Woman’s warning after almost paying $10k to fix a Qantas name change on a ticket

It was a simple request to have a single detail changed on a plane ticket, but this Aussie mum had no idea how much a name would cost her.

A Sydney woman was almost forced into paying more than $10,000 for a small change on a Qantas airline ticket, after a detail on her travel document no longer matched that of her passport.

Speaking to news.com.au, Sydney publicist Michelle Mak (née Hampton) was left furious when her request to simply change her maiden name on the Sydney-Los Angeles ticket to her new married name was given a “flat out no” by the airline.

Several months ago, Mrs Mak purchased tickets under her maiden name. However, between booking the flights and the departure date, she changed her surname as she got married. As a result of changing her name from ‘Hampton’ to ‘Mak’, she also updated her passport.

But when Mrs Mak, who was travelling with her husband and two-year-old son to LA before boarding a codeshare carrier onwards to Mexico, went to change her name she was only given the option to cancel and rebook the ticket by Qantas.

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Mrs Mak was almost forced into paying more than $10,000 to change her name on a plane ticket

Mrs Mak booked the flight through Australia’s national carrier, Qantas.

“They [Qantas] explained to us that the only option would be to cancel and rebook my flight either for myself or my whole family,” she said.

“This would have meant rebooking the seats at an extra cost of more than $10,000. And there were no guarantees we’d even get tickets as the flight was booked out by then.

“When I said how ridiculous this was, they didn’t show any level of regard for this situation. I felt like I was being punished by Qantas for getting married and wanting to change my name.”

Despite Mrs Mak’s frustration, the airline is completely within its rights to reject the request. When it comes to international ticket changes such as surnames, Qantas as an airline does not permit name swaps on any ticket to an international destination, regardless of class and fare category.

According to their policy, if the name needs changing — the passenger’s only option is to cancel the original ticket and buy a new one.

Qantas' policy is that name changes are not allowed on international tickets.

The passenger will get a refund but there will a cancellation fee which will depend on the ticket class and fare category.

Mrs Mak said it was an unreasonable term for a company such as Qantas to have a clause in their terms and conditions that won’t allow a person to change their name on a ticket because of marriage – and is fine print that could easily get overlooked.

“They explained that as part of the international flight, partner airlines couldn’t change my name which I do understand,” Ms Mak, a Qantas Gold Frequent Flyer member, said.

“But when I asked if they could change my name just for the Qantas owned flights (and I offered to call the partner airlines directly to update my name) their answer was still a flat no.

“After countless hours on the phone getting passed between customer care, frequent flyer and the ticket office [as well as] countless messages on Facebook messenger, and frustrating email exchanges with various staff members from Qantas to try and resolve the issue … we came very close to just paying the extra $10,000+ and take our chances with rebooking the flight.”

Mrs Mak was going to Mexico with her husband, pictured, and their 2-year-old child.

Mrs Mak wanted to change her Qantas international flight ticket to reflect her married name rather than maiden name.

However, Ms Mak said a quick thinking decision saved her thousands of dollars and avoided her having to cancel her existing ticket, but has now left her with a headache to deal with post-holiday.

“I didn’t want to miss my friend’s wedding but felt the Qantas solution [to cancel and rebook] was pretty ridiculous, so we came up with a last minute solution that had nothing to do with Qantas,” she explained.

“I had to do an emergency last minute drive in to Sydney’s CBD to the main passport office and request a new emergency passport with my maiden name on it. I had to get new photos, fill out the new passport form and collect all the necessary forms of ID.”

Instead of cancelling and rebooking the flights, which would’ve cost Mrs Mak more than $10k – she cancelled her passport and rushed through a new document with her maiden name.

Ms Mak said that as part of the application process, the passport office required proof of a ‘divorce certificate’ in order to issue a new passport with her maiden name on it.

But after explaining the situation, she was able to obtain a special exemption to have her passport reissued in her maiden name of Hampton rather than her new married name, Mak.

“We paid the extra express fee and had everything crossed that my new passport would arrive on time,” she said.

“My passport arrived one working day before my flight and my family and I were able to attend my friend’s wedding thankfully.

“However, I will now need to change my passport again to reflect my married name.”

While Qantas declined to provide a statement, when it comes to domestic ticket changes — it is understood the airline will charge $99 for a name change, but that change is only permitted for Flex fares. Other fares, such as a Red e-Deal fare, do not permit any form of name change.

Name change on international airline tickets is almost impossible to do unless you cancel and rebook.

As reported by Traveller, the reason airlines make it so difficult to change a name on an international flight ticket is mainly down to the need to protect their revenue stream.

If airlines made it possible to change the name on a flight ticket without a significant penalty they would enable a secondary market in the trading of airline tickets.

For example, a discount ticket seller could buy a number of sale fares in the name of “John Smith” and sell them at a higher price when the fare rises under a different name.

Mrs Mak said she feels fortunate she was able to make the passport change at the 11th hour and still make the trip, without having to fork out thousands in new airfares.

“People get married and change their names all the time – and we shouldn’t be punished for it,” she said.

“Luckily we are fortunate enough to live in Sydney (close to the city re passport office) and were able to afford to have a new express passport created. If I lived in the country with limited means, I’m really not sure what I would have done.”

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