lewinr

I got an award ticket for my wife that is likely to have a mistake in the Surname (family name). She is Russian and needs to have a new passport issued. How the Russian ministry responsible for issuing the passport transliterates the name from Russian to English is unpredictable. So there are likely to be possible discrepancies from the way the name is spelled in the reservation for the award ticket.

We are flying Air France from Moscow to the US via CDG. AF claim they cannot change the name on the ticket. The only way would be to re-issue the ticket, and there is no guarantee the seat would be available. (and we would not know the exact spelling to use until we get the new passport in any case).

I read that IATA has a rule that a discrepancy of up to 3 letters in the name is acceptable. But the agent at AF said that does not apply to tickets to the US because of TSA and/or Homeland Security require them to transmit the names of passengers ahead of time. So we would be denied boarding if my wife's name in the passport did not match the name they transmitted (from the reservation). (in any case my wife will have a visa in the new passport issued by the US embassy showing the name on the passport).

Perhaps someone here can help me answer a few questions:

1. Can anybody confirm if what AF says is true (that they are bound by US rules to deny boarding to anybody if there is even 1 letter discrepany in the name).

2. If not, can anybody point me to the exact IATA rules on this, preferably and exact quote or a link to an official site? In case at the airport we have a problem, it would be good to have a real copy of the rules.

3. And again, assuming point #1 above is not true, are the airlines obligated to follow IATA rules, or can they openly say "we dont follow that IATA rule"?

Thanks for your help...
Ron

KVS

When it comes to API/APIS data, airlines have to transmit names and other required info as they appear in the travel document (e.g. passport), not as they appear in the PNR.

kenlediver

Will she have access to the expired passport with the surname spelled as it appears on the travel document?

GUWonder

Minor errors in the ticketed name haven't resulted in denied boarding of parties whom I know to have travelled under such circumstances -- and this includes non-US citizens. Even minor errors being transmitted as part of APIS won't cause issue generally unless the passport number/visa number or the name transmitted result in a trigger being set independent of a minor discrepancy.

I've seen passengers travel with their ticketed names reversed, tickets with titles indicating the wrong gender, tickets with spelling errors in the name, passengers with partial names or names merged.

A note in the PNR is generally more than sufficient and APIS-related transmissions and processing of data, inclusive of minor discrepancies, do not routinely cause a problem for the passenger under such circumstances either.

For APIS-type compliance, it's readily possible for airline reps -- specifically AF reps -- to swipe the passport (or otherwise enter the required data) and transmit the required data in the required form even where the associated ticketed name is somewhat different than that printed in the passport.

It'll take more time to supply the airline rep with the "first address" information and to have her find the booking at check-in than anything else. To solve this problem, at all times, have the airline rep pull up the record by using the PNR/record locator. Prior to check-in what I suggest is just calling up AF after the passport comes in and give them the passport number to add to the record and also supply them with the address information demanded of non-US persons by the Department of Homeland InSecurity. Then at check-in, you'll be fine since they can use a few keystrokes to do whatever is necessary since the underlying ticket is VALID.

number_6

The problem is that the check-in will be in Russia and the agent has perfect bribe material, with little incentive to expedite the check-in process until they have finished pointing out how impossible it is without the right incentives. Citing the rules in these situations causes a delay, perhaps sufficient to miss the flight (and then the award ticket becomes invalid, at least in Russia). Of course it may not play out like that, but this is a common scenario in my experience, and expedience is the better part of valor.

lewinr

the problem is that her name (in Russian) changed when she married me.
so her existing passport has her maiden name and needs to be replaced.
it would be nice if the russian passport authority simply translated her name from Russian to english based on how my name is spelled in English. But of course they will not do that... they will transliterate the name based on their own system, so it will be different. (My family name is LEWIN, and her name changed into a russian version of that, transliterated back into english we expect it to look like LIYUIN).

so in any case, having her previous passport will not help us...

lewinr

thanks for the detailed info. the problem will be to convince the airline rep to do anything more than say "sorry, AF policy says the name must be the same. go away." and they will not want to hear about any other solutions. I dont think this is "bribe material" as another poster said, but rather just a high risk for famous airline inflexibility and/or lack of knowledge... which is especially strong in Russia. That's why I think having a copy of the actual IATA rules on this would be helpful.

GUWonder

Well, a transliteration/cultural explanation and waving the EU denied boarding rules cannot hurt if push comes to proverbial shove. Ticketed as Ibrahimov but passport name of Ibrahimoff doesn't cause issue there. Telling them that it is the same name and to pronounce it makes it more convincing.

Anyone have the IATA rules? [I'm sure this kind of issue comes up rather routinely across Eastern Europe, parts of Africa and much of Asia.]

KVS

What makes you think there will be a problem? The AF agent you spoke to was correct in saying that name changes are not permitted, but that is not relevant to your situation -- you are not trying to 'substitute' your wife's sister for your wife. The AF [reservations?] agent was wrong regarding the APIS data requirements, and (s)he likely had no competency in the issues in question.

The transliteration issue is well-known in Russia and is extremely unlikely to cause any issues during the check-in process. I would estimate that every day, at least 30% of PAX in that country fly on tickets, where the transliterated names do not match their names in passport letter-for-letter. Is it possible that your wife will be "denied boarding" at SVO over this? Yes, there is probably a 0.01% chance of that happening...

lewinr

yes, in theory there should be no problem. but having the IATA rules in hand and also knowing the exact US immigration requirements will make me much less worried.

KVS

Well, if that will really make you feel better, you could always read through the US API requirements:
http://www.Google.com/search?hl=en&q...+united+states

and also order some of the IATA's publications, relating to airline operations:
https://www.IATAOnline.com/Store/Sub...y_name=AIRLINE

However, by the time you're finished, it may end-up costing you more than purchasing 5 tickets, covering every possible transliteration variation .

lewinr

actually, I did find this link, which is useful
http://help.customs.gov/cgi-bin/cust...5sJnBfcGFnZT0x

since it confirms that they will not automatically turn someone away because of a mistake as long as the person can prove their identity.

weblet

Curious here. Is it required in Russia that she change her name due to the marriage? It is not uncommon here in the US for women to continue to use their maiden names. Can she not do that? You then avoid the new passport issue altogether. She could always change things later....

lewinr

she already changed her name, so it is too late to consider this.