Copa Airlines Name Change Policy

A common question arises what you need to do if you misspell the name on the Copa Airlines reservation. Getting your name correct seems to be an easier task, but it happens to the few mindful of us. Generally speaking, there is a Copa Airlines name change policy in place that helps you with the name corrections. So if you have made a typo while booking your flight, there’s no need to panic. 

Today we will understand the possibility of name corrections to the flight tickets already issued and that meets the criterion established on their fare rules. Besides helping you with the Copa Airlines name correction guidelines, you will be introduced to making the name change request, applicable fees, and more. 

Conditions to Change Name on Copa Airlines Booking

As per the Copa Airlines name change policy, every passengers’ ticket must be issued with the information as it appears on the passport or other legal travel document. The first name and last name must match with the personal identification. 

The following conditions will apply to the Copa Airlines flight reservation – 

• The request would be applicable only to the unused portion of the flight.
• To process the request, you need to fill out the Copa Airlines name correction form.
• The flight segments in the reservation must be operated by the Copa Airlines in its entirety.
• The name change request would not be applicable on the interline or code agreement partners. 
• Only 1 name correction per ticket is permitted. 
• It is not permitted to alter a person’s full first and last name for another. This includes complete name changes for both the first and last names. 
• It is not permitted to have a fully different first and last name at the same time.
• The name correction to the first name, middle name and last name must not exceed 3 characters in total.

Guidelines to Correct/Change Name on Flight Ticket

Sharing the following scenarios where you are permitted to change/correct the name as per the Copa Airlines name change policy. 

Inverted first name or last name – 

• Inverted name – when the first name and the middle name are reversed.

• Last names reversed – when the first and second last names are reversed

• First names and last names reversed – When the first name and last names appear to be inverted on the Copa Airlines booking. 

Omit or delete first name or last name – 

• Omission of middle name and/or second surname – When the middle name or second last name is not included in the passport or government issued photo ID. 

Add first name or last name – 

• Addition of the first or middle name – When first or middle name is missing but one of them still appears on the ticket. 

Other permitted scenarios – 

• Nickname – When a nickname is altered to the name that appears on the passport or your legal travel document.

• Identical last names – When the last name is mistakenly added twice. 

• Hyphen – When the addition or omission of hyphen is permitted without changing the first and last name. 

• Children’s last name – When the last name is not the same as the one appears in the legal document. 

• Last name due to marriage/divorce – When the last name is not the same as the one appears on the marriage certificate or the divorce document. 

How Can You Fix Name on the Copa Airlines Ticket?

Possibly, your upcoming Copa Airlines flight is approaching and you’ve identified that the name on your ticket is identical to the identification that you’ll carry for your trip. 

This may not be a big deal if the name discrepancy is for a hotel booking. In those situations, your first course of action should be to phone the hotel or tour company, discuss the problem, and request that your name need to be updated.

However, a name mismatch on a Copa Airlines flight ticket is kind of a big deal— where you’ll be traversing borders or going through the immigration checks. It could be a little troublesome. 

Consequently, you’ll want to address this problem as quickly as possible. Here are some methods that help you fix the Copa Airlines name correction issue – 

Cancel your flight

Request to cancel Copa Airlines flight ticket, and see if the airline offers a full refund without any penalty. Chances are, if you purchased the reservation within 24 hours of booking, and the departure date is at least 7 days in advance, a full refund is possible. All you need to do is cancel your flight, and rebook the ticket with the name as exactly appears on your legal  travel documents. 

Call Copa Airlines

Simply call the customer service to correct or alter the name. Please ensure that you must complete the request up to 3 hours before the scheduled departure,  as per the Copa Airlines name change policy. There’s usually a change fee involved, but that would be very minimal. Fare difference may apply. 

Submit the legal documents

You can also obtain the legal travel documentation to justify the Copa Airlines name change request. In this case, you may not need to pay the name change fee. 

Purchase a new flight

Based on the fare basis/rules applicable on your ticket, at times, the name changes/corrections are not permitted but the fare is non-restriction and offers you a refund upon cancellation. 

In case of cancellation, you may incur a fee of not more than 50 USD. Followed by a refund you can claim on the rest of the airfare balance. Simply book a new flight with official Copa Airlines and this time add the correct name to your flight booking.

Fees/Penalties to Change Name on the Ticket

The Copa Airlines name change fee would be incurred based on the following criteria – 

• 50 USD pe passenger name correction fee would be applicable if the Copa Airlines reservation was issued through travel agency, 
• 75 USD per passenger name change fee would be applicable if the passenger requests a name correction in addition to the change in the flight date, time or destination. 

The airline penalty mentioned above is applicable for the flights within Colombia. For international flights, the Copa Airlines name correction fee varies with the fare applied. 

Gold and Silver PreferMember, Star Silver and Star Golder members would be charged a name change/correction fee if the ticket is issued with the travel agency. 

Note – Any ticket that is issued through the direct sales channel from the Copa Airlines would be exempted from the airline’s change penalty, as per the Copa Airlines name correction policy. 

Copa Airlines is generally cooperative and understanding when it comes to correcting a misspelling or legal name change on your ticket. It is also important to note that Copa Airlines name corrections are different from the name change. Copa Airline name change policy allows users to correct the name due to legal or typo considerations, but it’s always non-transferable. So you can’t simply give your ticket to someone else.

Copa Airlines Change Name on Ticket – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)