I booked a Southwest ticket for a quick family trip, rushing through checkout late at night. The next morning, I noticed I’d typed my first name wrong—just one letter off, but enough to make me panic. From what I’ve experienced, Southwest doesn’t allow full name transfers to another person, but they do handle minor corrections pretty smoothly.
When I reached out, the agent explained that small fixes—like a typo, missing middle name, or nickname instead of a legal name—can usually be corrected without canceling the trip. They just verified my ID details and fixed it while I was on the call. That was a huge relief.
However, if you’re trying to change the ticket to a completely different person, Southwest treats that differently. In that case, the best option is to cancel the ticket and rebook it correctly. The good part (and why I still love flying Southwest) is that the value doesn’t disappear—you typically get travel credit that you can reuse.
From my experience, the fastest way to sort any name issue or make changes is to handle it directly as soon as you notice the mistake. Waiting until the day of travel only adds stress. Southwest’s flexibility saved my trip, and now I double-check names before hitting “book.” But if something slips through, there’s usually a straightforward fix.
