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Name, Gender Difference, Date of Birth, Change, Errors, etc. Account, Ticket, Award

Old Apr 19, 2016, 4:36 am
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Trivial name differences - first and last names without middle name, blending of middle or Latin style names, etc. should not cause trouble flying, as long as the identification used displays the primary characteristics of the name on the boarding pass / ticket on AA, and on most airlines.

However, Cathay Pacific and some airlines are genuine sticklers and may not make changes at their end. Members have reported challenging times getting fixes for otherwise trivial name issues.

Changing a name on an issued ticket - reissuing the same ticket to another person - will not happen.

Changing a date of birth due to an accidental account entry must be rectified by contact with AA.; you may (or not) be asked to fax supporting documentation. Some other account changes that don’t “stick” (sometimes passport information, etc.) will also have to be called in. Contact for gender changes or issues as well. See here for AAdvantage Account contact form (AAdvantage Customer Service is only open work days 7-7 Central time.) See post #1 for contact phone numbers and aa.com contact form page illustration.

See:

U.S. Department of State: Change or Correct a Passport link

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Name, Gender Difference, Date of Birth, Change, Errors, etc. Account, Ticket, Award

Old Dec 15, 2014, 4:40 pm
  #1  
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Name, Gender Difference, Date of Birth, Change, Errors, etc. Account, Ticket, Award

For contact with AA to make changes to your account you can’t make online, you can use the contact for provided by American Airlines AAdvantage Customer Service. through this link. Or, you can call:

Within the U.S. and Canada: 800-882-8880 or your elite reservation number

Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. (CT)

For those with hearing or speech impairments, dial 711 to be connected through the National Relay Service.

Click or press here for more numbers (overseas, etc.)

Illustration: aa.com contact form page
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Last edited by JDiver; Mar 6, 2019 at 2:08 pm
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Old Jan 20, 2016, 3:11 pm
  #2  
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Question For quick reply if possible

Here's our situation:

My wife wants to obtain an international award ticket using her AA miles and her credit card to fly SJC-LHR-TXL in May. She would be flying BA (with BA flight numbers, FWIW).

The (illustrative) name on her AA account (and driver's license):
F: Jane M: Smith L: Doe

On her passport:

F: Jane M: Nancy L: Smith Doe (as two different words)

If she simply books the ticket online using her AA name, could that create problems for her in using that award ticket? I know she could simply change her AA name to match the passport, but then wonder if it could create problems on her (more frequent) domestic trips when she uses her driver's license for ID.

Or is this very unlikely to create problems, since it is just a question of which box the the "Smith" falls into, it may all look the same on the ticket and boarding pass anyway, and TSA, AA and BA are accustomed to these minor differences?

Thanks for any help.
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Old Feb 1, 2016, 9:50 pm
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Last Name Suffix - Passport vs. Ticket

I have a suffix in my last name (Jr.). The suffix appears on my passport. I am trying to book an international ticket on aa.com and it does not allow me to enter a suffix (even though the suffix is in my AAdvantage profile). However, it says that secure flight rules require that I enter my name exactly as it appears on the ID. I'm not sure how to handle this. When I travel for work, our agent somehow puts the Jr. in my reservations, but booking direct on aa.com that does not seem to be possible. I am booking a ticket to Mexico and am concerned about whether not having an exact match with my passport could pose an issue.
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Old Feb 1, 2016, 10:41 pm
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The husband is a III and it seems like sometimes it caused an issue with checking in online and not being an exact match and sometimes it doesn't. After extensive discussions with AA about it, they advised we remove it from his profile, and have not had any issues since, even though it is still on his passport.

My advice to any potential parents out there- don't give your son a suffix. Just don't.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 6:49 am
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I've only had it be an issue once. My passport lists as LASTNAME JR, AA just had LASTNAME. Last year coming home from AUA was the first time it was ever an issue, OLCI didn't work but the agent had no issues fixing it. I had AA add the Jr. after this.

Originally Posted by VickiSoCal

My advice to any potential parents out there- don't give your son a suffix. Just don't.
As a Jr., I agree. It's a pain.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 6:57 am
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Originally Posted by bchandler02
I've only had it be an issue once. My passport lists as LASTNAME JR, AA just had LASTNAME. Last year coming home from AUA was the first time it was ever an issue, OLCI didn't work but the agent had no issues fixing it. I had AA add the Jr. after this.



As a Jr., I agree. It's a pain.
Thanks. Well, the part that is confusing me is that I DO have the "Jr." in my AA profile. But, when I go to actually purchase a ticket on aa.com, on the page where you provide your name, etc., there is NO place to select a suffix. IT's just first, middle, and last name, that's it. So I'm not sure how I would add the Jr. to my ticket?
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 7:06 am
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Originally Posted by LPCJr
Thanks. Well, the part that is confusing me is that I DO have the "Jr." in my AA profile. But, when I go to actually purchase a ticket on aa.com, on the page where you provide your name, etc., there is NO place to select a suffix. IT's just first, middle, and last name, that's it. So I'm not sure how I would add the Jr. to my ticket?
Same situation here and I'm pretty sure the suffix in my Aadvantage profile auto-populates on the ticket even though there's no field to enter it.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 11:05 am
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If you enter a space, then the letter J and the letter R immediately after your last name, all in the last name field, what do you think will show up on the manifest and ticket?
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 11:49 am
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For five years, between 2004 and 2009, I was travelling with a passport where my name was spelled differently than in all other documents I had. Specifically, one different letter in the first name and an extra letter in the last name. It is a transliteration issue. Nobody, including AA, gave me any trouble that the names in the passport and on the ticket were not identical. Ok, I was always carrying an expired passport where my name was spelled exactly as on the tickets but I never had to show it. Perhaps the things have changed since 2009.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 11:53 am
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Originally Posted by grrizzli
For five years, between 2004 and 2009, I was travelling with a passport where my name was spelled differently than in all other documents I had. Specifically, one different letter in the first name and an extra letter in the last name. It is a transliteration issue. Nobody, including AA, gave me any trouble that the names in the passport and on the ticket were not identical. Ok, I was always carrying an expired passport where my name was spelled exactly as on the tickets but I never had to show it. Perhaps the things have changed since 2009.
Things have changed since 2009. Online checkin, getting TSA pre-check, etc.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 11:54 am
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Originally Posted by Exec_Plat
If you enter a space, then the letter J and the letter R immediately after your last name, all in the last name field, what do you think will show up on the manifest and ticket?
For me, I get an error that the last name doesn't agree to my FF profile.

I use TSA pre-check, and just omitting my suffix when completing name information when booking a ticket hasn't caused any issues. I'm still receiving the pre-check which I think is dependent on the name on the ticket matching the ID in my pre-check profile, which has the suffix.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 12:17 pm
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I've done a lot of research into this in the past, most recently late last year when I was trying to book an international flight.

Searching on the web, I find conflicting information regarding Secure Flight needing the suffix in your name. I found a number of sources that said to omit it. Some said it was needed. At least one said it initially was not, but now it is. Any links to referenced documents on tsa.gov are now dead, and there is no useful information on the site (as of the last time I checked).

In this case, I booked without it. I had no problems at any point in the travel process. Neither did my friend I was traveling with, who also has a suffix on his passport.

Some data points:

1) I have the suffix in the suffix column on my AA FF profile. I cannot manually add the suffix to my last name when booking a ticket on aa.com; the system tells me it doesn't match the name on my account. When I've needed to book with it, I've had to call AA and have them manually enter it.

2) I have booked both ways in the past, either last name or last name suffix (no space) on the ticket. I haven't had an issue with PreCheck in either case; the only problem I ever encountered was the old US auto-upgrade system would refuse to upgrade me, claiming my name didn't match my FF acct. That was eventually fixed. (My US acct also had the suffix in the suffix column.)

3) My passport has the suffix, and my GE application did as well, but it's not on my GE card.

Annecdotally, I've rarely encountered an IT system that knows how to handle the suffix properly. When people would send me e-mails at my previous employer, the LDAP system would auto-complete my name with a seemingly random combination of first name, last name, and suffix. My personal favorite was when I received an e-mail addressed to "III III III."

Best of luck,
OM
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 12:41 pm
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My husband's case was escalated all the way to some sort of expert at AA because it was just driving him insane randomly not being able to check in online and not getting pre-check. That expert came down very firmly on not including it in bookings even if it is on your passport/other government id's. Since removing it, he has had no issues.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 7:03 pm
  #14  
 
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Thanks to everyone who weighed in. I landed on just omitting the suffix. The fact that my Global Entry card omits it suggests to me that it is not an enormous deal, and I think I have a pretty good defense in that AA clearly doesn't want to encourage me to use it.
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Old Feb 2, 2016, 7:14 pm
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Originally Posted by LPCJr
Thanks to everyone who weighed in. I landed on just omitting the suffix. The fact that my Global Entry card omits it suggests to me that it is not an enormous deal, and I think I have a pretty good defense in that AA clearly doesn't want to encourage me to use it.
Omit is the way to go....it's smooth sailing, make that flying once you go this route
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