No middle name in JAL e-ticket
 

HELP!!!

Hi, I went to the agency to book tickets for 7 people but I forgot to add the middle names. Their passport has the middle names in it. Our trip is from Montreal, Canada with connecting flight to the US then to Asia. I spoke to the agent and she told me that we are not allowed to change names in Japan Airlines because the ticket was on sale, otherwise, she has to rebook the ticket. What she did, she asked me if the last name and first name are correct, she just made a note at the bottom of all the tickets about the complete passport names (Last name, first name, middle name) but what appears in the e-ticket is only the last name and first name...

Will there be any problems? HELP!!!

I fly on JAL many times and have no issues with them regarding middle names. All they care is your first and last name matches your passport.

Welcome to Flyertalk eemia. I am moving your thread to the JAL Forum for further discussion. Please follow there.
Thanks...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Welcome to FlyerTalk eemia.

You have nothing to worry about. Names do not need to be exact, they just need to clearly relate to the same person. In particular middle names and titles are not important.

Hi Obscure2k... where can I find the JAL forum? I am new to this site... Thanks for helping.

Hi kebosabi, the middle name is written beside the first name in the passport as given name (Last name, first name middle name). So what the travel agent did, she wrote our complete names at the bottom of the e-ticket but cant be seen in the printed form of the e-ticket. only the airline can see the notes.

Hopefully it will be ok. Thanks for the info :)

Hi Calchas,

Thanks for making me feel better. I got worried because we paid so much for the ticket even though it is on sale. Only to realize that because of little stupid mistakes forgetting the middle names, we cant board or rebook the ticket or pay another full amount because it is non-refundable...

Thanks for the info...

Don't worry, my middle name got jammed together with my first name on the boarding passes, and no one (besides a confused security guard who could barely read English) gave a hoot. Like someone said earlier, they only really care about the first and last names, and a valid passport.

Good luck!

-AD

The concept of middle name is alien to Far Easterners. When Japanese given names are translated into English, they are often in fact the phonetic translation of 1, 2 or 3 kanji characters all packed into one English word, referred as "given name(s)". Knowing that, you should be comforted to know that it is highly unlikely the missing middle name will cause any trouble in Asia.

In Spain, people are usually born with double surname - one from each parent. So for most Spaniards, their birth certificate and many of the ID contain 2 surnames + 1, 2 or even 3 given names - confusing to say the least to many foreigners. But many Spaniards chose to go by a single surname as they become adult, usually, but not always, it's their father's surname. So it's not uncommon so and so go by ABC XYZ instead of ABC XYZ-DEF. I think airlines have seen it all, it would be hard to imagine airlines struggle with all these variation of names and customs.

This is largely incorrect.

Having a middle name is foreign to people here in Japan. That foreigners have a middle name is well-known.

Names are generally not translated but transliterated. And the pronunciation in Japanese is also one word for the first names .... and it is a "given name" just the same as we have them in the West (your "family name" / "last name" is one you get based on the law, your "first" name is one you get given specifically)

I am not interested in hair splitting. <phonetic translation> is what I said , which is +/- equal to transliterated. I also think your generalization that foreigners having a middle name is well known is highly arguable. Who are the foreigners in question? You seem to imply foreigners = westerners. Let's just stop at it's unusual East Asians to have the equivalent of middle name and leave it at that. Any other generalization is bound to cause more confusion than helping the OP.

To the OP - please don't worry about your missing middle name.

My middle name is almost always missing when I fly on JL and it has never caused a problem at all.

Thank you guys for the replies!!! I will get back here to say my experience. This site is helpful for people like me who seldom travels.

Thank you!!!

I concur. Since typical Japanese names do not have middle names associated with them, it is never an issue. FOr domestic flights in Japan they do not even ask for middle name.

No middle name
 

no middle name on the ticket ..from Boston - Japan- Vietnam .. is it a problem ? .. I very worry :(