You arrive at the gate, passport ready, and hand over your boarding pass — only to be informed by the agent that your surname does not match the one on your passport. It is easy to overlook a name typo when booking a flight in a hurry. Fortunately, airline apps typically allow you to correct the mistake with a few taps, although it can cost up to £160.
However, there is a way to save money in such situations: by booking an entirely new seat. According to Ryanair's official terms, minor spelling corrections of up to three characters can be made free of charge within 48 hours of the original booking. For name changes outside this grace period, the online fee is £115 per flight. Should customers require an agent to process the change, they will be charged £160. With one-way Ryanair flights to key European destinations typically costing between £15 and £50, and thousands of summer journeys currently slashed to as little as £19.99, passengers may find it cheaper to book a new seat.
A Ryanair passenger recently discovered this when she and her friends arrived for their flight having entered the wrong surname for one of her companions. Ryanair, known for enforcing one of the most stringent baggage policies in the industry, is equally rigid with name change fees. The passenger, Jade, who goes by @thelifeofjadey on X, shared her frustration: 'To change the surname? £115! To rebook TWO flights in the correct name? £44.98! How the hell can Ryanair justify this? I'd love an explanation.'
In response to Jade's complaint, one seasoned Ryanair flyer suggested she purchase a new, cheaper seat next to her now-unoccupied seat so that she could enjoy extra space for a more comfortable journey. Although this appears to be a smart workaround, other X users cautioned against it, as the airline may register the traveller as a 'no-show' and reassign their seat.
The same principle can be applied to budget carriers Wizz Air and Jet2, which charge similar, though generally lower, name change fees. These modifications are usually limited to one per flight and apply only when correcting fewer than three characters. For mistakes made at the time of booking, Wizz Air passengers may change their name online up to three hours before departure free of charge, but only for a maximum of three characters, an extension of an abbreviated name, a title, or if first and last names are swapped. Only one free name change correction is allowed per booking. Any name changes outside these exceptions incur a €70 fee (around £60), while those who call the Wizz Air Call Centre to make amendments will be charged an additional transaction fee. Since Wizz Air is offering summer flights to hotspots like Lyon, Barcelona, Madrid, and Turin for as little as £20, booking a new ticket may be preferable to dealing with the headache and cost of a name change.
Jet2 passengers, meanwhile, are not generally charged a fee for small spelling mistakes of up to three characters, though this can increase to as much as £35 for more significant changes or multiple corrections. Minor typos, such as swapping a vowel or correcting three letters, are processed free of charge, but if the change involves more than three letters or constitutes a full name swap, the airline charges an admin fee of £35 per person, per one-way flight. With one-way flights from London to Faro, Alicante, and Paphos as low as £28 and £29 in June, depending on the destination and the extent of the change needed, booking a new Jet2 flight might also be a sensible option.
Most other airlines generally allow passengers to make minor name changes free of charge, so it is worth double-checking your details before flying with Ryanair, Jet2, and Wizz Air — or risk paying more than the flight itself.
