I booked a flight in my new name but my ID still shows the old one
Contact the airline about correcting the name on the booking. If it cannot be corrected, the ID you present has to catch up to the ticket before you fly.
Two things have to agree at the checkpoint: the passenger name on the booking, and the name on the identification you present. When they do not, only one of the two can usually be moved in the time available, and it is the booking.
Start with the airline
Ask about a name correction on the reservation, and ask early. Whether a correction is possible, what it costs, what documentation is wanted, and how close to departure it can be done are set by each airline individually — so there is no single answer anyone can give you here. The carrier’s own rules are the answer, and the phone call is short.
If the booking cannot change
Then the ID has to, and that is the slow route: a license reissue runs to weeks, a passport longer. Carry the certified document that links your former name to your new one either way. It is not identification and it does not replace an ID, and nobody can promise how a particular desk will treat it — but not having it with you is worse than having it.
The same mismatch shows up on airline loyalty accounts, which is why they are worth listing in the interview. The name on the account and the name on the ticket are meant to agree, and a name change is when they stop. Loyalty programs change the name inside the account rather than by mail, so listing one gets you a step in the checklist rather than a letter.
Other questions people ask
When you’re ready to do it
Two questions about your situation first, because there is one answer that means we can’t help — and we would rather tell you that before you pay than after.
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