What name should I use on my flight ticket?

For most people, it is a stumbling block: what name should you use when buying a flight ticket? And what happens if the name on your flight ticket is wrong? Adjusting your name afterward is often expensive. That is why it is best to pay close attention while booking your ticket. But, luckily, Vayama.com is here to help you!

What name do you put on the flight ticket?

When booking a ticket, you always use your first given name and last name as it appears on your passport or identity card. It often happens that people use their nickname, even though it does not appear on their passport. If you have several (baptismal) names, you only need to use the first one on your ticket. That way you can be sure that your name fits on the ticket. For example, Leo, whose full name is Christiaan Leonard van de Laan, uses his full first name and last name when booking an airline ticket: Christiaan van de Laan.

Leo receives his ticket and finds out it says ""Christiaan Vandelaan"". If your last name, like Leo’s, has one or more spaces, the spaces will not show on your ticket. If you want to check in online with your last name or view your booking, you also type your name without spaces.

What name do you use when booking flight tickets?

First name: This is your first name as it appears on your passport or identity card. So, NOT your nickname. Do not include second and/or baptismal names.
Last name: This is your full last name with spaces. These can (sometimes) be deleted by the system.

What name do you use if you are married?

If your passport says e/v plus your spouse's last name behind your name, you use your original last name (also known as maiden name). This always appears correctly on your passport. If you only have your partner's last name appearing on your passport, use that one on your ticket.

What to do if you have punctuation marks in your name?

If you have punctuation marks in your name (such as Esmée) your ticket will show your name without these characters. That’s because no punctuation marks are used on flight tickets. Esmée shows as Esmee and Jan-Willem shows as janwillem. It is no problem to enter these characters when booking, as they are automatically deleted by the system.

First name: Use your maiden name as it appears on your passport. It is possible that your name appears on the ticket without punctuation marks. Esmée then shows as Esmee and Jan-willem shows as Janwillem.

You have an umlaut or another special character in your name, what now?

If you have a special character in your name, such as ß, Ü, Ä, Ö and Å, write your name as usual (according to the guidelines described above). The computer system automatically changes the characters to SS, UE, AE, OE, and AA. So, it is possible that your surname Böhmer shows on the ticket as Boehmer.

Why does the ticket say 'Mrs'?

For adults over the age of 18, some airlines include ""MR"" or ""MRS"" in front of your name, depending on your gender. This is not related to being married or not, so there is no need to worry about that.

What happens if you don't have an incorrect name adjusted?

You can choose not to change an incorrect name on a flight ticket. The costs of a name change can be quite high. However, the airline then has the right to refuse you. An airline ticket with an incorrect name is not valid. With some airlines, it may even be cheaper to book a new ticket and cancel your old ticket. We strongly advise against traveling with an incorrect ticket as the name and order must match exactly as shown on your valid travel document. If you notice your name is incorrect, please contact our Customer Support .