelled names present a problem, as opposed to a missing middle name for the airlines.  Since you accepted a move over, that means you’re going on a different date?  So, will they just refund your EZ Air tickets?  So you won’t have to worry about that ticket?  If so, that is a blessing.

 

Who did the typo?  If a TA/CVP, they would have to correct it.  Although, after the initial booking, most TA’s say to check over all the items and report any discrepancies right away.  Our’s does.

 

Once, we had a name misspelled by a TA and United insisted the TA had to call.  TA refused, said airline would have to do it.  So….again we called UA and told them the TA refused. A UA supervisor did make the change, as it was very minor, just a typo.

 

 

 

[dreaminofcruisin]

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Misspelled names present a problem, as opposed to a missing middle name for the airlines.  Since you accepted a move over, that means you’re going on a different date?  So, will they just refund your EZ Air tickets?  So you won’t have to worry about that ticket?  If so, that is a blessing.

 

Who did the typo?  If a TA/CVP, they would have to correct it.  Although, after the initial booking, most TA’s say to check over all the items and report any discrepancies right away.  Our’s does.

 

Once, we had a name misspelled by a TA and United insisted the TA had to call.  TA refused, said airline would have to do it.  So….again we called UA and told them the TA refused. A UA supervisor did make the change, as it was very minor, just a typo.

 

 

I agree that if it wasn't you that selected the flight online, you should be blaming your TA/CVP or whatever. If you do it online yourself, a BIG Box comes up when you do the EZ Air booking asking you if your name matches your passport EXACTLY. Did you see that?

 

[Sinbadssailors]

4 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Misspelled names present a problem, as opposed to a missing middle name for the airlines.  Since you accepted a move over, that means you’re going on a different date?  So, will they just refund your EZ Air tickets?  So you won’t have to worry about that ticket?  If so, that is a blessing.

 

Who did the typo?  If a TA/CVP, they would have to correct it.  Although, after the initial booking, most TA’s say to check over all the items and report any discrepancies right away.  Our’s does.

 

Once, we had a name misspelled by a TA and United insisted the TA had to call.  TA refused, said airline would have to do it.  So….again we called UA and told them the TA refused. A UA supervisor did make the change, as it was very minor, just a typo.

 

 

 

 

We haven't picked the new date yet, but the new flight will be booked with that credit. And the name is correct now in Princess's system.

 

It's unclear where the mistake came from, since the name was spelled wrong in the Princess profile and that's where the flight info automatically came from.

 

The cruise info only shows the middle initial, so this problem only turned up on the flight info.

 

United was willing to change it  but couldn't once they discovered it was actually a Lufthansa flight. Lufthansa insisted that EZair call to change it.

[Sinbadssailors]

3 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

 

I agree that if it wasn't you that selected the flight online, you should be blaming your TA/CVP or whatever. If you do it online yourself, a BIG Box comes up when you do the EZ Air booking asking you if your name matches your passport EXACTLY. Did you see that?

 

This was booked ages ago and I honestly don't remember who did it. It does seem like it was on the phone though since it's a common name and the spelling is like it sounds - although his is spelled differently.

 

Even so, I could've and should've caught it before now. But according to EZair, it would've required cancelling and rebooking no matter when it happened.

 

Which is not my experience with this kind of problem. Not at all.

[azbirdmom]

Very glad you got to a solution although it's not the one you were originally seeking.  Your story is part of why we are avoiding booking with EZAir.  They used to be much better than this but since the restart booking with them adds too much of a risk that we aren't willing to bear.

 

Our friends ran into a similar situation last December.  They actually noticed a discrepancy in the husband's name and the TA contacted Princess before their departure.  Princess assured the TA that the right information was in the system and there should be no problems.  Fast forward to friends trying to check luggage before their flight and Air New Zealand initially refused to check them in for their flight due to the the name discrepancy.  A supervisor got involved and thankfully made the change.

 

For us it was EZAir reservations remaining out of sync with what the airlines showed and late ticketing that was the final straw.  And for the cruises we have taken there has been little difference between the EZAir fares and those found on the airline's website.  Until EZAir improves things we will just go direct.

[Kay S]

This is scary.  I just double-checked my EZAir reservations, and everything is good, but the fact that one little typo can derail the whole cruise is not good.  I'm glad you have found a way around this, and if I were you, I would just ignore the nay-sayers who always have an opinion about other people's problems.

[Coral]

I honestly do not think a middle name spelling issue will prevent someone from flying.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Coral

[Sinbadssailors]

10 minutes ago, Coral said:

I honestly do not think a middle name spelling issue will prevent someone from flying.

 

I agree. It's even the written policy of both airlines I was dealing with and another I dealt with in the past.

 

I don't get the "we're not budging/you should've known this/you must cancel/pay penalties/pay fees" doubling down that they insisted was the ONLY way forward. That I wouldn't get a boarding pass unless I did this. That this was supposedly their contract with the airline.

 

Two days before my flight and they wanted me to cancel and rebook in order to get to my cruise. Because of a missing character in a middle name. I just hope others don't get roped into believing this.

[trvlwrld]

Before any of you start to panic ( as I just did because our Princess website names on EZAir were also wrong)… let me tell you what I just found out.   What Princess EZAir lists as your names are not what is necessarily listed on your airline tickets…if you have TSA pre check, global entry, known travelers numbers, or airline miles numbers, then they will be captured by the airlines when you input all if your info and be transferred to your ticket…if bdays, any #’s, and first and last names match.  Mine actually had a Mrs in front and no middle name or initial. Yes, EZAir told me I would have to book at a much higher price and they would not change it.  The airline told me we were fine because global entry # matched my bday and first and last names and picture on passport…you can also go to the airline site and check your info with the locator number…more often than not you can get a correct answer to your question from any kindergartner rather than a Princess employee who answers the phone!

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, trvlwrld said:

Before any of you start to panic ( as I just did because our Princess website names on EZAir were also wrong)… let me tell you what I just found out.   What Princess EZAir lists as your names are not what is necessarily listed on your airline tickets…if you have TSA pre check, global entry, known travelers numbers, or airline miles numbers, then they will be captured by the airlines when you input all if your info and be transferred to your ticket…if bdays, any #’s, and first and last names match.  Mine actually had a Mrs in front and no middle name or initial. Yes, EZAir told me I would have to book at a much higher price and they would not change it.  The airline told me we were fine because global entry # matched my bday and first and last names and picture on passport…you can also go to the airline site and check your info with the locator number…more often than not you can get a correct answer to your question from any kindergartner rather than a Princess employee who answers the phone!

We just checked our three bookings on American Airlines. It's interesting as one is an EZair booking and the other two we booked on the AA.com website.

 

The EZair booking has in the first_name field a mashup of Full_First_NameFull_Middle_Name Prefix and then nothing in the middle name field and then the correct last name field. I.e. "JohnJames Mr" "" "Doe".

 

Our reservations booked on the aa.com website are correctly populated with first, middle and last names.

 

Now all that said, the mashup has been discussed in previous postings and it is acceptable to security agencies and the airlines. What I realize here is that it's EZair doing the mashup, not the airlines!

[madre2]

Ok, now I’m in a bit of a panic after reading this.  Mr and Mrs are also part of our names on the actual tickets with United   DOE/JANESUSANMRS  This was also booked by EZ Air.  We are about 2 months away from the cruise, so I can’t do check in yet.  Is this something I should call United about, or maybe worse to draw attention to it?

[fpsphil]

23 minutes ago, madre2 said:

Ok, now I’m in a bit of a panic after reading this.  Mr and Mrs are also part of our names on the actual tickets with United   DOE/JANESUSANMRS  This was also booked by EZ Air.  We are about 2 months away from the cruise, so I can’t do check in yet.  Is this something I should call United about, or maybe worse to draw attention to it?

I freaked out last year when we got our Alaskan confirmation to fly to Seattle. Called my CVP and she confirmed that was how it was supposed to be. No issue at the airport.

 

For our flight to Rome this June United is showing the same spelling as Alaskan so assuming no issue. Already put in passport information too without a problem

[Sinbadssailors]

42 minutes ago, madre2 said:

Ok, now I’m in a bit of a panic after reading this.  Mr and Mrs are also part of our names on the actual tickets with United   DOE/JANESUSANMRS  This was also booked by EZ Air.  We are about 2 months away from the cruise, so I can’t do check in yet.  Is this something I should call United about, or maybe worse to draw attention to it?

No worries 

 

This isn't a problem as long as the name is spelled correctly.

 

Mashing first and middle together with the Mr/Mrs is pretty common.

[Crystal04]

I'm so thankful for this chain. I was worried about my mashed up name (firstmiddlems last) on the United website. I called both United and Princess and they said it was fine, just check in in person, but I still doubted. Cruise is in August. I'm glad to hear that others didn't face any problems.

[madre2]

Thanks everyone!  I’m a bit worried this may cause a problem with pre-check, since the Mrs, is not part of the name on that. But as long as we get on the flights without a problem, that’s the important thing. 
Do we have to check in online with United, or can we just check in at the airport the day of the flight?  

[beg3yrs]

48 minutes ago, madre2 said:

.....
Do we have to check in online with United, or can we just check in at the airport the day of the flight?  

You don't have to check in online. It's OK to check in at the airport. However, in some circumstances with overbooked flights, time of check in may be a consideration when deciding who must be bumped and IMHO, that's pretty rare.

 

Checking in online ahead of time can save you a little bit of time at the airport if all that needs to be done is get your bags tagged dropped off.

[Left_Coast]

I also have/had my middle name added onto my first name by my EZair booking. This is my first EZair booking ever for flights in June to Vancouver Canada. I first contacted AAA who originally booked it and they said contact Princess first as they (AAA) had provided correct info. 
Outside of Princess operational hours I reached out to the Airline, submitting my passport info at their request. That process may take 2 - 3 weeks.
Today, I contacted Princess Ez-air (option #4) and James handled my request in 15 mins. 10 of which was him doing tasks  while I was on hold. He said "there is no need for a middle name, this is typically why the names are appended together." He had no problem changing the booking to remove my middle name, carefully spelling out my correct first and last names. I can see this now reflected in my EZ-air booking. There was no need to re-book, re-fare or have change fees. 
After reading the unfortunate difficulties others went through and the comments to "not worry" "It's fine" ahead of my travel I'd like to stress I'd rather be stress-free. If you still have a issue please try again, maybe you'll be lucky enough to get James.
Hopefully in the future the software/3rd party situation will resolve these discrepancies.
Happy Cruising people!

[Yowman]

Just to confirm that concatenated names are not an issue, here is my situation:

 

I have 3 first names and my passport lists them as First Second Third followed by Last.

 

In my cruise reservation, the good folks at princess have my first name as First and my middle name as SecondThird (no space between the two).  My flight reservations in Amadeus show as FirstSecondThird (no spaces).  Spelling of all three first names is correct.

 

I shouldn't have an issue checking in, correct?  I have not yet been able to able to enter passport info into the flight reservation, because I'm waiting for a new passport, to confirm that the airlines are okay with this.

[Sinbadssailors]

If the spelling is correct, it won't be a problem. Seems the spaces are optional

 

My mashed up name was no problem to check in because the characters were all correct.

 

 

[cruisingrob21]

United also sometimes lumps a "MR" or "MRS" into your first name which doesn't seem to be a problem at check in, but I could see it being an issue on partner airlines in a foreign country.