expateacher

Feeling paranoid, but when I just booked my flight on BA website I had nowhere to add a middle name (which is on my passport).

I know I've booked flights on this site before but cannot recall anything about the middle name.

I tried searching threads but whenever I try to search this forum only I end up with the entire site still.

appreciate any reassurance/advice

FlyerTalker39574

I have 2 middle names. No room on the boarding card for them.

corporate-wage-slave

As far as BA is concerned middle names aren't an issue, it causes more problems than it is worth given the presence of matronymics in the Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese world. So first name and family name is all BA needs (and even they don't have to match the passport precisely, though it's best that they do so). If they allowed for one middle name, they'd have to allow for those with many middle names and you have to draw the line somewhere. You can get a middle name on BA, some booking systems feed it through via concatenating the first names. Which then gets mangled but it's usually obvious who is involved.

Approximately a hundred million people only have one name, over a million are in this position in the EU alone, and there are systems in place for that for both airlines and API (either repeat the name or add "NoNameGiven" in one box).

expateacher

Thank you! I appreciate the speedy (and logical) responses.

North America (my more familiar areas) are strict with middle names (in my experience)

fantastic. Thank you. Have a great day!

rickg523

I can say that having no middle name - and thus not filling in the field - often gets questioned in the States.

Paren

I usually put my middle name in the field for First Name or Given Name (just in case of any issues) when booking. But like others have said, I've also not had any issues with BA but it's just a habit I have especially when travelling with other carriers.

E.g.

Given Name: FIRSTNAME MIDDLENAME
Surname: SURNAME

T8191

I have just one middle name, or middle initial in US documentation I think.

Have I condemned by children to a world of pain by giving them 2 middle names?

Gshumway

I don't have a middle name and haven't been questioned about it once in 20+ years in the States. /shrug.

wilsnunn

Mrs Wilsnunn has five names plus her surname and she never understood what to do when booking flight tickets. Now I do all of her flight bookings for her and I always put her first two names (the ones she actually uses on a regular basis) as her first name in the system and her surname in the surname field. The remaining names which are on her passport but not on the booking haven’t caused any issue so far.

rpjs

I have two middle names and moved to the USA. I'm resigned to losing any hint of my second middle name and being for most American purposes merely rps instead of rpjs, but other than that it's never been an issue.

HighwayToHEL

“we can’t decide what middle names to give to our daughter and we have a shortlist. Let’s just use them all and draw straws as to which will be her first name”

Five, wow

scottishpoet

i think when you book the flights they do not ask for a middle name

i think when you go to add APIS data, passport number etc, you get the opportunity to put i there

Often1

The IATA ticketing standard is two names. Those carriers which provide for titles, middle names and the rest are all doing so as fluff which causes more hassles than it is worth.

LondonElite

No airline cares about middle names. Not in Europe and not in North America.

brunos

I have a middle name and never put it on the ticket as I only have my first name on my FFP.
I have never, never been questioned in the USA.