Can You Change the Name on an Award Ticket? (2026)
Quick answer
No. Delta, American, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways, and Turkish Airlines all treat an issued award ticket as non-transferable — you cannot swap the passenger. Most will fix a genuine misspelling or a legally documented name change, such as marriage or divorce, at no charge. Transferring a ticket to a different traveler means canceling and rebooking from scratch.
Can you change the name on an award ticket?
The short answer is no, not to a different person. Every major program checked here — Delta SkyMiles, American AAdvantage, Air Canada Aeroplan, British Airways Executive Club, and Turkish Miles&Smiles — treats an issued award ticket as non-transferable, full stop. What they will do, within limits, is correct the name of the same traveler: fixing a typo, adding a missing middle name, or updating a name after a marriage or divorce with documentation. If you're not fully certain the legal name you have on file is right, or you'd rather not be the one discovering that at the airport, having a concierge book the flight for you puts that responsibility on someone whose job is to collect and enter the correct legal name before the ticket is ever issued.
What's the difference between a name correction and a name change?
A name correction fixes an error in the same traveler's name — a misspelling, a missing accent, a first and last name reversed, or a legal name that changed after the ticket was booked. A name change, sometimes called a name transfer, would put a different human being on the ticket, and that's the part every program in this article refuses to do once an award has been issued (American Airlines, via saleslink.aa.com).
Which programs allow name corrections, and how much can you fix?
The rules differ by program, and not every airline publishes exact limits — where a program's policy isn't public, that's stated plainly below rather than guessed at.
| Program | Corrections allowed? | Passenger change allowed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles | Yes — first/middle names unlimited, last name up to 3 characters | No | One name-correction reissue allowed per ticket; the ticketed passenger must remain the traveler (Delta, pro.delta.com, 2026) |
| American AAdvantage | Yes — minor typos free; major corrections (marriage, divorce, court order) with documents | No | Corrections can't be made online or within 24 hours of departure (American Airlines, saleslink.aa.com) |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | No published correction allowance once ticketed | No | Aeroplan's own policy states name changes "are not permitted once a Flight Reward ticket has been issued"; book the exact passport name up front (Air Canada, 2026) |
| British Airways Executive Club | Yes — misspellings, married/maiden names, legal name changes, free if the fare is unaffected | No, except a 24-hour cancellation window | Covers only BA, BA CityFlyer, SUN-AIR, Aer Lingus prime, American Airlines prime, and Iberia flights, not other codeshares (TravellingOnPoints, 2023) |
| Turkish Miles&Smiles | Yes, via an online form plus ID or legal document; a fee may apply | No, once issued | Awards can be booked in someone else's name from the start, at booking, as long as no cash changes hands (Turkish Airlines) |
| United MileagePlus | Not documented in detail for consumers | No | United doesn't publish a consumer-facing correction policy as specific as Delta's or American's — confirm by phone before assuming a fix will be free or fast |
Can you ever transfer an award ticket to a different person?
Practically, no, not after the ticket is issued. The workaround every program actually supports is booking the award in the other person's name from the start: your miles pay for it, but the ticket is issued directly to them, so there's nothing to transfer later. United, for example, lets you redeem for anyone with no gift fee and no cap on how many awards you book for other people, as long as you're not selling the miles (AwardWallet, 2024). Once that ticket exists, it's locked to that passenger the same way a self-booked one is.
What does TSA's Secure Flight rule require the name to match?
Under Secure Flight, the name on your reservation has to match the name on the government-issued ID you'll present at the airport, and that's also the name your airline profile should carry (TSA). A middle name is the one flexible piece, since Secure Flight's data fields treat it as optional, but first and last names are expected to line up. For domestic travel with a state ID, a one- or two-letter mismatch is often resolved at the checkpoint with extra questions. For an international award ticket checked against a passport, the same small mismatch can be enough for a gate agent to deny boarding, because the airline, not TSA, makes the final call there.
What does it actually cost to fix a wrong name after booking?
If the fix qualifies as a correction, such as a typo or a missing middle name, it's usually free on Delta, American, and British Airways, provided you catch it before departure and the fare doesn't change. The expensive scenario is when it doesn't qualify as a correction: the ticket has to be canceled and rebooked from zero, and the seat class or award level you originally locked in isn't guaranteed to still be sitting there when you rebook.
What a wrong name can cost you, in dollars (worked example)
Say you booked an American AAdvantage business-class saver award to Europe, and the name is wrong enough that it needs a full cancel-and-rebook rather than a free correction. If that saver-level space is gone by the time you rebook and the next available award level is 20,000 miles higher, buying that gap at MileMarketplace's live AAdvantage rate of $20.00 per 1,000 miles costs $400, plus the site's 5% service fee of $20, for $420 total (checked August 2026, MileMarketplace). That's before counting the hours spent re-searching availability, and it assumes a comparable seat is still bookable at all — if no award space is left at any level, the only fallback is a cash ticket on the same route, and 2026 flight-search data puts round-trip business class on similar US-Europe routes at an average of $3,362 (Kayak, 2026), which erases the value of the miles you already redeemed. Booking the ticket correctly the first time, which is what a concierge booking service is for, avoids the gamble entirely: you give them the exact legal name once, and it's their job to get it right on the ticket.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I fix a misspelled name on my award ticket?
Usually, yes, if it's a genuine typo caught before departure. Delta allows unlimited first/middle-name fixes and up to 3 characters on the last name; American and British Airways allow similar free corrections when the fare doesn't change ([Delta, pro.delta.com, 2026](https://pro.delta.com/content/agency/us/en/policy-library/self-service-exceptions/name-correction-policy.html)).
Can I put my award ticket in someone else's name after booking?
No. Every program checked treats an issued award ticket as non-transferable. To give someone else the trip, book the award directly in their name using your miles, so the ticket is theirs from the start and nothing needs transferring later.
Does a legal name change from marriage require documents?
Yes. Delta, American, and British Airways all require proof, such as a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order, before updating a ticket name that changed for legal reasons rather than a simple misspelling.
Will TSA stop me if my ticket name doesn't exactly match my ID?
TSA's Secure Flight rule requires an exact first and last name match to your ID; middle names are optional. Small mismatches are often resolved with questions at the checkpoint, but the airline can still deny boarding at the gate.
Does United let you correct a name on an award ticket?
United doesn't publish a detailed consumer name-correction policy the way Delta and American do. Call MileagePlus directly before assuming a fix will be free, fast, or even possible.
Is it safer to have someone else book my award flight?
For an unfamiliar program or an international award, often yes. A concierge service collects your legal name once and is responsible for entering it correctly, removing the risk of a self-booking typo costing you the seat.