Can I claim after being refused on a flight because my name on passport and ticket didn’t match?

Simon Calder answers your questions on multiple names, security, airlines in China, inter-generational holidays and Trento

It may be next to impossible to reclaim for a flight to Bangkok after mismatching names on tickets and passport (Getty)

Q I am furious. I booked a trip to Bangkok through an online travel agent. I turned up at Heathrow to be told I couldn’t fly because the name on the ticket didn’t match the name on my passport. My name is unusual: it’s Adam Graham Frazer Wallace, with the last two as my last name – though not double-barrelled. For ease, I just booked the flight as I had done on previous occasions, as Adam Wallace. I had to spend a fortune on a new flight. Who can I claim from?

Adam F W

A I am afraid that multiple names often cause problems. I’m sorry this happened on such an expensive trip, but if it is any consolation I also think you are lucky to have got away with it so far. If the surname is showing on your passport as Frazer Wallace (with or without a hyphen), that is what the airline is expecting to be written on the ticket for the passenger’s last name.