Can’t check in due to incorrect first name
Apr 8, 22, 8:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 85
Can’t check in due to incorrect first name
My daughter is currently at LHR trying to check in for AY/Ba flight to SYD. She got the ticket through a travel agent (I know the advice is always not to do this!!) who have put her first name on the ticket as MISSCLAIRELOUISE when she is Miss Claire Louise. The AY check in desk won’t check her in until the travel agent changes this. The agent says if she was just flying to HEL it would be fine but The Australian authorities are stricter so she won’t let her fly until it is changed. The final leg is BA SIN to SYD. She is trying to sort this now with the travel agent. Does this sound right that she can’t fly? It is fairly obvious that the name is correct!
Apr 8, 22, 9:02 am
#2
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I'll put this down to an over-fussy check-in agent on the AY desk (so dnata I think). I don't think I've ever had a full alignment between passport name and ticket name going to Australia, often my (incorrect) title gets duplicated or triplicated, when I never use a title if I can avoid it. I'm amazed they even noticed at check-in, did your daugher draw their attention to it?
Apr 8, 22, 9:05 am
#3
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 85
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
I'll put this down to an over-fussy check-in agent on the AY desk (so dnata I think). I don't think I've ever had a full alignment between passport name and ticket name going to Australia, often my (incorrect) title gets duplicated or triplicated, when I never use a title if I can avoid it. I'm amazed they even noticed at check-in, did your daugher draw their attention to it?
Apr 8, 22, 9:23 am
#4
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: London, UK
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Probably that would be a good idea. Otherwise try to call a supervisor. Many times this is done because some systems has limitation how many character you can put in certain fields. The checkin agent would have been able to sort this out. She could try the airport ticketing desk if any.
Apr 8, 22, 9:26 am
#5
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Is Louise actually a middle name? If so then in future travel just leave it out, it would hardly stand out as much. But I still think that this is perfectly fine for check in purposes. Is there no way she can do some sort of online check-in? It's just bonkers because almost certainly the travel agent can insert the spaces but by the time it gets through GDS they will get removed.
JAXBA any comments?
JAXBA any comments?
Apr 8, 22, 9:36 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 85
Thanks for all your advice. It sounds as though it is sorted. The travel agent tried to charge 1000 dollars to make the change but it sounds like in the end the check in agent was able to make the change and I think she is currently getting checked in!
Louise is a middle name and will definitely consider leaving middle names out in future.
Thanks again to this amazing community for the support and advice!!!
Louise is a middle name and will definitely consider leaving middle names out in future.
Thanks again to this amazing community for the support and advice!!!
Apr 8, 22, 10:01 am
#7
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
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Just travel as first name and family name. I haven't found a single reason to use a middle name, many people don't have one anyway.
Apr 8, 22, 12:05 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,440
Originally Posted by HSR1234
My daughter is currently at LHR trying to check in for AY/Ba flight to SYD. She got the ticket through a travel agent (I know the advice is always not to do this!!) who have put her first name on the ticket as MISSCLAIRELOUISE when she is Miss Claire Louise. The AY check in desk won’t check her in until the travel agent changes this. The agent says if she was just flying to HEL it would be fine but The Australian authorities are stricter so she won’t let her fly until it is changed. The final leg is BA SIN to SYD. She is trying to sort this now with the travel agent. Does this sound right that she can’t fly? It is fairly obvious that the name is correct!
Apr 8, 22, 12:06 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2012
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Posts: 2,654
The Mrs has FirstMiddle Maiden5 as her name and hasn't had any problems except for when the Swiss government decided that she had to have my name of 5 added to the end.
Apr 8, 22, 3:56 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Is Louise actually a middle name? If so then in future travel just leave it out, it would hardly stand out as much. But I still think that this is perfectly fine for check in purposes. Is there no way she can do some sort of online check-in? It's just bonkers because almost certainly the travel agent can insert the spaces but by the time it gets through GDS they will get removed.
JAXBA any comments?
JAXBA any comments?
Originally Posted by Anonba
Dont even think this is an error it just happens sometimes with long names unless they actually entered miss as part of the first name instead of title.
The PNR in the OP should have been perfectly fine, with any variation of:
LASTNAME/CLAIRELOUISEMISS
LASTNAME/CLAIRELOUISE MISS
LASTNAME/CLAIRE LOUISE MISS
LASTNAME/CLAIRE MISS
LASTNAME/CLAIREMISS
LASTNAME/CLAIRE
Hopefully it wasn't literally LASTNAME/MISSCLAIRELOUISE as that really would have been wrong.
It all comes down to airlines having limited fields to store name information:
$LASTNAME
$FIRSTNAME
…which are always paired and stored as LASTNAME/FIRSTNAME
The bare minimum data needed for these fields are those values from the passport/ID. The simpler the better.
If someone really wants to enter LASTNAMEJUNIOR/FIRSTMIDDLETHIRD TITLE they can, but it really isn't needed and can cause problems. The extra stuff can go in $SSRDOCS which is where Advance Passenger Information goes (immigration, US secure flight, etc.) and looks like:
SRDOCSBAHK1-----01AUG82-M--LASTNAME-FIRST-MIDDLES
or, with passport:
SRDOCSBAHK1-P-GBR-123459789-GBR-01AUG82-M-01JAN30-LASTNAME-FIRST-MIDDLES
…and ALL of this is sent to the airlines and immigration authorities as:
$SSRDOCS/$LASTNAME/$FIRSTNAME
Originally Posted by thatmikereed
The salutation should be dropped, but FirstMiddle is otherwise common. ANA, in fact, requires it if using a middle name.
Salutations are fine, and really don't affect anything (as long as not entered before the names).
I actually prefer seeing titles; it's more courteous, and staff know whether to address you as Mr. Reed, Mx. Reed, Dr. Reed or Sir Mike... (I didn't spend 6 years in Evil Medical School to be called *Mr* Evil.)
Apr 8, 22, 4:36 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: DL Platinum, BAEC Silver, TK Elite, SQ Gold
Posts: 2,538
I would avoid putting a middle name, but I’ve also booked enough flights for Latin American friends who have two last names (and if you leave one off, then the name doesn’t match the passport…….) But it also happens that people less tuned into family names mistake the first surname for a “middle name”
As for titles, I’ve also had “Mrs” auto-populate more than once without me picking a title… but thankfully for my gentleman friend who was flying, the title/gender did not interfere with his travel.
As for titles, I’ve also had “Mrs” auto-populate more than once without me picking a title… but thankfully for my gentleman friend who was flying, the title/gender did not interfere with his travel.
