AI illustration: A traveller comparing a passport and fictional booking at home. Fictional scene, not an actual location, person or service.
Check whether the error is in the booking’s travel-document information, a saved profile or another travel permission. Fixing one record does not prove the others changed.
Compare with the passport you will carry
Open the passport identity page and the actual airline booking. Compare the number character by character, then check nationality, expiry and issuing country. A renewed passport may explain an old number, but do not assume an old profile is what the airline will use for this journey. Do not post the passport image in a public support comment.
Separate API from the e-ticket
British Airways lists passport number among Advance Passenger Information, or API, and says API can be supplied through Manage My Booking. Its name-correction help (updated 23 April 2024) explicitly says changing API does not change an e-ticket name. This is a useful distinction, not proof that every carrier offers the same passport edit screen.
Use the airline’s official route for this booking
Retrieve the reservation on the airline’s own site. If a travel-document field is editable, enter the correct details and save through the supported process. If it is locked, absent or unclear, contact the airline and the ticket issuer as appropriate. Ask exactly which document record needs updating and whether any operating partner needs a separate update.
Check related permissions separately
If a visa, travel authorisation or other entry permission also shows the wrong or old passport, ask its issuing authority for the applicable correction or new-passport procedure. An airline update does not establish that a government permission remains valid. Do not buy a replacement ticket merely because the passport number is wrong without first understanding the carrier’s proposed fix and cost.
Verify the result before check-in
Reopen the booking and check the saved document information where visible. Retain the airline’s written response if it handled the correction. If you are already checked in, ask whether check-in or the boarding pass needs to be redone. No universal free correction, deadline or boarding guarantee is made here.
Questions before you travel
Does changing a saved profile prove my booking is fixed?
No. Check the actual booking’s document record.
Does API correction also change the ticket name?
Not automatically. British Airways expressly separates those records.
Should I immediately cancel and rebook?
First ask the carrier or issuer for the correction route and cost.
A Miranda House graduate and lawyer who traded courtrooms for slow travel. Cheshta travels with the batches we host ourselves, with a soft spot for travelling alongside elders.
Planning your next trip?
We'll handle insurance, hotels, airport assistance and the itinerary — the same way we do it for every trip.
Questions on this article
asked by readers, answered by us