Name matching experience
 

I finally made the switch to using my legal name on tickets instead of just my middle name because work required it for work related travel. All I can say is the process to switch your Northwest & Delta FF credentials to match your full legal name is not a simple process. Many faxes, calls, and more calls before everything will match up. In the mean-time, you are not recognized as an Elite flyer until your name matches.

Moral - don't wait till the last minute! You may be denied access to some of your Elite benefits if you don't get this fixed well in advance. For example, Elite Seating, Upgrades, etc.

Hopefully when Secure Flight is fully implemented, people won't have much problems matching their WP accounts (which IIRC only take a middle initial) with any ticket (which would require a full spelling out of whatever name appears on your ID)...

I have the same first/middle name discrepancy but I've never had any issues flying on NW or DL...

You will later this year...

You won't believe the number of people who go by nicknames, middle names, etc. One friend of mine goes by a nickname. But he registered himself with one airline as John Smith and another airline as Joseph Smith. Why?!? And yes, at least once he had an itinerary with both airlines in it. Definitely a problem.

Then there are slight discrepancies. Another friend was almost denied boarding overseas once. Her legal name is Sandra, her nickname is Sandi. She booked under Sandi. The airline almost didn't give her a boarding pass.

People don't understand how important LEGAL names are!

All I can tell you is that I have spent over 8 hours on the phone this week trying to get all my future itineraries on Delta to recognize and match my NW FF number to obtain Elite Benefits. It has not been fun and I will be checking them daily to make sure that they don't get messed up down the road. If they don't match, no upgrades, elite seats, early boarding or mileage credit. What a mess!

My WP account took my full name (first/middle/last) with no problem. It's been that way since I enrolled in 2002.

This from the Continental rep for my wife's travel agency:

We are getting a lot of questions regarding changing a name once a ticket has been issued and changing OnePass accounts to match IDs – neither of these are necessary.

· The PNR/Ticket name should match the OnePass name (this can be Bob instead of Robert and no middle name is required)

· The name the agency submits in the SSR should match the Gov ID (this is the information that is sent to the TSA – not the PNR/Ticket name)

· They don’t all need to match each other

When a customer goes through a security check point and the boarding pass name does not exactly match the ID name – security won’t care – because the SSR name was already verified with the TSA which allowed the boarding pass to be printed.

Sorry, I should've been clearer. My WP account took my full name too. But my traveler profile on res.nwa.com doesn't allow for middle names, just middle initials.

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Not exactly. My WP account was set up in 1993. I used the name I use on a daily basis and everyone knows me by at that time.

I changed my WP account to my legal name this week because my employer would not arrange travel without using my legal name as found on my passport and discovered that Delta wasn't matching and bringing in my elite status. The impact to me was upcoming flights wouldn't recognize my status. Impact - no elite benefits if it isn't fixed. Reality - I have spent three days on the phone trying to get all (8) existing records to read my FF account number where the names weren't matching.

Moral - Don't expect a name change with the the NW/Delta merger to be quick and easy.

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Well, obviously the airlines don't/didn't :).

I don't see the reason for the complaints. Everyone has a right to use any nickname they want - that is not the issue. Use the name for your reservation that matches your ID and use the same name for your FF account. Problem solved. If they don't all agree, realize it might take hours of your time to straighten it out. That is the price you pay for using a nickname.

That is correct.

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