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 (figures checked July 2026 against the official ryanair.com and easyJet fee pages plus a June 2026 cross-airline roundup for the rest): Ryanair (€/£115 online, €/£160 via an agent, per passenger per the official fee table), easyJet (£60 per person per flight online, £65 via customer services, at least 2 hours before departure), Wizz Air (about €60 online, roughly €75 by phone, up to 3 hours before departure), Vueling (roughly €30-€50 on Optima/TimeFlex fares; basic fares can be excluded), Aer Lingus (about £80 per flight, phone only), Jet2 (£35 per person per flight, no fare difference, online until a few hours before), and Norwegian (about €65 on LowFare/LowFare+, free on Flex). Fees and deadlines shift, so the airline's current booking screen wins over this list.

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.

A hotel reservation may be transferable only when the property and booking channel permit an authorised guest substitution. Confirm which party can approve the change and keep the written rule before listing.

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.

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 (BA states eVouchers can be used to book for others — check the current eVoucher terms for conditions), Southwest LUV Voucher (historically usable for any traveller, not just the named holder — check the expiry printed on the voucher), Southwest and Delta gift cards (stored value, distinct from name-locked flight credits), Lufthansa Gift Voucher (transferable — distinct from Lufthansa FlightVoucher), Renfe Refund Code (code shareable).

German voucher brands (checked July 2026): Animod hotel vouchers are issued without a name and are 'in der Regel frei übertragbar' (generally freely transferable) per Animod's own FAQ; Mydays states its gift vouchers can be transferred and redeemed by any person. Both redeem by code — list unredeemed codes, not vouchers already converted into a specific booking.

Non-transferable: Delta eCredit (Delta's own terms: non-transferable, must be used for a ticket in the account holder's name), United Travel Bank ('airlines prohibit the sale, barter, or other transfer of TravelBank Cash'), Southwest Basic-tier flight credits (name-locked since the 28 May 2025 fare rebrand — only Choice-tier and above credits are Transferable Flight Credits, and only between Rapid Rewards members), 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 (flight-only name changes are £50/€50 flat per person per booking, phone or in-store only, per TUI Airways' Conditions of Carriage checked July 2026; package-holiday amendments are historically £25 per person — confirm the current figure; TUI Flex add-on waives change fees within its window). Jet2 Holidays and easyJet Holidays also process name changes for per-person amendment fees that vary by product and timing — ask the operator for the current fee in writing before listing. Thomas Cook (relaunched as an online OTA) publishes amendment terms in its booking conditions.

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.