Getting married after airline tickets were bought?

[Pop Centurion]

My fiance & I are getting married but have already purchased our airline tickets through Southwest, which has her maiden name on her ticket. Obviously I want to avoid any fees involved in making changes to the ticket.
I've heard different things such as:
1. Not changing her license over til after the trip. The problem with this is we're getting married in July & traveling in Sept which is longer than she wants to wait to change her license over.
2. Just bring her marriage certificate which will show her maiden name along with her new ID.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has any personal experience with this matter and can lend me some advice.
Thanks in advance.

[jmj18]

I just carried my marriage certificate.....but that was 20 years ago.....I would check with the airlines and see if rules have changed.....

Congrats!!

[Fangorn]

Call Southwest. I'm sure they have a procedure for taking care of this. I suspect they'll want you to go to the ticket counter the day of your flight and show the marriage license and valid ID. And I wouldn't worry about SWA charging you a fee to change the name. You're much more likely to get a drink coupon from them in celebration than you are to have them charge you a fee.

Steve

[Fastpasssteve]

This is something you want to call and ask about now and not just hope they let it slide on the day in question. You would be very upset if your trip is delayed by a day or so.

You will probably need to change the name on the ticket. The airlines have become adamant about the names on the tickets matching the ID's. They have become inflexible.

Better to call and have a positive/excited tone of voice to get them on your side...the joy of the happy ocassion and all that...get their good will...perhaps they will be gracious and grant you a name change without an extra charge.

[EmmMOM2]

When I got married 4 years ago we left for our honeymoon in Hawaii the next day, and so my name on my license was my maiden name.
I simply had to bring my Marriage certificate and my ID with my maiden name. That took care of it. BUT things could have changed so definitely check!!!!

[KylesMom]

The TSA (not the airlines) has gotten ridiculously strict in the past year with tickets matching your drivers' license or ID perfectly through security. I wouldn't take that chance. I would call Southwest & find out what you need to do to get the ticket changed, unless you'll be traveling immediately after you get married & there won't be time for your fiance' to change her license. Then I would just leave as-is until your return. Edit: Oops, just realized the July-September timeframe. I would definitely get both the license and the ticket changed.
As an FYI, I plan travel as part of my job, and per the TSAs new restrictions, had to ensure peoples' information in the ticketing system matched what was on their licenses so that they weren't held up or denied access to their flights.

[BrerGnat]

I wouldn't think SWA would charge you for a LAST name change. It's sort of an unavoidable thing, really. And, since it's a TSA regulation, I wouldn't think YOU would be held responsible for paying for a change fee. You're not giving the ticket to someone else, or changing the travel dates.

[Pop Centurion]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I'll definitely call SWA.

[minnie-mouse]

I did that when I got maries too. We flew Southwest and my drivers license now said my new married name. I also showed our marriage certificate and my birth certificate to show my old and new names, they didn't put us a fuss at all. Enjoy your trip!