Get ready for major headaches regarding IDs with "Secure Flight"

[DrivesLikeMario]

and lack of common sense by our government bureaucracy. As someone that travels almost every week and deals with these insane rule, I am about fed up. Just because I don't include my middle name on my ticket and it is on my passport does not make me a terrorist. This will only lead to longer lines and more stupid decisions by some TSA person just because they don't like you.

 

It has been 10 years of stupidity. Tell me the bad guys haven't won.

 

I totally agree. If you're a terrorist and follow strictly by the middle name rule, you're good to go! :rolleyes:

[MaryPoppinz]

I'm sure that the use of a middle initial is going to insure safety on flights :rolleyes:

 

True.

 

Let's say someone who is, based on his identity, a known security risk gets on the plane to Fort Lauderdale after having security divest him of any and all dangerous materials. And let's say the only three people in the US who are able to get their first, middle and last names into the airline's little 8-place boxes get on a plane to Miami after going through security with dangerous materials in their coat pockets. Would you rather go to Fort Lauderdale or Miami? :)

[DeckSwabber]

The true spirit of the rule is in the fact that Johnathan Smith must be in the reservation, not "Jack" Smith or Terrence A. Smith instead of "Alan" Smith.

I see that stuff quite often.

[Pia1913]

True.

 

Let's say someone who is, based on his identity, a known security risk gets on the plane to Fort Lauderdale after having security divest him of any and all dangerous materials. And let's say the only three people in the US who are able to get their first, middle and last names into the airline's little 8-place boxes get on a plane to Miami after going through security with dangerous materials in their coat pockets. Would you rather go to Fort Lauderdale or Miami? :)

 

I'd rather go to Palm Beach (PBI). :D

[MaryPoppinz]

I'd rather go to Palm Beach (PBI). :D

 

Sorry, that flight's been canceled. The prop fell off. ;)

[janchor]

lol :D

 

Okay, so assuming this was my name:

 

Jacqueline Elizabeth Schwartzenegger

 

Depending on the airline, my name might appear like this instead :

 

Jacquel Elizabet Schwartzeneg

 

Jacqueli Eliza Schwartzen

 

Jacquelin Elizabet Schwartzenegg

 

That doesn't match exactly and although it might be obvious that there wasn't enough room for the whole name, it would be just my luck to get that one TSA agent or airline agent that was a by-the-book kind and would raise holy *ell about it.

 

I think until the TSA can mandate that every airline must have a certain number of character spaces in their name fields, that they are going to have to have a lot of flexibility.

 

This made my smile as my son was called Christophe in kindergarten because the computerized school forms did not have enough spaces for his whole name. THe teacher was quite surprised to discover he was just a regular Christopher. And speaking of long names--he has four names --which really stretch the space--what was I thinkng of:rolleyes:! If only I had know this was going to happen. Oh well, not really my problem is it:).

[AuntieBon]

It is my understanding that what is required is your full name as in Bonnie Lastname not B. lastname.

[DrivesLikeMario]

When my parents named me, I had a wonderfully short last name. They gave me a nickname, which I always go by, a legal first name that is long and a legal second name that is long.

 

Before I married my DH, I TRIED to get him to shorten his really long last name. "How about 1/2 of it?" I was quite flexible in saying it could be the first half or the second half. :D He didn't buy it and now I'm stuck. :p

 

The worst part is that if my first name doesn't fit in the airline name field boxes, it becomes masculine. :mad:

[Just zis guy]

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2009/0512.shtm

 

Media Contact:

TSA Public Affairs

(571) 227-2829

 

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that beginning May 15 the Secure Flight passenger vetting program will begin asking passengers to enter their full name – as it appears on the government issued identification they will be traveling with – when making airline reservations.

 

This is the first publicly-noticeable step in implementing the multi-phase Secure Flight program which shifts pre-departure watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA. The Secure Flight program satisfies a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission, and congressional requirements from the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the 9/11 Commission Act signed into law in 2007.

 

"By enhancing and streamlining the watch list matching process, the Secure Flight program makes travel safer and easier for millions of Americans," said TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides. "During this phase of the Secure Flight program, passengers are encouraged to book their reservations using their name as it appears on the government-issued ID they will use while traveling."

 

In the near future, small differences between the passenger's ID and the passenger's reservation information, such as the use of a middle initial instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, will not be an issue for passengers. Over time, passengers should strive to obtain consistency between the name on their government issued ID and the travel information they use for booking flights.

 

The second phase of Secure Flight begins August 15, 2009 when passengers will be required to enter their date of birth and gender when booking airline flights.

 

Once Secure Flight's advanced technology is fully implemented in early 2010, enhanced watch list matching will be done by the government. Airlines will gather a passenger's full name, date of birth, and gender when making an airline reservation to determine if the passenger is a match to the No Fly or Selectee lists. By providing the additional data elements of gender and date of birth, Secure Flight will more effectively help prevent misidentification of passengers who have similar names to individuals on the watch list and better identify individuals that may pose a known or suspected threat to aviation.

 

TSA's goal is to vet 100 percent of passengers on all domestic commercial flights by early 2010 and 100 percent of passengers on all international commercial flights by the end of 2010.

 

For more information about TSA, please visit http://www.tsa.gov.

[Pia1913]

This made my smile as my son was called Christophe in kindergarten because the computerized school forms did not have enough spaces for his whole name. THe teacher was quite surprised to discover he was just a regular Christopher. And speaking of long names--he has four names --which really stretch the space--what was I thinkng of:rolleyes:! If only I had know this was going to happen. Oh well, not really my problem is it:).

 

I wonder what they do with Prince William, whose full name is:

 

William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten Windsor. Guess they just use Prince. ;)

[Just zis guy]

I wonder what they do with Prince William, whose full name is:

 

William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten Windsor. Guess they just use Prince. ;)

 

Oh, he'll just have to go through secondary screening every time he crosses a DHS or TSA checkpoint. :p

 

After this happens a few times, he can contact the Department of Homeland Security's Travel Redress Inquiry Program to seek resolution regarding travel screening difficulties.

 

I bet they tell him to change his name to fit the forms... ;)

[mascara]

I'm sure that the use of a middle initial is going to insure safety on flights :rolleyes:

 

At least as much as TSA confiscating the bottom 1/4 of my JPG Classique - because apparently the size marking had worn off of bottom the clear 100mL bottle which has travelled all over the world with me and was packed dutifully in my ziplock bag - incidentally, right next to my clearly marked 3.6 oz bottle of contact lens solution. TSA is nothing if not consistent...never mind.....

[notentirelynormal]

My problem is that my first name is hyphenated. Like Barbara-Jean. So most computer systems consider the hyphen a "special character" and don't allow it. Then what happens is one of several things. I get first name Barbara - 2nd name Jean and my middle name is gone. I get Barbara Jean or I get just Barbara or BarbaraJean. Until all reservation computers put in these special characters there are a lot of names that are never going to match. Its got a hyphen on my passport. Princess does not put in the hyphen, airlines don't put in the hyphen and half my credit cards dont. Neither does my driver's license.

[Pam in CA]

I just checked online booking with Southwest.. First and last name only.. :confused::confused:

I booked flights to/from LAX and BOS in August a week ago and just checked my AA booking. The record locator has my middle initial, the flight passenger info does not. My AA FF miles record has my middle initial as do my driver's license and passport. Interesting that AA apparently didn't prepare for this TA regulation by including my middle initial in the flight passenger information. ::: shaking head ::: And, no matter how many times I put my middle initial in my Cruise Personalizer information, it never "takes." It disappears.

[llachance]

Not only do I have a long name - Lisa Jane Lachance-Skier (and sometimes it is just J.) but no reservation site takes the hyphen ...so every boarding pass I have had in the recent past is Lisa LachanceSkier. I just bought tickets for my daughter Lori Ann MXXXXXX and they came out as LoriAnn MXXXXXXX.....until the computer systems change I am out of luck.

[Crown Prince]

Everyone is aware of extra charges now imposed by airlines:

luggage charges

drink & food charges

bathroom charges (did BA stick to this) ???

 

This may be another trick to get extra airline revenue, since there is a charge by the airlines for making name changes. :eek:

 

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

[bcnvcanada]

On Friday, I tried to book a ticket using my airline miles. I couldn't as the name on the milage account would not reflect my now whole name. After talking to the account manager, and faxing a birth certificate my milage account now reflects my now complete name. The airlines are having a great deal of dificulty dealing with this and there milage accounts. Each airline has it own policy. Some require a legal document to change the name and others will add it for you. Good luck to everyone-especially the airlines

[gooselace]

Originally Posted by greatam "Don't worry about CREDIT CARDS. Obviously, you currently have ID that matches credit cards. No one is checking credit cards at airports FOR SECURITY"

Thanks for the heads-up and all the helpful info. Main reason I worried is that when printing boarding pass online or at kiosk, it always says the name always has to match exactly that on credit card to which it was charged.

I'm not worried about the rest of them - not even the one from 1960 that still has only my maiden name (married for 45 yrs.)

[Arwenmark]

Today would have been my mother's 90th birthday, her name Dorothy Josephine Agnes Lindell Howard If she had lived she certainly could not fly.

[RnGram]

My driver's license has my maiden name as my middle name. I got it a million years ago. I have to give the whole thing when I make airline reservations? Not my real middle name? My maiden name was kind of long. :confused:

[cruznjan]

I have airline reservations that I have previously made. Is there a way to get the airlines to add my middle name?

[Taxguy77]

No middle name? At all? I had a boyfriend in college whose middle name was W. Just W. Not short for anything. I finally had to ask him mom to find out if that was true or if he just hated it. Nope - just W. :-)

 

Harry W Truman, President of the United Staes

Note that the W does not have a period to designate it the full 'name'.

I worked with a man whose name was just W R. In the army, if the middle initial was just and initial, it was designated by the initial and the word 'only. For his stay there he was known as WonlyRonly.:D

[FlyerTalker]

It was Harry S Truman, not Harry W Truman.

[Riverroad]

We just returned yesterday from flying roundtrip Newark-Stockholm on SAS. Both at Newark airport and Arlanda, we had to fill out a little piece of paper-not an official looking form-with our first name, middle initial or middle name, last name and contact person. We handed these in at the gate. No one checked this piece of paper against our tickets or passports. I assume this was part of the new safe flying program. BTW, we left on May 14.

[joelamp]

I bought air tickets months ago ORD/CPH on SAS for our upcoming Eurodam cruise next month. We were ticketed using first and last names only, though our passports include our middle names. When the news about "Secure Flight" hit the papers, I called SAS and they were able to add our middle names to the tickets and e-mailed updated versions. And they did not charge for a name change! According to the TSA web site, it looks as though international carriers are not expected to comply with the "Secure Flight" process until next year, but I'd rather not take chances with getting delayed or caught by a bureaucratic snafu at the airport.