Not long ago, we wrote a piece about the airlines that do and don’t allow you to transfer plane tickets to someone else.
Of course, there are many more airlines that DON’T allow you to do a name change. However when researching our post about loopholes travelers found and majorly exploited, there was reply from a a user named The_Karma_Bandit that showed how they managed to change names on Spirit Airlines tickets. Here’s what they said:
I coach a high school team; we recently bought airfare with Spirit airlines to take 9 students to a competition. Two of the students cancelled about a month out from the trip, and we had to replace them with two different students. Spirit airlines’ policy: no name changes. Can’t even pay a fee to change the name. The tickets are basically lost, I have to buy new tickets. Spirit’s customer service is overseas, and they plainly don’t care at all about customer service (because they don’t actually work for Spirit etc etc).
EXCEPT that Spirit airlines DOES allow passengers to correct misspellings. And these folks don’t really recognize nonsense names. So over four calls, I change the names of the cancelled students to the names of the new students, two letters at a time. No one at Spirit customer service made a note (because who would care), and no one ever notices that the “correct” names during the intermediate steps were nonsense.
The_Karma_Bandit’s hack/loophole/exploitation was written in 2016. Eight years is a long time in the airline industry and change could undoubtedly have been made. That being said, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Overseas call center
The_Karma_Bandit said: “Spirit’s customer service is overseas, and they plainly don’t care at all about customer service (because they don’t actually work for Spirit etc etc), “…these folks don’t really recognize nonsense names” and “…no one ever notices that the “correct” names during the intermediate steps were nonsense.”
Spirit Airlines, like so many other companies, utilizes offshore call centers for their customer support. Many of these overseas call centers are in the Philippines, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, etc. If you’re trying to change the last name from JOSEPH SMITH to MARTHA JONES, the people answering the call may not notice that some of the “names” in the name change would be nonsense in U.S. English. Take a look at a potential 3-letter name change over the course of 4 changes:
- SAMUEL SMITH
- MARUEL SMITH (Maruel?)
- MARTHA SMITH
- MARTHA JOETH (Joeth?)
- MARTHA JONES
Spirit’s rules haven’t changed
This is what Spirit’s website currently says about changing names on a ticket:
Can I change the name on my reservation?
What type of name change do you have?
Misspelling – If you need a minor correction to a misspelled name (e.g., Feline vs. Filene), you may be eligible for a free name change.
Legal Name Change – Legal name changes require supporting documentation.***
Passenger information – For any other changes to your passenger information, including date of birth, contact information, gender, passport information, or redress number.
***Supporting Documentation Includes:
- Marriage License
- Court Order
- Divorce Decree
- Or Legal Name Change Document
Based on what The_Karma_Bandit said they did, vs. what’s on Spirit’s website in terms of how to make changes for slight misspellings, you could suppose it MAAAAAY still be possible?
Or not. Read on:
Our take on it
I would think that, after 8 years, Spirit might be smart enough to have some sort of software update in there, so if someone is making multiple changes to a reservation, it’s flagged.
Beyond that, the TSA’s software has improved considerably. THEY may notice that the above Samuel Smith is suddenly a female (which is fairly reasonable in this day and age), but also has a different date of birth (which is less reasonable).
I scoured the internet and couldn’t find anyone else who admitted to making a name change on Spirit by making multiple minor spelling changes since The_Karma_Bandit’s original post in 2016. Whether it was because Spirit closed the loophole, the TSA’s improvement with IDs, no one else has had the cajones to try this, or they’re just smart enough not to admit to it, no one knows.
Would we recommend trying this loophole? No.
I mean, if you have nothing better to do with a ticket that’s potentially going to be wasted, and don’t mind the threat of being caught and all that could potentially entail, sure knock your socks off. But we still wouldn’t recommend it.
Two other things
I wonder how The_Karma_Bandit dealt with changing names that almost HAD to be different lengths. I mean if you were going from SAMUEL SMITH to CAROLINE HERNANDEZ, how did they account for names that had different numbers of letters in them?
Spirit actually does allow name changes if the reservation is made as part of the airline’s Group Travel program, which is available for groups of 10 or more. Benefits include:
- Confirmed seats of 10 or more without full payment for travel 60 days out
- Name changes can be made free of charge up to 30 days before schedule departure (Note: name changes within 30 days of departure can still be made, but with a $50 fee per person)
- Ticketless travel
- Dedicated Group Travel Specialist to assist with travel questions or concerns
The_Karma_Bandit’s group was comprised of 9 people so they wouldn’t have been eligible. But for larger groups, it IS an option.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
