Ticket name changes and corrections on American Airlines isn’t easy as there are some restrictions to what can be done, but, in most cases, it can be done with relatively little hassle. For the most part, if a ticket needs to be altered due to a typo or because your legal name has actually changed (after getting married, for example), then you should be able to get it done.
However, a word of caution as not all airlines are the same when it comes to a name change. Take for example the Student who changed his name by deed poll to avoid the extortionate admin fees on Ryanair.
Ticket name changes and corrections on American Airlines have different meanings. A name correction allows the airline to correct the name to match the TSA government-required document(s) for miss-spelling, married/maiden/divorce names, legal names, secondary last name, inverted names, etc., and if the gender or age does not match between a legal document and the ticket issued.
Where a name change – is a complete change of name (such as to a new person).
First and foremost, Name Changes from one person to another are not allowed as you would be effectively touting a ticket at a lower price than what it would potentially go for at a later date. American Airlines management has held the longstanding view that such inflexibility made sound commercial sense. If you couldn’t fly, you can’t just gift the ticket to someone else, American would lose out on potential revenue. If you bought a non-refundable ticket, well, tough luck you lost that too.
However during Covid-19 – if you booked your ticket with a Corporate Travel Agreement, Business Extra, or On Business account you were allowed to have multiple complementary name changes.
Name Correction policy stems from the document of the same name. In general, American Airlines offers flexibility for Minor and Major name corrections for wholly unused tickets.
Reasons that a name change may be required include If the customer has TSA Pre✓, Global Entry, NEXIUS, or SENTRI card and the name submitted on their airline reservation does not have an exact match.
A Minor Name correction applies to itineraries that consist of American Airlines and American Eagle flights only and may be corrected in the same PNR (Passenger Name Record). Itineraries ticketed in “R” inventory must follow Major Name Correction Guidelines.
A Major Name Correction applies to itineraries ticketed in “R” inventory, codeshare flight segments on AA/Oneworld codeshares or non-Oneworld carriers and require a new PNR as a name correction cannot be made within the same PNR due to software limitations.