Etihad - Incorrect names on tickets
 

I purchased 4 tickets through Etihad.com. However, for two of the tickets I used the travellers middle names as opposed to their full family names as in their passports (in my culture people are generally called and known by their middle names only and I was under the impression that the passport or ID number would be used for checking purposes at the airport). In hindsight this was a silly mistake and one that it seems I will be regretting for a long time to come, after how I have been treated by Etihad.

After discovering the error I contacted the Etihad global call centre numerous times to get information. At first I was told this is not a problem and they could rectify the error. After sending through copies of the passports, I was notified that the error could not be corrected anymore, but that I could have the tickets refunded and book new tickets. After giving my consent to this I was told this is not the case anymore and I would have to cancel the old tickets, with no refund, and purchase new tickets at 150% of the initial purchase price.



I recommended or proposed all of the following to Etihad:

• To testify under oath with a police officer present that the travellers for whom the tickets were originally purchased are the ones that will be travelling, it was just a mistake in not understanding the workings of their website and checking/screening procedures.
• Getting all four passengers to travel to the nearest Etihad office for interviews or screening
• Paying a financial penalty for the mistake and purchasing new tickets as long as they can refund the original ticket prices.

All of these recommendations were answered with the reply of "Our name changing policy does not allow that". I am travelling in four days' time and despite being in contact with the Etihad contact centre for almost a week, I have come no closer to a solution. I don't know if we will be allowed to travel as we have not the financial means to purchase two brand new tickets. It will be our first time travelling overseas as a group and have been planning the trip for over a year. We have always been good citizens with no more that a traffic fine to our names.

A cannot believe that Etihad is not willing to handle our case on personal basis and to take account of the mitigating circumstances at hand. I realise this to be my fault and am more than willing to be a financial penalty, but not allowing boarding or requiring another ticket purchase or denying boarding surely doesn't seem fair. Is this just a way for Etihad to make extra money? Any advice will help or anyone within Etihad that is willing to help their clients in need. This website is my last hope

There is a very helpful Etihad agent who comes on this site and sometimes can help with these problems. Her account name is CazziB and you might want to send her a private message asking her to help you.

Careful with personal details
 

Be careful giving personal details out to emails or credit card info in desperate times.
For example they may say for a admin fee of $10 or $ difference we can have all this sorted and you could give info out to a stranger. Who will in turn take your money and identity too.