UA Insider

Hi Everyone, I wanted to let you know that this weekend we’ll be streamlining the way we ask for your name and ID information when booking with us. Up until now, we have allowed you to provide one name for your reservation (for most of you, this is the name on your MileagePlus account) and a different name to be transmitted to the TSA for Secure Flight verification. These two names didn’t always need to match – for example, you could be Bob Smith to match your MileagePlus account name, but Robert T Smith for Secure Flight to match your government issued ID.

Starting this weekend, on Jan. 20th, we will begin asking for only one name – this will be the name which exactly matches the name on the government-issued photo ID with which you’ll be traveling. If you’re a MileagePlus member and you have a different name on your MileagePlus account than you have stored for your ID, we’ve taken some steps to help make this change more seamless for you. Specifically:

1. If there is a minor variance between your MileagePlus profile (Bob Smith) and your stored ID (Robert T Smith), we’ll automatically update the name on your MileagePlus account to match the name on the ID that we have stored for you. We’re changing it to the name on your ID because the name we print on your boarding pass must match the government-issued photo ID you use when you fly.
   
   • Worth noting: If you still want to make a name change in your MileagePlus account after we do the update, that’s fine – just remember, the change will need to match a valid ID. Note that the current MileagePlus name change process will apply here – minor changes (e.g. adding/removing a middle name) can be done in My Account on united.com, but more significant changes (e.g. changing a last name) are handled through the MileagePlus Service Center and may require proof of ID.
2. If we can’t determine a solid match between your names (e.g. James Timothy Smith on your account and Robert Smith on your ID), you’ll be asked to choose which name is correct. The next time you log in to united.com, you’ll be prompted make this selection. If none are right, you’ll have the opportunity to enter the name which appears on a government-issued photo ID and we’ll update the name on your MileagePlus account accordingly. Note that making a significant name change in this way is a one-time option – any future changes will need to go through the traditional process.

You can read more about these changes in your next MileagePlus statement. In the meantime, here are few things to keep in mind:
Thanks for your cooperation and understanding, as we improve make our booking process a little simpler, and more secure. Please post your questions here and I’ll do my best to help.

Aaron Goldberg
Sr. Manager – Customer Experience Planning
United Airlines


Update - 1/20: We've added answers to some of your questions in reply #96.

Air Houston

Thanks for the update Aaron.

northsideguy

Aaron, thank you for the update. I see you are already burning the midnight oil. How is it going so far? If you need anything from us, just PM! Once again congratulations on the new position and safe travels!


Is that why UA website is so slow and the yellow maintenance banner at the top?

greatmoosy

for those of us with hyphenated first names is there a specific standard we should go with? for example:

passport: jean luc
global entry: jeanluc
united: jean-luc

since the passport and the global entry are different, which should apply? (or does it fall under the Bob versus Robert Smith example)

thanks!

northsideguy

Wow! Aaron wasn't kidding. I just went into my UA profile and there was a minor variance on my account. There were 3 that were slightly different, so I submitted my change.

Thanks Aaron! Safe Travels To All!

Markie

Mine is all done - from Markie R B****** to Markie Richard B******

Well done UA!

iluv2fly

Will any change affect PreCheck at all?

channa

Thanks, Aaron for the heads up.

I am somewhat concerned about what this name change will do to already ticketed reservations, and the ancillary system that rely on MP names.

Any chance we'll now run into status recognition issues if there is a mismatch between MP name and new name (e.g., Old ticket issued as JOHN SMITH, new MP name as JOHN THOMAS SMITH)?

Similarly, what will happen to Pre-Check eligibility in this situation? Since only one name is allowed, any chance it may not authorize Pre-Check for already ticketed reservations on a slightly different name?

Finally, given this, any chance UA agents will be allowed to modify the names to match if doing a ticket change? Usually they just go with what was there before, but if we want to clean this up and you're changing an existing ticket, might as well, right?

Asuka

Version 2 & 3 are the same with Middle name, Version 1 without middle name.

So why am I getting 2 & 3 the same and what is the difference?

channa

Looks like you can no longer add your Known Traveler number to a reservation.

Does this mean that UA will be transmitting the info based on your stored/updated MP info, so there's no need to be able to add it to records, regardless of what shows in the reservation?

If so, that's a good thing. When I got my Global Entry, I remember having to manually update my UA reservations. DL, OTOH, let me add it to my profile and it updated all my ressies automatically.

It would be nice to confirm the design, which hopefully is that any UA reservation with your MP on it will transmit your full name as stored in your MP profile (irrespective of what shows on the ticket) along with Known Traveller info.

grizzly

Seems like this could create a fair bit of confusion even for folks with typical, US-style First Middle Last names.

My passport and Global Entry have First Middle Last. All my other IDs, credit cards, travel agencies, MP account, etc. have First M. Last.

I selected the First Middle Last entry that came up because I want to ensure what is being submitted for Pre-Check will match my Global Entry / Trusted Traveler profile. But 95% of the time, the ID I show to the TSA will not match that since most of my flying is domestic and I show my driver's license.

love_to_travel

Thanks for the update Aaron. ^

Weez_1000

I've got a question regarding this. I had two profiles setup, one for my drivers license and one for my passport. There are minor differences, when I flew domestically I used my DL and internationally I used profile 2 which had all my passport info.

How will we ba able to update the name changes ? Is it a simple solution online while booking? Or do we need to call in?

demerval

How does United ticketing system deal with suffixes? My passport has "Junior" spelled out in full. Will this suffix be displayed in my reservations, and if so, amalgamated with my last name?

sgbani

yeah, I have yet to see a TSA agent complain about middle initial vs middle name. I doubt you would ever see a problem.
I chose to have my middle name simply because I do more international travel (thus using passport).

If you are curious, see TSA's blog and website information, as they specifically mention about middle initials:

http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/10/talk-to-...ember-1st.html

http://www.tsa.gov/content/frequentl...-secure-flight

If you read the first post in this thread carefully, it indicates that changing middle name / initial can be done online. If you have a last-name / legal name change then you would need to call in.