Originally Posted by
GUWonder
I was only referring to how to check in so as to get PreCheck and PreCheck screening for US-origin flights (domestic and international) when the passport/ID doesn’t “match” the ticket booking’s name with regard to all the relevant characters in the names and/or name order. An automatic scan of an ID by the TSA or by the airline can mean a slow down in such cases even when a PreCheck boarding pass is already in hand. But as any US-issued ID works to get PreCheck, present to the airline and/or TSA whichever ID works easiest to deal with the airline and TSA in the US for getting a PreCheck boarding pass and PreCheck screening at the TSA screening checkpoint.
There are many US-only citizens where the name on the US passports are different — or even in reverse order — than on state-issued ID and on the Social Security Admin records. [Our passport applications ask about what other names have been used by a passport applicant, even as the SSN is required on the applications too if having a SSN.]. They may pick whichever valid ID they think makes life easier for them given their priorities. In some cases the priority is what is easier with regard to PreCheck; but in others it’s to make getting the FFP benefits flow easiest. If they choose the latter, there is a greater risk of more inconvenience than if choosing the former. You’re in sort of the same boat as these US-only citizens with PreCheck name-matching issues.
So I had an opportunity to test this, and it turns out you cannot just use any ID that works the easiest with the airline to get TSA Pre. But we did manage to work around the issue.
What we did is book our flights on my married name and not my wife's maiden name. That worked in the sense we got TSA Pre. But then at the backage drop, the Island Air representative said that wouldn't work, as the passport only contains the maiden name in the scannable part (printed on the passport itself is also the married name). A supervisor was called, but she also couldn't solve the issue. Perhaps this is Island Air specific or even the supervisor did not know how to resolve this, but the only way to resolve then was change the name on the boarding pass to the maiden name. When I asked, they claimed it was their interface with TSA that forbid using a different name than the passport, regardless of ANY other id you can show. They printed a new boarding pass using maiden name and it as expected no longer showed TSA Pre.
Fortunately, I had my pre-printed original boarding pass and using our global entry passes got through TSA precheck anyway using the global entry passes. But actual check-in at the gate again had to be the newly printed boarding pass.
Fun fact is that the booking stayed on the married name. So on the way back we had the same story: US requirements caused confusion at the baggage drop and they changed the boarding pass name again. Of course there we didn't care as there is no TSA Pre as it is a foreign airport. And arriving in the US, global entry ensured they never even had to look at my wife's passport/ID.
So for international, book using married name, pre-print boarding passes (or keep the PDF/email on the phone) but expect a small delay at backage drop-of to reprint the boarding pass using maiden name. Use then the original to go through TSA using your global entry passes, or other US id which has the married name.