Question for Ross: TSA Pre and merged names in PNR
Jun 25, 2014, 12:04 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: CX (elite) and a few others (non-elite)
Posts: 687
Question for Ross: TSA Pre and merged names in PNR
Ross, welcome to FT in your official capacity! I hope you can help me with one of the two problems described below
Background: I am a British citizen, living in Hong Kong, with oneworld FF status (through CX). I travel regularly to the US, and have Global Entry (recently acquired, so I haven't used it yet). I have two middle names, and I am male (so a Mr.)
Problem: My US travel is exclusively for business, and I have to use the corporate travel agent. Their system always merges all three of my given names and adds MR (for Mister) at the end. So my given names and surname appear on the PNR as SURNAME/FIRSTSECONDTHIRDMR. I have asked if these can be separated, and have been told by the travel agent that they cannot (which creates one immediate problem since my domestic US flights are usually on AA and I can't check in online because if I separate the names the system says they don't match the reservation, and if I merge them it says they don't match my passport details - this isn't a problem I expect Ross to solve btw, but if anyone knows a fix for that do let me know!)
Question: Will the way that our corporate travel agent presents my name in the PNR preclude me from TSA Pre?
Thanks in advance, Ross
Background: I am a British citizen, living in Hong Kong, with oneworld FF status (through CX). I travel regularly to the US, and have Global Entry (recently acquired, so I haven't used it yet). I have two middle names, and I am male (so a Mr.)
Problem: My US travel is exclusively for business, and I have to use the corporate travel agent. Their system always merges all three of my given names and adds MR (for Mister) at the end. So my given names and surname appear on the PNR as SURNAME/FIRSTSECONDTHIRDMR. I have asked if these can be separated, and have been told by the travel agent that they cannot (which creates one immediate problem since my domestic US flights are usually on AA and I can't check in online because if I separate the names the system says they don't match the reservation, and if I merge them it says they don't match my passport details - this isn't a problem I expect Ross to solve btw, but if anyone knows a fix for that do let me know!)
Question: Will the way that our corporate travel agent presents my name in the PNR preclude me from TSA Pre?
Thanks in advance, Ross
Jun 25, 2014, 10:05 am
#2
Company Representative, TSA
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posts: 101
I actually have two middle names, so I know the issue well! Our system has some flexibility regarding the middle name, especially since it may be merged in another field.
While the airline might not be able to update the name how it is ticketed, they can usually update the middle name field in the "Secure Flight" info., that is sent to TSA. Hope that info., helps. If you don't receive TSA Precheck, let me know, and I can work with our team on the back-end to see what may have been the issue.
While the airline might not be able to update the name how it is ticketed, they can usually update the middle name field in the "Secure Flight" info., that is sent to TSA. Hope that info., helps. If you don't receive TSA Precheck, let me know, and I can work with our team on the back-end to see what may have been the issue.
Jun 25, 2014, 9:50 pm
#3
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: YEG
Programs: AC*SE, Marriott Plat, Natl Exec, NEXUS
Posts: 437
Our corporate travel agent has the same issue and I have two middle names as well. My tickets show exactly as you describe above including the MR at the end. In addition, some of my personally booked travel has variations like a single middle initial only being put on the ticket.
I know I'm only one data point, but I always make sure my Secure Flight info matches my First, Middle and Last accurately and I have received Pre-Check on every flight so far on UA, US (pre-merger), WN and AC using my Known Traveller number. This is regardless of how the ticket appears (which almost never exactly matches my ID, but Secure Flight always matches).
I know I'm only one data point, but I always make sure my Secure Flight info matches my First, Middle and Last accurately and I have received Pre-Check on every flight so far on UA, US (pre-merger), WN and AC using my Known Traveller number. This is regardless of how the ticket appears (which almost never exactly matches my ID, but Secure Flight always matches).
