If I spell my customer's name wrong on a flight ticket, can I fix it through the API or do I have to cancel and book again?

Yes, in many cases a name can be corrected, but whether it is possible depends on the airline rather than on the booking tools. Most airlines allow a small spelling correction, such as a wrong letter or a first name and middle name in the wrong order. Others treat any change to the name as a different passenger altogether and will only accept a cancellation and a fresh booking. There is no single rule that covers every carrier, so the same mistake can be easy to fix on one airline and impossible on another.

How quickly you spot the mistake matters a great deal. If you notice it very soon after ticketing, you are often still inside the short window in which the airline allows a ticket to be voided, and the cleanest answer is to void and rebook with the correct spelling. Once that window has passed the ticket has to be reissued instead, and the airline may charge for that or may simply refuse and leave you buying a new ticket.

What you can do yourself through the API depends on what each supplier makes available. Some suppliers accept a name correction request directly, so you can send it from your own system and wait for the airline to respond. Others offer no such option, in which case our support team raises it with the supplier on your behalf. In both situations it is a request rather than an instant change, and the airline has the final word.

Before you issue any ticket, check the spelling against the passport exactly as it appears there, and if a mistake has already gone through, report it the same day so you have the best chance of a simple fix.