Which Travel Bookings Can Be Resold (and Which Can't)

Flight transferability is the most variable category. The airline and fare class determine whether a name change is possible at all — the booking channel (direct, OTA, travel agent) is secondary.

Airlines that allow paid name changes: Ryanair (€115 online, €160 at the airport, up to 2.5 hours before departure), easyJet (£49 per leg, up to check-in opening), Wizz Air (approximately €40-€70 per passenger per flight, up to 3 hours before departure), Vueling (€30-€90 depending on fare class, at least 24 hours before), Aer Lingus (€60 online), and Jet2 (£35 per passenger, up to 28 days before).

Airlines that do not allow name transfers on standard tickets: British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, ITA Airways, TAP Air Portugal, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue. These carriers permit only typographical corrections (usually 1-4 characters) or, in Lufthansa's case, a name change following a legal name change documented with official papers.

OTA-booked flights add an extra layer: even when the underlying airline permits a name change, booking through Expedia, Kiwi, or Booking.com flights typically blocks the name-change process. The OTA system sits between you and the airline and often cannot process the change. If you need to transfer an OTA-booked flight, contact the airline directly first to confirm they will process the name change on the PNR regardless of how it was booked — some will, some won't.

Award tickets and loyalty bookings: nearly all frequent-flyer programmes (Avios, SkyMiles, Miles & More, and others) prohibit name changes on award bookings. Selling miles directly also violates most programme terms and conditions. SpareHolidays does not accept award ticket listings.

Hotel reservations are generally the most seller-friendly category for resale. Most hotels — independent properties and a large share of branded chains — will perform a guest substitution if you call the front desk directly. The OTA you booked through is not the right contact for this; the hotel owns the reservation and can update the guest name on their own system.

OTAs where the hotel workaround is practical: Expedia (self-service soft change available), Hotels.com (free at platform layer, hotel may add fee), Agoda (manage-guests tool, though greyed out for non-refundable close-to-check-in). Booking.com does not offer a UI for guest substitution but formally states name changes are 'subject to the hotel's policy' — quote this back to the property if they push back.

Branded chains with guest substitution processes: Marriott (property discretion, call Bonvoy line — not online), Hilton (flexible rates via online cancellation and rebook; non-refundable rates by direct call to property), IHG (property level), Hyatt (call the property; Globalist members have more latitude), Accor (no public policy; call the hotel directly).

Bookings that cannot be transferred: Airbnb reservations are explicitly non-transferable per both Airbnb's platform policy and typical host policy. Vrbo is the same. Hotwire opaque-rate bookings and Priceline Express Deals are also non-transferable. Do not list Airbnb, Vrbo, Hotwire, or Priceline Express Deals — they cannot be transferred to a buyer.

Train ticket transferability varies sharply by operator and fare class, more so than almost any other category.

Transferable train tickets: Trenitalia Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, Intercity, and Eurocity tickets allow free unlimited name changes up to departure. Italo Flex and Day Return tickets are free up to 3 minutes before departure; Italo Economy tickets carry a 20% fee. Renfe AVE, AVLO, and Alvia Premium tickets are free; Renfe Elige Standard and Confort tickets carry a €20 fee. UK National Rail standard tickets do not carry a passenger name on most formats and are effectively bearer tickets, freely transferable. FlixBus and FlixTrain (which shares the same policy) allow name changes up to 15 minutes before departure. Megabus UK tickets are bearer tickets with no passenger name.

Non-transferable train tickets: SNCF TGV INOUI and SNCF OUIGO are strictly nominative and ID-checked — do not list. DB Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis are named and ID-checked. OBB Sparschiene and Nightjet Komfortticket are non-modifiable. SBB Supersaver and Saver Day Pass are personalised and ID-verified. Amtrak does not permit passenger transfers. VIA Rail Canada is explicitly non-transferable. Interrail and Eurail passes are strictly non-transferable — passport name and number are printed on the pass. Japan Rail Pass is passport-bound. These should not be listed.

Eurostar (including the former Thalys network) is nominative and ID-checked at check-in — non-transferable. Aggregator-booked tickets via Omio or Rail Europe follow the underlying operator's rules but add a service-fee layer that can complicate the name-change process.

Bus tickets are a mixed category but several major operators explicitly support transfers.

Transferable bus tickets: FlixBus (free name change up to 15 minutes before departure), Megabus UK (bearer ticket, no name — freely transferable), Megabus US (bearer ticket, $3 trade-in fee), National Express UK Fully Flexible (free, any time before departure), Alsa Spain National routes (free, 2 hours before departure — best EU bus option for resale).

Conditionally transferable: National Express UK Standard (£5 fee, 1 hour cutoff).

Non-transferable bus tickets: BlaBlaCar Bus (formerly OuiBus) — cancel and rebook only. National Express UK Restricted — non-amendable. Alsa International routes — non-transferable. All bus passes (FlixBus Interflix, Greyhound Discovery, Brit Xplorer) are photo-bound and non-transferable — do not list.

The clearest rule in the voucher category: stored-value gift cards are transferable; airline and hotel eCredits are not.

Transferable vouchers: Hotels.com and Expedia gift cards (stored value), Amex Travel, Visa Travel, and Mastercard Travel gift cards (stored value, CARD Act protected), British Airways eVoucher (fully transferable, third-party bookings at least 4 days before departure), Southwest LUV Voucher (usable for friends and family, 1-year expiry), Southwest and Delta gift cards (stored value), Lufthansa Gift Voucher (transferable — distinct from Lufthansa FlightVoucher), Renfe Refund Code (code shareable).

Non-transferable: Delta eCredit (explicitly non-transferable between accounts), United Travel Bank ('airlines prohibit the sale, barter, or other transfer of TravelBank Cash'), Lufthansa FlightVoucher (holder must be the passenger — block listing), Air France and KLM eVoucher (must be used for the named passenger), easyJet voucher (officially non-transferable), Ryanair voucher (named), Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL Future Cruise Credits (locked to original booker — only NCL Peace of Mind FCCs are transferable with formal consent), Eurostar e-voucher, and any loyalty programme points (Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, Hyatt, IHG, and others are non-transferable).

The summary rule: if the voucher shows a monetary face value that any holder can spend, it is generally transferable. If the voucher is tied to a named passenger, an account number, or a loyalty programme balance, it is not.

Package holidays booked through an ATOL or ABTA-protected tour operator fall under EU Package Travel Directive Article 9 (and its UK equivalent post-Brexit), which gives the original booker a statutory right to transfer a package to another person with at least 7 days notice, and fees must not exceed the actual costs incurred. This makes UK and EU package holidays broadly transferable if you act in advance.

Operators with documented transfer processes: TUI UK (£25 per passenger amendment fee; TUI Flex add-on waives the fee up to 28 days before), Jet2 Holidays (£40 per passenger per one-way flight, £80 return; one change per booking), easyJet Holidays (£25-£60 per flight name change per booking conditions), Thomas Cook relaunched (£25-£50 per booking depending on period).

Important caveat: the flight component of a package is subject to the airline's own name-change policy. A package operator may process the holiday substitution, but if the included flight is on a carrier that does not permit name changes — British Airways or Lufthansa, for example — the flight element may not transfer. In practice, most UK package holidays include charter or LCC flights that do allow name changes.

Car rentals are the hardest category for resale. Most direct rental bookings link the reservation to the payment card holder, and name changes require the new driver to present a different card at pickup — which means the seller's prepayment often cannot be transferred cleanly.

Auto Europe allows free online self-service name changes at least 48 hours before pickup — the clearest transferable option in this category. DiscoverCars permits main driver changes with at least 48 hours notice, with new driver documentation and card at pickup.

Hertz direct, Europcar, and Enterprise are conditionally possible via phone, but the practical friction is high. Avis, Sixt, Budget, Rentalcars.com, Goldcar, Centauro, Firefly, and Holiday Autos are not transferable under their stated policies.

Do not list Turo (strictly non-transferable, ID verified at vehicle pickup), Zipcar, Share Now, or Getaround (membership-based; allowing a non-member to drive creates criminal liability for the original member). Hertz and Avis gift cards are an exception — treat them as vouchers, not car rental listings, as they are stored-value and freely transferable.

Practically, car rental resale is only worth attempting on Auto Europe bookings. For other providers, the transfer friction is high enough that listing a car rental is likely to result in a failed transfer and a buyer dispute.

Cruise resale is possible but constrained. Most major cruise lines permit substitutions on non-lead guests but restrict or prohibit changing the lead guest name on the booking. This means you can typically sell a cabin when you are the secondary traveller but not when you are the primary booker.

Lines where secondary guest substitution is possible (with conditions): Royal Caribbean (all but one guest can be substituted, $0-$100 fee, 72-hour manifest cutoff), Carnival ($0-$200 depending on Fly2Fun status, original guest must remain), Norwegian NCL (secondary guests only, $100-$150 fee, lead guest never changeable), MSC (one change per reservation, $0-$100 depending on lead time), Princess (both guest slots changeable up to 21 days before sailing, cancel and rebook after that), Celebrity (secondary guests, $0-$100 depending on lead time), Disney (non-lead guests only, no lead-guest change), Costa (Comfort and Deluxe fares full substitution, Promo fares often non-substitutable), Viking Ocean (before final payment, $50-$200).

Lines that do not permit transfers: Holland America (explicitly non-transferable in their contract — reject at listing time), Cunard (corrections only), Viking River (highly restrictive, effectively cancel and rebook), Silversea, Seabourn, Regent, Crystal, Oceania, and Azamara (luxury lines treat name changes as cancellations under most fares).

Two timing cliffs matter for cruise listings. Final-payment date: typically 75 days before departure for 1-4 night sailings, 90 days for 5-14 nights, 120 days for 15+ nights. Past final payment, name changes become cancellations with deposit forfeit. Electronic manifest cutoff: typically 72 hours before sailing. After this point, a name change means denied boarding. List well before either deadline.