Has anyone been denied an airline flight

[John105]

Because their document such as a passport has a middle name, but the reservation did not?

I was in a hurry and ordered 3 airline tix, and I didn't put our middle names. Two people offered "scary" stories, that people they knew had to tear up their tix because of such an omission. When pressed for details, there were none (so was this a rumor).

I googled, and found multiple examples of people saying, they've flown 20+ years without a middle name domestically, but unsure of international flights.

Have to admit I felt uncomfortable. The thought of forfeiting $4,701 and missing a flight wasn't exactly a pleasant one.

United assured us nothing to worry about.

Now that we've flown and come back, I can say from experience, it didn't matter.

I'm just wondering if anyone can say, yes, I didn't put my middle name on my airline reservation, my US Passport has one, and I had to throw away my ticket and could not use it.

Or if it's just one of those scary wives' tales...if I had to guess, and it's nothing more than a guess, the first, and last, names, must absolutely be correct, and if they are not, one will not be able to fly. This isn't the same as not putting a middle name on an airline reservation.

Example, your name is John Good. Your reservation is Johnny B. Goode. You can't fly like that

 

[97prizm]

Grom my experience at least domestically. I go by my middle name but always put my full name on my airline tickets.

 

[RAVL]

If you need a passport for your flight, the airlines all have apps that allow you to scan your passport after making the reservation and have that stored as part of your profile. (You should have a profile and membership account with the airline if you are flying that airline.) If there are any problems with the name on the scanned passport versus the name on the reservation, the app will alert you to the problem and you will need to call the airline. If you are who you say you are, the problem will be fixed by correcting the airline’s customer profile and the name on the reservation to the information on the passport.

Also, do yourself a favor and book the tickets directly with the airline, and have an account and frequent flyer number. Do not use intermediaries like Expedia because if there is an issue, the airline won’t deal with you directly and this will complicate matters. You do t save money with them either - the best fares are always booked directly. Also, if you pick an airline and stick with it - choose the one that has a hub closest to your house - when you call you will be treated like a human being because they will see your flight history.

I don’t work for an airline, but I fly internationally a good deal for work. My experience is based on flying United airlines internationally and domestically, and Southwest domestically. I am pretty confident that other major airline apps work in the same way.

Good luck.

 

[atikovi]

Middle names are pretty useless holdovers from Victorian times used to appease elder family members by giving their name's as middle names to the parents newborn child in perceived honor of said elder. Few people ever even use their middle name these days, and in all reality, many kids are embarrassed by it. I mean, what 8 year old John Beauregard Smith wants anybody to know? I don't even have it's initial on my driver's license or passport.

 

[Pablo]

Example, your name is John Good. Your reservation is Johnny B. Goode. You can't fly like that

Well that is not even a match, so.........expect trouble

Get a Nexus Card. Use your middle name.

 

[Astro14]

So…United assured you it wouldn’t be a problem.

AND THEN

You flew roundtrip without a problem.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I am pretty sure I have never put a middle name on an actual flight ticket, and never had an issue.

When you actually check in for your flight they will make you enter everything - full name as on passport, etc. so I always fill that out fully. I would imagine this is the place the scrutinize things, not the ticket itself. Just my guess based on my limited experience, not an expert. I have flown international likely 30 times over the years - maybe more, but not since the pandemic so....

I presume your issue if it exists will be in coming back, and likely depends a lot on where your coming back from.

 

[John105]

So…United assured you it wouldn’t be a problem.

AND THEN

You flew roundtrip without a problem.

Yes. And close friends assured me we would not be able to fly. And would need to rebuy tix. It would be nice to know that what they say is not baseless. However, it was no different than when I got a 52 in a 25 and someone said, “Your insurance will double.” It didn’t change. (By law in Pa rates cannot go up due to one violation. What “can” happen is a good driver discount removed—but in practice, this did not happen in my case).

I’m not saying I enjoy tempting fate. But I’m sure as hell not perfect.

 

[Astro14]

Yes. And close friends assured me we would not be able to fly. And would need to rebuy tix. It would be nice to know that what they say is not baseless. However, it was no different than when I got a 52 in a 25 and someone said, “Your insurance will double.” It didn’t change. (By law in Pa rates cannot go up due to one violation. What “can” happen is a good driver discount removed—but in practice, this did not happen in my case).

I’m not saying I enjoy tempting fate. But I’m sure as hell not perfect.

I’ve saved the family’s profiles with United.

I wouldn’t worry about what your friends say, when they, too, were able to travel.

The bigger, more relevant, point is to have RealID compliant ID when you get to the airport.

 

[John105]

I am pretty sure I have never put a middle name on an actual flight ticket, and never had an issue.

When you actually check in for your flight they will make you enter everything - full name as on passport, etc. so I always fill that out fully. I would imagine this is the place the scrutinize things, not the ticket itself. Just my guess based on my limited experience, not an expert. I have flown international likely 30 times over the years - maybe more, but not since the pandemic so....

I presume your issue if it exists will be in coming back, and likely depends a lot on where your coming back from.

That was another thought as in 2012, I got hauled into secondary leaving, for no reason at all and I didn’t speak the language.

I think RAVL’s response is the most detailed and the most accurate.

There is a lot of automated stuff now and United showed us as travel ready in the app.

2 phone calls to the call center assured us they added the middle names.

The counter and the boarding passes assured us no such changes were ever made.

I’m not gonna forget next time, but I’m just wondering if anyone will step forward and say, yeah, I lost a $2k ticket cuz my middle name was not on the reservation.

Hey, not all my friends are geniuses so maybe they spread misinformation inadvertently. But two stated we would not be able to fly. No details but “Dave” and “Dean” lost the full values of their tix. Btw I will ask Dave in person next time

 

[John105]

Middle names are pretty useless holdovers from Victorian times used to appease elder family members by giving their name's as middle names to the parents newborn child in perceived honor of said elder. Few people ever even use their middle name these days, and in all reality, many kids are embarrassed by it. I mean, what 8 year old John Beauregard Smith wants anybody to know? I don't even have it's initial on my driver's license or passport.

How about people who have a single initial in front of their name? Just me, I always found that to be pompous but I do wish I had a dollar for every college classmate who had one.

That literally could be a monkey wrench throughout life. It’s legal…potentially omitting it causes problems...

 

[GON]

There is a different but related issue that can be significant.

If one has a passport issue that is not caught by the airline but is caught by the destination country at the immigration desk upon arrival.

One of numerous examples I have seen is one has their passport flagged for one of any numerous reasons. It could have been reported lost, but later found, and never followed up with the State Department (passports reported lost require replacement, even if found).

A flagged passport alert is sent to Interpol, resulting in a flag on the passport. Airlines often can't see that a passport is flagged and allow the PAX to fly to their international destination. The PAX exits the aircraft, and heads to the immigration desk. Immigration runs the passport as part of the entry process, and the passport comes back as flagged by Interpol. In this case, standard procedure is to put the PAX in confinement at the airport. US Embassy in foreign countries often are very slow to respond to certain cries for help, and a passport issue is one of those situations where a response can take days or weeks...

Moral of the story- more important one can enter a foreign destination, than depart their domicile.

 

[GON]

Of note, I fly INT regularly, and my middle name information on the reservation is often missing- never had an issue with a middle name.

 

[atikovi]

How about people who have a single initial in front of their name? Just me, I always found that to be pompous but I do wish I had a dollar for every college classmate who had one.

That literally could be a monkey wrench throughout life. It’s legal…potentially omitting it causes problems...

And what if you have only ONE name? Cher, Madonna, Beyonce? How does that work on drivers licenses and passports.

 

[John105]

And what if you have only ONE name? Cher, Madonna, Beyonce? How does that work on drivers licenses and passports.

Or if a name starts with, “The”

 

[SC Maintenance]

And what if you have only ONE name? Cher, Madonna, Beyonce? How does that work on drivers licenses and passports.

I presume they never board a commercial flight, or drive themselves anywhere at this point.

 

[Thermo1223]

I use my middle name on every legal document that it needs to be on. My DL/SS and any other thing relating to travel. So does my wife and the same with the kids.

I wouldn't say middle names are dead and it all comes down to preference like with hyphenated names. Those make even less sense to me than middle names.

It's more of a concern trying to travel with a nearly expired passport or DL because you never know when traveling what will happen.

 

[Thermo1223]

And what if you have only ONE name? Cher, Madonna, Beyonce? How does that work on drivers licenses and passports.

Cher (/ʃɛər/; born Cherilyn Sarkisian
Madonna Louise Ciccone
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter

They all have valid legal names they use.

 

[JustinH]

If you have the same name as someone on a TSA list, you can apply for a Redress number and you won't have that problem anymore.

I read about this recently as we just went through the TSA Precheck process.

 

[John105]

Btw that CBP MPC app was a real timesaver. It took < 5 min to clear US Customs.

There must have been 20 people in the MPC line, while there were hundreds in the normal line, at SFO yesterday morning. We arrived around 5:15 AM PST and had to wait at the gate inside the aircraft, as customs opened 6 AM.