Trouble booking a flight, father tries to book three plane tickets but is unable due to his son having the same name, causing him to lose money: ‘Now I either lose €2000 or pay another €8000’

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Aug 5, 2026 6:00 PM EDT

Maybe don't name your son with YOUR name if you want to avoid misunderstandings…

What is it with people that name their children after themselves? I fully get why someone would give their offspring the name of another family member, such as the kid's grandparents or an aunt they really loved and has passed away. I even understand why people name their children after a character from a TV show or movie, or even from an actor or actress. But your own name? I guess if it's really good, I get it.

Talking about names, there is a new trend with new parents where they decide on the most groundbreaking and extravagant name they could find for their children. There's been a raise on the use of names such as Disney, Trendy, Prosperity, Lemon, Stormy, Air –Yes, I'm using the Kardashian kids' names as examples. I don't really judge them, no matter how ridiculous the name could sound. Because as someone whose name is one of the most common female names in the world, I would have liked a unique name. When you are at school, and three different girls are named the same as you, it really convinces you to name your kids something unique. I'm tired of turning around when I'm walking in the street only to discover they weren't calling me.

So, maybe the user from the story below had a great name and wanted to pass on that greatness to his son. Or maybe if he had thought of a new name, he could have avoided all the reservation issues. In whatever case, I just have a tip for parents or parent's to be, please remember that when you name your child, you are naming a human being, not a pet. Be aware that this person is going to grow, so maybe think a lot before you settle on a name. 

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  • 01
    I was trying to book three Business Class tickets from Vienna to Tokyo for myself, my son and another family member. My son has exactly the same first and last name as me. I started the booking for all three passengers, but Air China's booking system showed an error saying that two passengers with identical names could not be included in the same booking and that they had to be booked
    via modafoka777
  • 02
    An airplane flying seen from the outside.
    via John McArthur

    An airplane flying seen from the outside. 

  • 03
    separately. Because of that message, I followed the system's instructions and booked my own ticket separately for around €2,000. I then immediately tried to book the other two passengers on the same flights. However, the original fare was no longer available. The remaining Business Class tickets now cost around €4,000 each, meaning I would have to pay another €8,000 for
    via modafoka777
  • 04
    my son and the third passenger to travel with me. I contacted Air China and explained what had happened. Their call centre told me that because my €2,000 ticket is not flexible, it cannot be refunded. They also told me afterwards that I could supposedly have entered "MR" in the first-name field to get around the identical-name restriction. But the booking error never suggested this. It explicitly
    via modafoka777
  • 05
    told me to book the passengers separately, which is exactly what I did. So I'm now stuck with two options: Either I lose the €2,000 already paid for a ticket that is useless to me on its own, or I pay another €8,000 so my son and the other family member can travel on the same flights. I never changed my mind or tried
    via modafoka777
  • 06
    to cancel the trip. I wanted to buy all three tickets from the beginning. I only booked the first ticket separately because Air China's own booking system told me that this was what I had to do. From my perspective, their system gave me misleading instructions, caused me to buy a standalone ticket I would never have bought otherwise, and now they are refusing to refund it. Has anyone dealt with a similar
    via modafoka777
  • 07
    situation? Is there anything else I can realistically do, or am I simply stuck with the loss? Edit: Solved. Thanks everyone! Update: Some people mentioned a 2-hour refund window. I'd seen that mentioned online too, but the woman at the call center never brought it up. I was also surprised that it took them an hour just to process a change request, and
    via modafoka777
  • 08
    they wanted to charge me €250 for it. In the end, I got lucky. For a brief moment, seats on the exact same flights dropped back to a more reasonable price, around €2,400 per ticket, so I ended up paying about €800 more than my original deal. Not great, not terrible. Definitely better than losing €2k. On the other hand, I was already mentally prepared to book
    via modafoka777
  • 09
    Economy and just minimize my losses.
    via modafoka777
  • 10
    A family of three holding hands on the seashore. Representation.
    via Natalya Zaritskaya

    A family of three holding hands on the seashore. 

    Representation.

  • 11
    Minidooper How long ago did this happen? With the multiple attempts to book you may have temporarily used up the all the fares in that fare bucket. If it was fairly recently, give it a couple of hours and try again. If this happen hours ago and the price is still thousands more then you are out of luck.
    via Minidooper
  • 12
    supergraeme Did the site suggest that it would be €6k for all three? It sounds like you just got the last €2k seat.
    via supergraeme
  • 13
    Soft-Bit2210 This is why you don't give your child the exact same name as yourself. It creates problems.
    via Soft-Bit2210
  • 14
    Life Opportunity69 Then buy 2 tickets for them in economy/premium eco, and let your wife sit in business. Probably it won't cost you 8000€
    via Life Opportunity69
  • 15
    East Cancel484 well that's what you get for naming your son exactly the same as yourself. Regarding the price: would try and use a 3rd party engine like momondo.com and see if that wouldn't get you the tickets at the same price as before. And I would stop wasting energy trying to get them to honor the initial price. Will get you no where.
    via East Cancel484
  • 16
    ProfessionalMottsman That 2k price seems far too cheap especially for business class.
    via ProfessionalMottsman
  • 17
    strawbebby-milk and this is why you give your son a unique name instead of forcing him to be an extension of you. no sympathy here from me tbh
    via strawbebby-milk

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