Global Entry Question
 

I've just recently been approved for Global Entry. I want to add my KTN to several existing SW reservations, but I also want to make sure the names match up exactly, so that I don't have any issues with TSA Precheck. My question is what name needs to match up? When I look at my reservations online, it always shows the passenger name as "FIRST LAST". When I print my boarding passes, it usually shows LAST/FIRST MIDDLE. So, it seems like my middle name is tied to the reservation somehow. When I applied for GE, I included my middle name in the application. All of the letters I have received from them thus far were addressed to FIRST LAST. Anyone have any experience so that I can hopefully avoid any missed opportunities?

I'm not sure where the confusion is. When you make a reservation or edit your personal profile, there are clear fields for your first, middle, and last names. Your real first name goes in the first name field, etc.

This should not be an issue. If the name on your GE and passport is "Fred A. Smith", you would enter:

First Name: Fred
Middle: A.
Last Name: Smith

The fact that various uses of that data sometimes print out as Smith, Fred or SMITHFREDA is not relevant.

The key is that the names in your profile are entered exactly (down to spaces and punctuation) as they appear on your GE.

I added GE last year when WN first signed on to precheck. This may have changed, but the only way to have your KTN added to existing reservations was to actually pick up the phone and call customer service.

The name order should not be a big deal.

My concern was that sometimes SW use the middle name and sometimes they don't. I wasn't sure what the GE list was compared against, i.e., should I leave the middle name field blank if my letters from GE don't use my middle name even if I entered it into the middle name field. I guess people are saying that even though the field says, "middle name", some individuals must put a middle initial or leave it blank rather than typing in their middle name.

This is correct. I did have to call to add it, that was easy. Just trying to make sure the names will match exactly.

Everything should match up to avoid any potential hassles. If your full middle name was used to obtain GE, then you should include your full middle name on your airline reservations. Unfortunately, you have no control how the airline submits that information, but on the other hand, they submit that information to the TSA with headers, ie, first name = <first name>, etc.

It's fairly routine for different documents to use different formats, ie, "last name, first name, middle initial" or "first name middle name last name."

Personally, I think you're overthinking this.

In my experience I have had Precheck on my BP both when my name matched my GE profile and two times when I just had my middle initial on it.

An individual small anecdote like that is not useful. Mismatches don't guarantee failure, they just increase the likelihood of it. It may depend on other factors as to how much they increase the likelihood of it. And thus YMMV for everyone.

After I received GE, I went through my FF programs and made sure my correct ID matched the name on the programs *exactly*. With United, I had used my first initial and last name as my FF name with no middle initial. UA had to have some sort of approval to "change" my name to my full name with middle initial, but I told them it was to match GE. A week later an email from them confirmed it now matches my passport and GE.

Under My Preferences and Contact Information just make sure that F/M/L name match your GE infor and enter your KTN in the KTN field.

If you need to make any changes to your name, those can't be done online. Those have to be mailed in to them per the guidelines on that page.

They say that but I was able to get them to change a single letter misspelling of my first name on the phone.