[jschmidt]

I noticed after my ticket was issued for my honeymoon that my first name was spelled incorrectly and was missing a letter "Josha" instead of "Joshua". When I called Expedia (which was who the ticket was booked through) to correct the mistake, they indicated that they would need to call Etihad directly. After speaking with Etihad, Expedia informed me that Etihad refused to correct the mistake, because the ticket includes a codeshare flight.

I tried calling Etihad directly to correct the error, but they repeated that they would not do so because part of the trip was on a codeshare flight. When I asked what my options were, the agent simply told me that I would have to cancel and pay the change fee to rebook, plus the now substantial difference in fare. I was then denied the opportunity to speak to a supervisor about the matter so that I could better understand this policy and my options.

I find it incredibly hard to understand why this needs to be processed as a change fee, as I'm not changing any portion of the itinerary; I am merely trying to avoid an issue when I arrive at the airport and my passport does not match (by one letter) what is printed on the ticket. I am more than willing to pay a minor administrative charge to correct the error, but it simply cannot and should not be the case that such a small error is incapable of being remedied without having to cancel the ticket entirely.

Etihad's complete unwillingness to work with me to correct such a small error not only ensures that I will never fly their airline again, but that I will take every opportunity to tell others of how terrible my experience with them was.