If I spell my customer's name wrong on a flight ticket, can I fix it?

Sometimes, but it depends on the airline and on how big the mistake is. A small typo, such as a letter out of place in a first name, is often treated as a correction and many airlines allow it soon after the ticket is issued. Putting a completely different person on the ticket is treated as a name change instead, and most airlines will not allow that at all, because the ticket is not transferable.

What you can do from your own portal also varies by supplier. With some suppliers the correction can be sent straight through the flight booking API and you get an answer back quickly. With others the request is accepted but then has to be worked on by the airline or the consolidator behind it, so you may be waiting hours rather than minutes. Low cost airlines usually keep their own rules here and often charge a fee for any change to a name, even a simple spelling one.

Time matters more than anything else. The sooner you spot the mistake, the better your chances, and once check in has opened or the first leg has been flown, your options narrow very quickly. If the correction cannot be made at all, the usual route is to cancel and book again, and then the fare rules decide how much of your customer's money comes back.

The safest thing is to stop it happening. Ask your staff to copy names exactly as they appear in the passport, including any middle name the airline asks for, and to read the name back on screen before taking payment. If a mistake has already gone through, raise it with your supplier straight away and warn your customer that the airline may charge for the fix.