Chinese name order on ticket.
 

I have booked an award ticket (on JL) for a Chinese friend, but may have got the name order wrong.

Let's use this guy, Leung Long Chau, as an example.

The ticket I have bought has:

I believe what I should have used is:


I'm guessing that this is something which the Asian carriers deal with quite a bit. Is there a need to go through all the hassle of cancelling the ticket ($100 penalty since it's an AA award ticket) and reissuing it?

My wife has long ago given up explaining that, in Chinese, the family or surname comes first. She just puts it down in the same order as if it were an American name. The result is that she is sometimes called "Ms. [first name]" and friendlier agents will call her [last name], but she's used to it. Even her U.S. passport lists her last name as her first name and vice versa.

How is the name on the passport/visa?

I would think the issue is more with customs/immigration than the airline/airport security.

My passport (US) says Surname, then below that Given Names.
If the passport says
Surname Chau
Given names Leung Long
I would book the ticket Chau/Leung L

If the passport says
Surname Leung
Given names Long Chau
I would book the ticket Leung/Long C

Well the ticket is booked:

Surname = Chau
Given names = Leung Long

and the passport and visa application gives:

Surname = Leung
Given names = Long Chau

The question is, will this be acceptable to JL, Japanese Immigration, and US Immigration? Or should I pay the $100 cancellation and rebooking fee?

Just specify which name is the surname/family name/last name and which name is the Christian/given/first name.

The same problem comes up with non-Asian names too. On a Jeopardy show, one of the categories was "Two First Names" where for the individuals named in the trivia answers/questions there could be similar confusion. Example (not from that show): writer James Joyce.

And, in the U.S., it is not unusual for people to be listed last name first, although generally with a comma after the last name.

Travel tips: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Now can the ticket be re-issued without the (limited availability) seat's dropping from your grasp/claim and going to the next person on the waitlist?

I think you should call AA to see if they'll reissue it w/o penalty. This could be an issue at check in.

I have had a snooty AA check-in agent in PSP trying to tell me that I did not know what my name was. They had to do something to the system and I ended up with a BP with SSSS on it.

I have a Christian name, a surname followed by two Chinese names. For US ticketing purposes, I now use a treble-barrelled surname to avoid confusion.

I have never heard the term Christian name before... the whole notion that people would refer to it that way in a non-theocratic country kinda scares me.

There might be a question from immigration, but that can be explained. My AA tickets are routinely issued using my nickname, which is similar to my legal name. On the few times I did not catch this before I traveled, I have been able to explain the name in Japan. I would think that the order of names is a common problem for non-Chinese, which is easy to explain.

Actually, the more common term, at least in this century, is "Given Name." If I was confronted with a form that asked for my "Christian Name," I'd leave it blank, write "none," or more likely, refuse to deal with that particular business. You'll certainly never see "Christian name" on any government document.

Getting off-topic but the British equivalent of the U.S. "first name" is "christian" name reflecting the predominance of the christian church heritage of the U.K. (even if most people there don't actually bother to go to church other for baptisms/christenings, marriages and funerals).

I travel quite a bit with my inlaws (Chinese) and their names get reversed quite often. It doesn't seem to be an issue. A few times we've been asked and since the two names are identical, just reversed, that was the end of it.

I think, too, that many airlines will reverse the surname and given name on the reservation without a lot of brain surgery. It's a common occurrence.

....must be age based.....I grew up in the US......first name was always referred to as the "Christian Name". Don't be scared.....apparently it has all changed now!:D

By the way.....Hispanic names present a problem also....because the last in the order is your mother's maiden name...the one before last is your father's last name.....so Jose Gomez Marquez is actually Jose Gomez for tickets.:confused:

Actually you will. They just might not be US government documents ;)

I had the opposite situation a few years back. I had my office manager in Beijing purchase a RTW ticket for me so that it would be ticketed and ready when I arrived in the office the following week. When I got there, the Chinese Travel Agent that handled it had my name in Chinese order rather than Western order, e.g. I was Smith Gary rather than Gary Smith. I was concerned about this order with regard to the international travel, passports, visas, etc. but interestingly enough I had no problems at all at any airport, airlines, immigration, etc. The only one who questioned it was LAX immigration who said "they got your name backward Mr. Gary".