Booking a flight for your parents: what to get right

Most Jetvala bookings are made by someone in the United States for a parent or grandparent who will actually take the flight. It is the most common thing we do and also the one with the most avoidable mistakes. This guide walks through them in the order they happen.

The name must match the passport, letter for letter

Airlines match the ticket name against the passport under the TSA Secure Flight program, and immigration officers in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and the US compare the two. Marie-Claude on the passport is not Marie Claude on the ticket, and Jean-Baptiste is not Jean Baptiste. Ask your parent to send you a photo of the passport photo page before you book, and type the name from the photo, not from memory. Middle names can be included or left out; hyphens and accents should follow the passport. If a mistake slips through, tell us within 24 hours; most airlines correct minor spelling free in that window and charge afterward.

Which passport, and which extra document

A Haitian citizen with US permanent residency flies to Haiti on the Haitian passport and returns to the United States on the same passport plus the green card. Check the green card expiry: if it expires within six months, renew or get an I-551 stamp before travel. A naturalized US citizen flies on the US passport and pays the $10 tourist fee entering Haiti. A dual national should carry both passports.

For the Dominican Republic, a Haitian passport holder needs a Dominican visa arranged in advance; a US passport holder fills in the free e-ticket form at migracion.gob.do. For Jamaica, a Haitian passport needs a visa. Tell us the passport your parent will travel on and we will flag the requirement before you pay.

Date of birth and gender

Secure Flight also matches date of birth and gender. Enter them from the passport. If your mother's passport still carries her maiden name, book in that name.

Phone number and email

Enter a phone number your parent will actually have with them, ideally a Haitian or WhatsApp-enabled number, plus your own as the contact. Airlines send schedule changes to the phone on the booking. Jetvala sends the e-ticket to both of you on WhatsApp so nobody has to print anything, although a printed copy is still handy at Cap-Haïtien where phone batteries die in the heat.

Choose the flight your parent can manage

For someone over 70 or with limited mobility, the nonstop matters more than the price. A Sunrise nonstop from Newark or Boston, even on a less convenient day, is easier than a connection in Miami where they must clear immigration, collect bags, re-check and walk the North Terminal. If a connection is unavoidable, book at least three hours between flights and choose a morning departure so a delay does not strand them overnight.

Wheelchair and assistance

Request wheelchair assistance at booking; it is free on every airline and it changes everything at Miami and Newark. Tell us whether your parent can walk short distances (to the gate) or needs help all the way to the seat. At Cap-Haïtien there are no jet bridges, so an aisle chair or lift is used; the airline needs to know in advance. If your parent has diabetes or a heart condition, pack medicine in the carry-on with a doctor's note in English or French.

Seats and bags

An aisle seat near the front makes the walk shorter and the bathroom closer. A checked bag at 23 kg is easier to manage than two small bags; porters at Cap-Haïtien cost $2 to $5 per piece and are worth it. Do not send a parent through the airport with a 70 lb barrel and hope.

The day before

Send your parent a WhatsApp message with the flight number, departure time, the check-in cutoff (60 minutes before departure at Cap-Haïtien, 45 to 60 in the US), the terminal, and the name and phone of whoever is picking them up. If you booked a Jetvala transfer, the driver's name and photo arrive the evening before.

The day of

Ask the person dropping them off to stay until they are checked in. If anything goes wrong at the counter, the agent can call us and we speak to the airline. Track the flight on the airline's app and ask the person collecting them to be at arrivals when the plane lands, not 45 minutes later; the wait outside Cap-Haïtien is not somewhere to leave an older person standing.

If plans change

Sign in to My trips to see the change quote, or message us. If the airline cancels, your parent is owed a cash refund or a rebooking; we handle both. If your parent needs to stay longer, Sunrise charges a change fee; American, JetBlue and Delta on standard fares charge only the fare difference.

One last thing

Write down the booking reference somewhere your parent can find it. A six-letter code on a piece of paper in the passport is still the fastest way to get help at any counter in the world.