I think I have a problem with a TA!

[bazzaw]

Went to a shopfront TA today - and organised with them to book a cruise around Japan - plus flights to and from Brisbane. Gave her our brand new Passports with our details. She sends me texts on my phone for me to peruse and approve - and also gets me to sign the docs in many places. I am very careful that all the dates and times of flights, etc are correct. BUT - when I get home I peruse all the paperwork I have been given and find that for the cruise my wife's given names of Christine Angela are correct , but on the flights she is named as Angela Christine!!  I rang them immediately and of course could not talk to here ( on lunch) but I have not heard from her as yet. I can see on the paperwork that for these flights name changes are not permitted 😞 

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, bazzaw said:

Went to a shopfront TA today - and organised with them to book a cruise around Japan - plus flights to and from Brisbane. Gave her our brand new Passports with our details. She sends me texts on my phone for me to peruse and approve - and also gets me to sign the docs in many places. I am very careful that all the dates and times of flights, etc are correct. BUT - when I get home I peruse all the paperwork I have been given and find that for the cruise my wife's given names of Christine Angela are correct , but on the flights she is named as Angela Christine!!  I rang them immediately and of course could not talk to here ( on lunch) but I have not heard from her as yet. I can see on the paperwork that for these flights name changes are not permitted 😞 

Ohhhh dear

[Aus Traveller]

5 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Went to a shopfront TA today - and organised with them to book a cruise around Japan - plus flights to and from Brisbane. Gave her our brand new Passports with our details. She sends me texts on my phone for me to peruse and approve - and also gets me to sign the docs in many places. I am very careful that all the dates and times of flights, etc are correct. BUT - when I get home I peruse all the paperwork I have been given and find that for the cruise my wife's given names of Christine Angela are correct , but on the flights she is named as Angela Christine!!  I rang them immediately and of course could not talk to here ( on lunch) but I have not heard from her as yet. I can see on the paperwork that for these flights name changes are not permitted 😞 

It was obviously the TA's mistake so I would expect them to fix the problem. You did peruse the documents, but I don't feel it is your responsibility. All the best. You can do without issues like this. 🙂

[valantine80]

51 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Went to a shopfront TA today - and organised with them to book a cruise around Japan - plus flights to and from Brisbane. Gave her our brand new Passports with our details. She sends me texts on my phone for me to peruse and approve - and also gets me to sign the docs in many places. I am very careful that all the dates and times of flights, etc are correct. BUT - when I get home I peruse all the paperwork I have been given and find that for the cruise my wife's given names of Christine Angela are correct , but on the flights she is named as Angela Christine!!  I rang them immediately and of course could not talk to here ( on lunch) but I have not heard from her as yet. I can see on the paperwork that for these flights name changes are not permitted 😞 

We had a similar problem, though slightly different, several years ago when we booked a cruise to China and return flights through a large travel agency. They actually booked our return flights before we left Australia. Luckily I picked it up that night and was fortunate that we hadn't signed anything so we were clear. I think because the agency did so much business that the airline waived any penalty otherwise the agent would have been out of pocket.

 

 

[YoHoHo]

My TA 's booking statements have wording saying to confirm things such as names (matching passport) and to report errors / changes immediately and that it is my problem (though that is arguable) if not corrected.

 

A. If the TA has not responded yet to your messages and emails I suggest you escalate to a manager immediately.

B. It might not be a problem, i.e. our first and middle names are often contacted into one word, though in the correct order. But it might be a really big problem so I would absolutely want to speak with the agency and get things in writing.

C. In the USA the airlines have a cancel within 24 hours rule (subject to some conditions such as if they had been on a hold)

D. A browser search for that in Australia had a result that includes Qantas page that they have a 24 hour CFAR.

 

So if you can get action from your TA quickly this might be fairly easy to straighten out.

 

Good luck!

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Went to a shopfront TA today - and organised with them to book a cruise around Japan - plus flights to and from Brisbane. Gave her our brand new Passports with our details. She sends me texts on my phone for me to peruse and approve - and also gets me to sign the docs in many places. I am very careful that all the dates and times of flights, etc are correct. BUT - when I get home I peruse all the paperwork I have been given and find that for the cruise my wife's given names of Christine Angela are correct , but on the flights she is named as Angela Christine!!  I rang them immediately and of course could not talk to here ( on lunch) but I have not heard from her as yet. I can see on the paperwork that for these flights name changes are not permitted 😞 

Name changes not being permitted just means you can't swap passengers. A clerical error can be corrected, just make sure they get it done ASAP.

[Mareblu]

Fingers crossed for you both.  In my view, the TA has been remiss in not recording the names correctly, let alone obviously not proofreading with another member of staff.  Just demand to speak to senior management asap.  I’m pretty sure mentioning the word “Ombudsman” should get a response, if you don’t get an immediate and satisfactory response.  Please keep us posted, and best wishes with this.

[bazzaw]

I needn't have panicked - apparently it is all fixed. But I could see myself having to pay some big money for it to be fixed 😞

[Mareblu]

Oh, great news😀

[MicCanberra]

Good news, and a lesson for everyone to check the details for their travel.

[cruiser3775]

That's the trouble with DIY travel. You have to be so careful and organised. Even though I should know better, I tripped myself up on a flight to join a cruise a couple of months ago. Forgot I was crossing the international date line and made an accommodation booking for the wrong night. 

[Jean C]

I'm pleased it was corrected promptly. Many years ago a TA booked return flights to the UK for me, via the States. The tickets had me as "Mr Jean" instead of "Mrs" so I asked the agent to get it changed (Jean in France is a male name). They said I'd be fine, no need to correct it, nothing to worry about.  I was travelling alone and didn't want passport hassles anywhere along the journey so I insisted, they argued but eventually reluctantly had it changed. I really don't know whether or not it would have been a problem, it was before the days of people identifying as a gender other than what they were born as, or weirdly as something else like a cat 😺

[bazzaw]

7 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

 Forgot I was crossing the international date line and made an accommodation booking for the wrong night. 

That's a beginners mistake !! 🙂 

[bazzaw]

On 2/21/2024 at 3:19 PM, YoHoHo said:

 

D. A browser search for that in Australia had a result that includes Qantas page that they have a 24 hour CFAR.

 

What is a CFAR?

[Aus Traveller]

11 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

What is a CFAR?

Cancel For Any REASON?

[cruiser3775]

22 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

That's a beginners mistake !!

I am far from a beginner. I must have been having a senior's moment.

[Chiliburn]

On 2/21/2024 at 4:14 PM, valantine80 said:

We had a similar problem, though slightly different, several years ago when we booked a cruise to China and return flights through a large travel agency. They actually booked our return flights before we left Australia. Luckily I picked it up that night and was fortunate that we hadn't signed anything so we were clear. I think because the agency did so much business that the airline waived any penalty otherwise the agent would have been out of pocket.

 

 

I had an identical thing but unfortunately I signed for it .

They put the responsibility back on me saying I accepted it. 
I had to pay for two more retun flights. Never again will I deal with the captain ,most of them are just kids .

[valantine80]

10 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I had an identical thing but unfortunately I signed for it .

They put the responsibility back on me saying I accepted it. 
I had to pay for two more retun flights. Never again will I deal with the captain ,most of them are just kids .

That was very unfortunate. That is one reason I don't engage in small talk while they are doing transactions. In our case  there was no direct flight from Bejing so they had to pay for us to stay overnight in Kuala Lumpur.

I agree with you about the captain.

[ilikeanswers]

8 hours ago, Jean C said:

I'm pleased it was corrected promptly. Many years ago a TA booked return flights to the UK for me, via the States. The tickets had me as "Mr Jean" instead of "Mrs" so I asked the agent to get it changed (Jean in France is a male name). They said I'd be fine, no need to correct it, nothing to worry about.  I was travelling alone and didn't want passport hassles anywhere along the journey so I insisted, they argued but eventually reluctantly had it changed. I really don't know whether or not it would have been a problem, it was before the days of people identifying as a gender other than what they were born as, or weirdly as something else like a cat 😺

 

My mum got listed once as Mr on a flight ticket. Didn't realise till she was printing the boarding pass. No one cared. Honorifics aren't listed on the passport so I think they only really care about passport details matching. 

[bazzaw]

I haven't done much business with the Captain - but apart from this small glitch (which was quickly corrected) , I have been happy enough with them. I was VERY surprised to get my money back from the Captain during Covid - for a non-refundable flight with Qantas. 

[cruiser3775]

In December, i struck a small glitch departing overseas from MEL.. My boarding pass had me as MR on the main section and MS on the tear off section.   This caused some consternation. The security officials had obviously had sensitivity training about gender perceptions. They were trying to decide surreptitiously on looks whether I was male or female, but not to be too obvious about it. I thought it was funny rather than worrying. In the end, they shrugged and passed me through.