Booking flight in married, not maiden, name was problematic

I BOOKED flights for my wife and myself to visit her family in Bloemfontein. I booked the flight on BudgetAir.com, to fly with SAA.

I inadvertently booked the flight on my surname and not on my wife’s maiden name (we recently got married, on December 10, 2016) and she hadn’t changed her ID yet.

I realised my mistake in minutes and wrote to BudgetAir.com, notifying them of my predicament. They contacted SAA, who responded, via BudgetAir.com, telling me to cancel the flight, along with the money spent. I can’t see why SAA can’t simply change her surname on their system. It would take someone at SAA only a minute to do so. SAA spokesperson Tlali Tlali, who is assisting the reader, said: “The position is that the bride must use the name in the booking as per the passport/ID book she will be travelling with. That is industry practice and is for the convenience of passengers and the airlines. If the ID/passport is in the maiden name, her booking must be made in the maiden name.

“Please provide us with the actual booking information, so that we can investigate this and advise what the conditions of the ticket purchased allow for. Normally, we would request a new ticket be purchased and the incorrect one would be refunded, subject to penalties.

“This may be an SA Express flight, as we do not fly to Bloemfontein, but we’ll check on the system and advise.”