Hi All - a question to those working in reservations and/or check-in.
I was recently travelling in Asia with my partner. We booked both of our tickets with a First Name + Last Name, as we do every time we fly.
On this particular occasion the check-in agent compared my fiancé’s passport against the reservation details and noted the absence of her middle name on the ticket relative to her passport (her passport had first name, middle name and last name), and attempted to deny boarding to us (weirdly, my middle name was not on the booking either but the check-in agent did not take issue with me!).
We eventually managed to debate with a supervisor to get checked-in, but does anyone know what the official requirement is for use of middle names in airline bookings? I’ve searched online and this forum and there doesn’t appear to be a clear answer.
Thanks all
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- smartplane
- Posts: 1898
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
Parents who give their children multiple middle names are doing them no favours when it comes to travelling and immigration.
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- RyanairGuru
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
There is no standard policy which is why you can't find one online.
They are mandatory for Vietnam Airlines and a handful of other airlines I can't remember right now, but for the overwhelming majority of airlines they are not mandatory, merely advised.
If you name matches your ID exactly then there can be no grounds for confusion, but if you only include your first and last name then you will normally be absolutely fine but could occasionally run into an overzealous checkin agent or border protection officer.
They are mandatory for Vietnam Airlines and a handful of other airlines I can't remember right now, but for the overwhelming majority of airlines they are not mandatory, merely advised.
If you name matches your ID exactly then there can be no grounds for confusion, but if you only include your first and last name then you will normally be absolutely fine but could occasionally run into an overzealous checkin agent or border protection officer.
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- Yossarian22
- Posts: 170
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
It is pretty hit and miss, my wife misspelled her sisters middle name when booking a domestic flight, and fortunately nobody noticed. Sometimes at KMG the check-in agent freaks out and has to call a supervisor because my middle name is too long and letters are cut off, so my boarding pass doesn’t match my passport.
Re: Middle Name in flight booking
On international flights your ticket should match your travel document. The problem is the destination country can deny entry if the name on the passenger list does not match the travel documents.
It’s then the airlines responsibility to return the passenger with the possibility of a fine for them.
It’s then the airlines responsibility to return the passenger with the possibility of a fine for them.
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- PatrickZ80
- Posts: 4958
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
Just to make sure, always provide the full name including all middle names exactly as it says on the passport.
One time I was flying AirAsia together with my sister and I noticed that I had misspelled her middle name. Just a small typo, but to fix this they would charge quite some money. However once we had checked in online and got our boarding cards as PDF documents I took some PDF editing software and changed it on the boarding card. We printed them and used them for boarding. Nobody ever noticed.
One time I was flying AirAsia together with my sister and I noticed that I had misspelled her middle name. Just a small typo, but to fix this they would charge quite some money. However once we had checked in online and got our boarding cards as PDF documents I took some PDF editing software and changed it on the boarding card. We printed them and used them for boarding. Nobody ever noticed.
Re: Middle Name in flight booking
When booking international flights I include my full name, middle included as is on my passport.
Re: Middle Name in flight booking
Thanks everyone for your helpful replies.
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- upperdeckfan
- Posts: 1088
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
Spanish passports have two last names (mom's+dad's) and I've seen spaniards running into trouble as booking only had one of them.
Re: Middle Name in flight booking
never had a issue with, and i have a long name. I just put my first name and last name. PIA, Saudia, Air Blue, Emirates, Qatar, UA, DL, AF, QF, NZ, VA, LH, BA, EY, LATAM, and AA, these airlines i never had a issue with. Now had little issue with TSA though never had to go back, and put my full long name on the boarding pass though..
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- StormRider
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
RyanairGuru wrote:...
If you name matches your ID exactly then there can be no grounds for confusion, but if you only include your first and last name then you will normally be absolutely fine but could occasionally run into an overzealous checkin agent or border protection officer.
I always use just first and last name on booking but my passport has Given name and Last name fields (stupidly, my middle name - which isn't actually "my" name at all is appended after my first name on the Given Name field - "first second" ) but I have never had any issue with TSA/Customs etc - so far.
Re: Middle Name in flight booking
I also have a long name; first name, plus three middles and the last.
Never had any issues with airlines, although I sometimes get a comment from a bored official "pretty long name, huh" or something like that.
I've had more confusion over this with telecoms and utilities for example, but these were quickly solved.
Regards.
B8887
Never had any issues with airlines, although I sometimes get a comment from a bored official "pretty long name, huh" or something like that.
I've had more confusion over this with telecoms and utilities for example, but these were quickly solved.
Regards.
B8887
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- L410Turbolet
- Posts: 6389
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Re: Middle Name in flight booking
Here is my story:
A friend of mine + his wife and another couple were travelling for a long weekend in LIS . This friend of mine made ticket reservation (PRG-LIS-PRG, i.e. intra-Schengen travel, direct flight by TAP Portugal) including his middle name even though ALL his relevant travel documents (passport, National ID) have only his first and last name. Date of birth was correct on both the ticket and the ID.
At check-in in PRG he was denied boarding due to discrepancy between name on the ticked and name on the ID. Since he was traveling with three other people, he bought another one-way ticket on the spot and was told to sort it out in LIS upon arrival, where he was told to buy another new ticket back, which he did.
This seems to me like somewhat excessive and dogmatic interpretation of the requirement for matching names on tickes and travel documents. Is there any ground one can seek refund of the duplicate tickets he was made to buy? Apply the EC 261/2004 for denied boarding? Thanks for any advice.
A friend of mine + his wife and another couple were travelling for a long weekend in LIS . This friend of mine made ticket reservation (PRG-LIS-PRG, i.e. intra-Schengen travel, direct flight by TAP Portugal) including his middle name even though ALL his relevant travel documents (passport, National ID) have only his first and last name. Date of birth was correct on both the ticket and the ID.
At check-in in PRG he was denied boarding due to discrepancy between name on the ticked and name on the ID. Since he was traveling with three other people, he bought another one-way ticket on the spot and was told to sort it out in LIS upon arrival, where he was told to buy another new ticket back, which he did.
This seems to me like somewhat excessive and dogmatic interpretation of the requirement for matching names on tickes and travel documents. Is there any ground one can seek refund of the duplicate tickets he was made to buy? Apply the EC 261/2004 for denied boarding? Thanks for any advice.
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