Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of EK Board,

A status-less EK flier comes to you today in a search of advice. I am taking the parental units (The Big Two) in February for a week to MLE, flying RT VIE-DXB-MLE in C. This will be only my second journey on Bling Air. We did fly EK two years ago for a NYE party in Burj, and here we are encountering the same problem as back then.

My father and I share the same first and last names, differing only in suffixes (and maybe a DOB ). We are traveling on the same PNR. Two years ago, during the NYE trip to DXB, I tried to OLCI. It did not work, because the EK system could not save our passport numbers. When I entered mine, the system deleted father's, and vice versa. A vicious circle. I remember quite vividly waiting at the check-in counters both in VIE and DXB for 90+ minutes while the agents reworked our booking, so that they could issue the boarding passes.

This time, surprise surprise, EK's manage-my-booking feature is not letting me save the passport numbers, once again. The same vicious circle.

Many years ago, OS used to have the same problem. However, even then, there was a workaround. We were told to enter MR (Mister) and MAST (Master). And it worked. Now, I tried this with the EK. And failed.

So, dear EK experts, any advice? As a status-less flier, I tried calling the general UK contact centre number multiple times, but I have received no useful aid (and what I did receive were responses in a very "specific" English by someone located deep in the bowels of India).

I would very much like to avoid those prolonged waits at the check-in counters while the agents keep congregating around one screen, having no clue what to do. All your advices will be highly appreciated!

Thank you !

Call EK and have them split the PNR, problem solved.

Or just insert the MR/MAST to the names themselves so the first names look different... I don't know if that would cause problems, most likely not. Or enter the middle name for one, i.e.:

AAAA/BBBB MR
AAAA/BBBBCCCC MR

You may run into mileage credit problems though.

I agree. Either that or let the check-in staff bang their heads

I'd for latter but I like the idea of OLCI. Surely the system must gather you're different by the different DOB. What a weird system.

You'd think so, but it does not .

I think the issue is with the matching names on the same flights/cabins. Perhaps the assumption had been POS booking 2 seats. The only way to 'fix' this is to have slightly different names in the first place.

I would be surprised if that is the case. There are way too many identical names in this world. Flights to Vietnam, how many Nguyen or Tran are there? Flights to Korea? How many Kim, Park, or Lee? There will be tons of similar names on all of those flights.

I think if they split the PNR their issue will be solved, but its just a best guess.

The easiest way to avoid this in the future is to add an extra letter to the first name of one of the pax or if there is a middle name put the first letter of the middle name after the first name.

As long as the surname is correct and the initial bit of the first name is correct then There should not be any problem.My cousin and his dad have the same problem and they have been fine ever since they started doing this .

We have a family reunion planned later this year.

4 of us share my name. Another 3 share another name.

Unfortunately we have to fly Egypt Air.

Should be fun causing havoc with their system.

Sorry for reviving the old thread. Thought I'd share the outcome if/when someone runs into the similar issue.

If two passengers with the same names travel in the same cabin, splitting the PNR will NOT help to make OLCI functional. The only way to make OLCI work is, indeed, to enter slightly modified first name (John --> JohnN). I highly recommend doing this sooner rather than later. It took the outstation staff in VIE 45 minutes to check us in. And only after the supervisor arrived.

Hope this helps and thanks for all your efforts!

So, if two completely unrelated people with the same name happen to be travelling in the same cabin, neither can OCLI?

Agreed, sounds very weird (especially considering the above-alluded name similarities in Asia). But I think that's the case.

If the passengers have different PNR's in the first place, that's not an issue. This issue is known to happen when they are on the same PNR, where the industry assumption is that a POS (passenger of size) is occupying 2 seats. Have highlighted this in my post above. The only 'remedy' is to have slightly different names (ie, repeated letter). This will pose a problem with some authorities and the airline FF program, but nothing that can't be fixed.

^. Thanks for clarification, edy4eva.