CL wrote:
> MonkeyBoy wrote:

> > I purchasted two "discount" airline tickets for a flight back to the
> > US.  At the time I reserved the tickets my wife's passport had her
> > maiden name on it, so that's the name that got used.  Well, you
> > probably know where this is going.  Her passport expired during the
> > interim and the new passport has her new surname on it.  I went and
> > purchased the tickets without double checking this detail . . . my
> > very, bad and expensive mistake.
> 
> This isn't a one-for-one match, but I hope it helps ...
> 
> There used to be a form you could get from your local kuyakusho (I 
> think) which very clearly stated that the person formerly known as "X" 
> had officially changed their name to "Y" and that the official document 
> bearing the new name was issued on "Z" date at some official place.  I 
> had one for a while when I asked if I could register my name in romaji 
> and kana both.  It disappeared when I got my new credit card torokusho 
> with both writings on the front of the card.
> 
> When my wife was flight crew and changed her name, there was a "problem" 
> with the fact that the 35-odd visas that didn't expire at the same time 
> as the passport were in her maiden name.  The Justice Ministry office (I 
> think it was the one in Chiba-shi) that issued her new passport stapled 
> her old and new one together and they ... or the kuyakusho ... stapled 
> in an attestation over her maiden name passport's photo page that said 
> that both names belonged to the same person AND that the same person 
> using either name had the same legal standing ... or something like 
> that.  That whole mess, which was almost an inch thick before it was 
> retired, was accepted by every airport (and airline, when we went on 
> vacation) until she had to get another passport and we were able to dump 
> the double book.
> 
> You really ought to have a heart-to-heart talk with the kuyakusho and 
> the office that issued her current passport ASAP and find out what they 
> can do now.

Again, all arguments with merit, but has nothing to do with the  
tickets purchased.  I guarantee there is some fine print somewhere 
that dicks MonkeyBoy. He can jump up and down and bitch until his head 
explodes, but the key word is "discount".