Hi all! I am planning to change my name after the wedding, so in about 6-7 weeks or so! I am buying plane tickets for a trip in February. Do I book it under my current name or my changed name? If I book under my current name I assume there's some way I can prove to them that it was recently my name. Has anyone on here been in this situation? Thanks!
Posted Sep 16, 2016, 3:26 PM UTC
I flew a few months after I changed my name, and I booked the ticket under my maiden name. When I showed ID for security, I only showed them my passport (which I had not changed) instead of my drivers license (which I did change).
Yup this. My friend changed her name with the SS administration right away. But she didn't change her drivers license until after their honeymoon - so her ticket was booked under her maiden name, which matched her ID exactly (as it has to).
Oh, I didn't realize it was possible to wait to change documents like the passport. If I can just wait to change my passport that might work. Or maybe I can just be lazy and change my name after this trip! (That would be like 4+ months after the wedding though)
I've almost been married a year and I still haven't gotten around to changing my passport. Procrastinators unite!
Oh awesome!
If you get your passport less than a year before you get married, you can get a new one with your new name for free!
Getting married same day and we are honeymooning in Feb. I'm undecided on the name change at the moment, but I booked all the honeymoon travel under my current name. At least with my passport, I knew there was no way that change was happening before Feb and figured I will definitely have it still in my current name!
I changed my name with SS a month after my wedding. I had work flights booked 4 months later under my maiden name. Southwest told me if I hadn't changed my passport, to just fly with that and they wouldn't ask questions. It has continued to work.
Also for anyone interested, if you have TSA Pre-Check, you CAN update your name with them and still use that without reapplying. It just takes about 3 months.
The TSA pre-check bit is interesting! When I went in for the interview portion two years ago, the older gentlemen eyed me and said that if I change my name within the next 5 years I'd have to reapply all over again.
I thought the same thing. When I changed my name I called them to find out if my name needed to match to continue to use it. They said yes but I could request they update my name. To do so, they just transferred me to a department who asked a couple of questions and said it would take up to 3 months to update.
Interesting about Pre-Check. I held off applying for that very reason.
I think I would probably book under my current name, partly because with most airlines I already have my information on file associated with my account.
Then, when you get your marriage documents back, I think typically you can submit copies to the airline's customer service, and they can change the info on your account.
I'm not 100% sure that they will change the name to which the ticket was issued. I think so they can, but I might just give them a call to make sure.
I had an issue where Delta had my nickname associated with my account, which of course doesn't fly when they compare it to the legal name on my driver's license. It's been a pain to get it resolved, but that was the process - submitting them PDFs of my license. They did at that time change an already issued ticket to my full name.
I had an issue where Delta had my nickname associated with my account
I had this happen to me on Expedia!! It's so annoying. Double checked when I booked my flight that the name was "Jane Smith Doe"* like on my passport. But then get to the ticket counter and the ticket is reserved under "JS Doe" which was my facebook name at the time. Ughhhh. So yeah, name changes are hassles.
*obviously changed
The name on your ticket must match the name on your ID. It will probably take about a week to get your driver's license changed and more if you need a new passport.
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I'm traveling in February as well. I'm waiting until after I make the official change to book the flights - I want my ID, ticket, and credit card to all match so I don't run into any issues.
I had a round trip flight booked before my wedding in my maiden name. After the wedding before I changed my name, I took the first half of the flight. Then I changed my name. The entire trip was flying with United. I changed my name on my MileagePlus account and had to send them a pdf of my marriage license. Then I called their customer service number and they changed the name on my ticket. I'll be taking the next part of the trip next month under my new name and I'm hoping there aren't any issues!
This may not be possible... but can you just legally change your name now?
If you need a passport, maybe maiden name as it takes a long time to get your passport changed. If you only need a driver's license you should be okay with married name. I am only just finishing my name change this week and I got married 6 weeks ago. But seriously Illinois is also the pits-you go in to get your license and they give you a paper temporary and it takes 2 weeks to get your real one. Husband went with me to change his address at the same time I was updating name and address. He took an hour longer than I did (needed to retake the test), and his arrived more than 10 days before mine it was agonizing.
Since places are more strict than others. To be in the safe side, assume that the name on your ticket must match perfectly with the name on your ID/passport. Even if you do bring your marriage license or name change paperwork, it could become quite the process while you're there to jump through the red tape. While the security agent might believe you, there's likely a lot of official steps to prove it.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!
Source: I'm a passport acceptance agent and get asked this alllllllll the time.
As long as all of your ID's match your tickets, it doesn't matter what your legal name is. However, do not apply to change your ID's until AFTER your trip. Passports need to be forfeited in order to make changes, and DL's are typically altered in some way to indicate they are expired/changed.
ETA: Here's a PSA I did about passports.