UAE: Minor typo on ticket, visa can cause major delays, warn travel agents

A group of 22 people from India were on their way to Dubai for an extravagant vacation for their Eid al Fitr Holidays when they had to return home from the airport all of a sudden due to a minor error by their agent back in India, forcing the entire group to postpone their travel to the next day.

“It was a typo on the visa. The date of birth of Abhishek, one of the passengers, did not match the passport and the visa. The visa was issued by an Indian agent, and we are the service provider for them here,” said Deepak Kaushik, marketing manager, Rooh Tourism LLC.

They had to apply for an express visa for the passenger to fly the next day. “The passenger’s [year] of birth is 1983, [but] it was misprinted as 1988. And the entire group took the decision to postpone the travel as they were not willing to leave behind a member of their group,” said Kaushik.

Agents urge residents to double-check every minute detail on their passports, tickets, and visa as soon as they are issued to avoid any further complications. “Every [piece of] data of the passenger is issued based on their passport.

However, at times we also tend to make mistakes like using the initials Mr or Mrs, because a few names are used [for] both males and females. In such a situation, a passenger may not be allowed to travel,” said Libin Varghese, sales director, Rooh Tourism LLC.

Similarly, Aftab Hussain, a blanket businessman based in Deira, was stopped at the baggage counter early this year at Mumbai Airport for a mismatch in the spelling of his name. “I booked the ticket myself from an online ticketing webpage. My passport has a single ‘s’ in my name. However, I use ‘ss’ in all my online operations,” said Hussain.

While this may seem like a minor error, it was enough to cause confusion and delay for Hussain at the airport. The airline staff informed him that they could not allow him to board the flight with an incorrect name on his ticket.

Hussain was upset by this turn of events as he had to reach Dubai to receive his consignment the next day. “Luckily, there was another flight after four hours and I managed to get a ticket from the airline counter,” said Hussain.

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