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A question or two from a newbie here
Hello all,
This post was partly prompted by a recent observation by a regular here that the activity in this group has diminished in recent years. As a newbie to this group (but not Usenet) I would comment that lack of activity might be a blessing of sorts, considering the piles of posted rants, flames, and idiocy that can be found in more active groups. Count your blessings :-). But now allow me to contribute to this group in a minor way by asking a few questions about our impending trip to South Africa. Any responses will be greatly appreciated. You seem like nice people here and this trip has raised some interesting (serious) questions. My wife and I were about to take a trip to Cape Town (for two weeks), and then to Kruger Nat'l Park (for another week) before coming back to our home in the US. This will be our first trip to South Africa, but we are veteran travelers (e.g. spent the summer last year in Europe, have been to the Far East, and spent a year driving through South America). To keep this particular post short, let me limit this to just one initial topic: Getting to (and into) South Africa. The Ticket Dilemma After doing the usual fight cost comparisons, we bought our RT tickets through Orbitz -- which uses South African Airways to and from Atlanta. The price was quite good, but the tickets were *non refundable*. We have done this before, with good results (and low prices), but have run into a large problem with this booking. We had researched the entry requirements to South Africa and had a good grasp (we thought) of what was required to get into the country as an American tourist (only a passport). They want to increase tourism. Then we ran into a caution in one of the books ordered prior to booking the flight (which arrived afterward) that pointed out that South African Immigration was tight, and that one of the things they check for upon entry was an exact match between the name on the ticket (required to prove exit from the country) and the name on the passport. (Problem!!) Unfortunately my given first name is one I have always hated and therefore have never used -- except when absolutely required (passports and drivers license). My credit cards carry either my nickname (a shorted version of my real first name) or simply the initials of my first and/or middle name. Hence my credit card (to which this trip was charged, and had to match the booking info) carried only my initialed first name-- which was carried forward to the booking and appeared as such on the tickets. This has never been an issue in past trips, but has become one on this trip. Soooo, I called South African Airways and asked if this was a problem. The response was "Oh yes, they won't let you into the country at Jo'burg unless the name on the return ticket exactly matches the name on the passport." They said to call Orbitz and have the ticket reissued with my full legal first name spelled out. I called, but Orbitz flatly refused! They said they don't ever change the names on a ticket (they claim they airlines don't allow them to) and that since the ticket was non-refundable I had no way out of this problem. (Never mind that a cancellation of this trip would mean the loss of several thousand dollars. The ticket supervisor's response was "tough.") So now I have a ticket with a name that doesn't match the name on my passport. My question here is does anyone here know what might happen if I proceed with this trip? Will they really ask to SEE the return ticket? (No one in our past travels ever has.) Would they notice that the names doesn't exactly match? Would they care? Should I feel like gambling on they possibility that they might deny me entry and put me on the next plane back to the USA (leaving my wife alone in South Africa)? Or should I scrap the whole trip and take the loss? Any thoughts? TIA. Caveat |
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