ID Check: Middle Initial vs Full Middle Name

Old Jul 3, 2015, 12:53 am
  #1  
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ID Check: Middle Initial vs Full Middle Name

I'm sure this is a question with an easy answer - thanks in advance

My company just booked me a flight for a trip in September. When I looked at the reservation I noticed that when it list my name it lists it with my full middle name.

However, the drivers license that I use as my government ID to get through the TSA checkpoint only contains my middle initial.

Will this cause a problem, or is it fine as long as the initial matches the first letter of my full middle name (or do they even look at middle names at all)?

Thanks.
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Old Jul 3, 2015, 3:37 am
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Originally Posted by swiftaw
I'm sure this is a question with an easy answer - thanks in advance

My company just booked me a flight for a trip in September. When I looked at the reservation I noticed that when it list my name it lists it with my full middle name.

However, the drivers license that I use as my government ID to get through the TSA checkpoint only contains my middle initial.

Will this cause a problem, or is it fine as long as the initial matches the first letter of my full middle name (or do they even look at middle names at all)?

Thanks.
Middle (name)/(initials) variants have been noted in lots of threads here on FT...this should NOT be a problem.
[My DL has (in addition to my last name), ONLY my first initial and middle initial--my bps have my FN, MI and LN, very rarely, have TSA agents noted this, and asked to see some item with my FN, a CC for example.]
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Old Jul 3, 2015, 3:50 am
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Should be no problem. I travelled with pretty much every combination.. as long as it fits your name (ie is clearly you) it wont raise an eyebrow.
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Old Jul 9, 2015, 9:11 pm
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Originally Posted by YuropFlyer
Should be no problem. I travelled with pretty much every combination.. as long as it fits your name (ie is clearly you) it wont raise an eyebrow.
My BPs are never a perfect match for my DL - I have a hyphenated first name, and both the airlines and the DMV dr the hyphen, but thanks to NJ's outdated computer systems, our DLs only show the first 9 characters of my first (combined) first name, whereas the airlines are able to print all 11 characters. Has yet to cause an issue at the checkpoint. OP should be fine.
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Old Jul 13, 2015, 6:11 am
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Originally Posted by swiftaw
I'm sure this is a question with an easy answer - thanks in advance

My company just booked me a flight for a trip in September. When I looked at the reservation I noticed that when it list my name it lists it with my full middle name.

However, the drivers license that I use as my government ID to get through the TSA checkpoint only contains my middle initial.

Will this cause a problem, or is it fine as long as the initial matches the first letter of my full middle name (or do they even look at middle names at all)?

Thanks.
Hassles at a checkpoint are directly proportional to the current TSA scandal or embarrassment. So, you shouldn't be hassled unless someone, like the famous woman, gets through a TSA checkpoint without a BP a few days before you fly. When the TSA screws up, Layer #20 pays the price.
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Old Jul 13, 2015, 6:18 am
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Middle initial vs. full name is not a problem. Same with hyphenated names, inverted first and middle names and the like.

It's a non issue and despite the fact that there are those who don't like the TSA process and thus want you to worry, you need not.
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Old Jul 13, 2015, 7:12 am
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My full name never gets printed on my boarding pass. It's usually a truncated version of my first name, my first middle initial and MS appended at the end (all one word), last name. I've never had a problem.
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Old Apr 15, 2016, 6:05 pm
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Today I had to get UA's web support to ticket an award booking on ET (LAX-ADD-CPT). The agent only keyed in my middle initial, not my full middle name.

I also have GE. My KTN is attached to the PNR.

I am not so much concerned if I don't get pre-check at LAX, but I do want to be comfortable I will not have an issue at my connection at ADD.

Would appreciate any input.
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Old Apr 15, 2016, 7:48 pm
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Originally Posted by RJ1
Today I had to get UA's web support to ticket an award booking on ET (LAX-ADD-CPT). The agent only keyed in my middle initial, not my full middle name.

I also have GE. My KTN is attached to the PNR.

I am not so much concerned if I don't get pre-check at LAX, but I do want to be comfortable I will not have an issue at my connection at ADD.

Would appreciate any input.
What is the issue that concerns you?
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Old Apr 15, 2016, 9:34 pm
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Originally Posted by Often1
What is the issue that concerns you?
Thanks. My concern is that I will presumably only have my middle initial on the boarding pass, whereas my passport will have my full middle name. I would really not be worried about this anywhere else, but this is my first transit through Africa, and I don't want to have any boarding issues at ADD.
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Old Apr 16, 2016, 3:40 pm
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No one cares one tiny bit about a middle name...wrong/right/abbreviated/contracted
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Old Apr 16, 2016, 4:12 pm
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Originally Posted by LondonElite
No one cares one tiny bit about a middle name...wrong/right/abbreviated/contracted
Wrong if you belong to the generation that would have "middle names first" then your given name.
I have 2 middle name but I have always gone by the third given name.
Have I had run into issues. YES.
Everything from fraud I cant do that.but in the same time told I cant go by my first name cause it is also fraud and I have no ID in that name. So my answer is YES

Last edited by tanja; Apr 16, 2016 at 4:19 pm
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Old Apr 17, 2016, 2:15 am
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Whatever problems you've had are unfortunate, but the situation described here is so common that he will not need to worry about it. Some people have one name, some people have five. The only reconciliation between boarding pass and passport is at the gate, where really only last name is referenced.
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