Names on electronic tickets
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WHBM : Thank you for raising this interesting conundrum.
I don't think there is an 'official' solution. If there is, I might be able to dig and find it for you amongst IATA regulations.
There is a facility which some airline ticketing systems have, allowing you to issue a ticket where a PNR does not exist, or to issue a ticket overriding the name on the PNR. This would be done routinely for standby tickets (staff) where sometimes no PNR exists, and in other situations for example where a FIM (flight interruption manifest) has been issued where a passenger journey has been interrupted. Also where a person is travelling on a passport in a former name but ticketed on a current name.
Airlines are faced with a number of such situations, for example when reservations are made for an expected and as yet unnamed child, or an adopted child.
There is a facility to change names in the systems, but again, this is problematic for many reasons, particularly when several airlines are involved.
I'm afraid you've opened a hornets' next here.
I don't think there is an 'official' solution. If there is, I might be able to dig and find it for you amongst IATA regulations.
There is a facility which some airline ticketing systems have, allowing you to issue a ticket where a PNR does not exist, or to issue a ticket overriding the name on the PNR. This would be done routinely for standby tickets (staff) where sometimes no PNR exists, and in other situations for example where a FIM (flight interruption manifest) has been issued where a passenger journey has been interrupted. Also where a person is travelling on a passport in a former name but ticketed on a current name.
Airlines are faced with a number of such situations, for example when reservations are made for an expected and as yet unnamed child, or an adopted child.
There is a facility to change names in the systems, but again, this is problematic for many reasons, particularly when several airlines are involved.
I'm afraid you've opened a hornets' next here.
Ah yes. Especially, as some will be aware, the Russian lady in question is Mrs WHBM 
We have found a large number of people who enter a country with a different passport to that which they booked/checked in with. It is an extensive situation. Of course, in the days before the "conformance paranoia" set in this never really mattered.
We have found a large number of people who enter a country with a different passport to that which they booked/checked in with. It is an extensive situation. Of course, in the days before the "conformance paranoia" set in this never really mattered.
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Just consider this nonsense. A woman has a Russian passport. Then gets married to a UK citizen and (eventually) gets a UK passport with UK married name. Then, books on BA from UK to Russia. But in what name ?
If uses UK name then gets stopped at Heathrow because no visa in UK passport to enter Russia. Visas are not issued to anyone already a citizen of the country. Shows Russian passport as well but told this is in different name.
If uses Russian (maiden) name then fine to travel outward on Russian passport. But when returning from Russia, gets stopped at airport because no visa in Russian passport to enter Britain. Shows UK passport but told this is in different name.
No facility on a return ticket to use different names in each direction. The ideal solution would be for reservations to have an "alternate name" facility. But IATA/ICAO have never thought of this.
I do hope somebody can tell me the official answer to this combination, because I have asked BA several times and never had any sensible answer to it.
If uses UK name then gets stopped at Heathrow because no visa in UK passport to enter Russia. Visas are not issued to anyone already a citizen of the country. Shows Russian passport as well but told this is in different name.
If uses Russian (maiden) name then fine to travel outward on Russian passport. But when returning from Russia, gets stopped at airport because no visa in Russian passport to enter Britain. Shows UK passport but told this is in different name.
No facility on a return ticket to use different names in each direction. The ideal solution would be for reservations to have an "alternate name" facility. But IATA/ICAO have never thought of this.
I do hope somebody can tell me the official answer to this combination, because I have asked BA several times and never had any sensible answer to it.
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OR
Or have travel and other documents changed to reflect your reality. I did. I am a middle 'namer'. Ask anyone in my family for A. and they will asume you mean my cousin.
It took a bit of doing because it is a daisy chain. You have to get one document changed then the others will accept that in issuing a renewed document.
Now I have passport, driver's licence, health care card, credit cards, etc. all showing the same info.
A. BCDEF HIJKLMNOP
To use some sites - Expedia; etc. I had yo use A.BCDEF HIJKLMNOP
so all "personalized" communications now come addressed to A.BCDEF
In several years, I have only had one immigration officer (US) tell me that I should have my passport show my first given name.
It took a bit of doing because it is a daisy chain. You have to get one document changed then the others will accept that in issuing a renewed document.
Now I have passport, driver's licence, health care card, credit cards, etc. all showing the same info.
A. BCDEF HIJKLMNOP
To use some sites - Expedia; etc. I had yo use A.BCDEF HIJKLMNOP
so all "personalized" communications now come addressed to A.BCDEF
In several years, I have only had one immigration officer (US) tell me that I should have my passport show my first given name.
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The Russian lady should probably just update both passports so they are in her married name. That's not a big job and the cost would surely out weigh the years of hassle she would face if she's a frequent traveler.
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I book all student and staff travel for the FE College I work for, and NEVER make any flight bookings without either a passport scan or driving licence scan (if an internal UK flight).
All bookings are then made using all available full names as on the ID. It is not my job to second guess what anyone's full, preferred or known name is, and this policy has never produced any errors or problems with IDs when flying to any airport, either in the UK, across Europe or worldwide.
Once all passengers understand the consequences if they don't provide a scan, then there are no problems. No scan = no booking = no travel. Simples .......
All bookings are then made using all available full names as on the ID. It is not my job to second guess what anyone's full, preferred or known name is, and this policy has never produced any errors or problems with IDs when flying to any airport, either in the UK, across Europe or worldwide.
Once all passengers understand the consequences if they don't provide a scan, then there are no problems. No scan = no booking = no travel. Simples .......
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WHBM
My wife is Russian born but now a British citizen for some years with a UK passport. She also has a Russian passport in her married name and as far as I recall, there was no difficulty in getting it.
She travels regularly to Russia with our daughter (also dual), out on Russian and back on UK.
However, me trying to get a sensible visa for visiting Russia is a completely different story...
My wife is Russian born but now a British citizen for some years with a UK passport. She also has a Russian passport in her married name and as far as I recall, there was no difficulty in getting it.
She travels regularly to Russia with our daughter (also dual), out on Russian and back on UK.
However, me trying to get a sensible visa for visiting Russia is a completely different story...
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same problem in Arab country
I have two family names and two give names....... xxx. xxxx. XXXXXX-XXXXXXXXXX, and my tickets are booked by my company, that has a copy of my passport.
Most times my ticket is issued to xxx.xxxx.
I have told them many times.
Now it is issued to xxx.XXXXXX.
Several trips to USA using my given names not family names.
So far no problem, but one day.
glf
Most times my ticket is issued to xxx.xxxx.
I have told them many times.
Now it is issued to xxx.XXXXXX.
Several trips to USA using my given names not family names.
So far no problem, but one day.
glf
WHBM
My wife is Russian born but now a British citizen for some years with a UK passport. She also has a Russian passport in her married name and as far as I recall, there was no difficulty in getting it.
She travels regularly to Russia with our daughter (also dual), out on Russian and back on UK.
My wife is Russian born but now a British citizen for some years with a UK passport. She also has a Russian passport in her married name and as far as I recall, there was no difficulty in getting it.
She travels regularly to Russia with our daughter (also dual), out on Russian and back on UK.
The rules seem to change every year (sometimes more than once). Currently there is a lead time of about 3 months at an overseas consulate to do this.
The real difficulty, as you are doubtless aware, is in all the things in Russia that are tied to your Internal Passport, by name (eg property, bank accounts, legal documents) which have all got to be changed from afar. That is a huge effort just to appease the air carriers who can't understand people with two names, one in each passport, which is very common.
I think it's worth pointing out that this requirement to use first name last name originated with governments, not the airlines. I have a suspicion the first government to implement the requirement was Saudi Arabia. It only became noticable after 9/11 when the USA tightened their requirements.
The airlines are not completely innocent but they didn't start it all. What they have done is take a pragmatic decision to apply a standard that seems to be being adopted by Goverments worldwide.
Mind you, I sometimes wonder how thorough some of the checks are. My wifes birthdate has single digit day and month and I entered it the "wrong way" (e.g. m/d not d/m) for one country with no issues on multiple border crossings.
The airlines are not completely innocent but they didn't start it all. What they have done is take a pragmatic decision to apply a standard that seems to be being adopted by Goverments worldwide.
Mind you, I sometimes wonder how thorough some of the checks are. My wifes birthdate has single digit day and month and I entered it the "wrong way" (e.g. m/d not d/m) for one country with no issues on multiple border crossings.
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The airlines are also to blame with their non-transferability rules. Name match passport/official ID has always been required for international travel, but with more flexibility interpreting what a match was.
The airlines that permit name changes, mostly LCCs, make money for doing so and have a financial incentive to apply a very strict policy.
The airlines that permit name changes, mostly LCCs, make money for doing so and have a financial incentive to apply a very strict policy.
Last edited by ExXB; 4th Dec 2012 at 05:37.
ExxB. It is NOT true that there has ALWAYS been a requirement for ticket and reservation and passport names to match. As I've said, I am commonly know by my 2nd name. There was a time when a ticket issued in the name "Second Hartington" was fine.
An extreme example was an ex employer. He ran a number of companies including the travel agency I worked for. He had been commuting back and forth to Paris for several months with various members of staff from his other companies, sometimes by car and other times by air, and one day there were five of them all trying to get back to London. Over the weeks several people had flown out and returned by car so he had several tickets in various names in his pocket. He simply gave each person a ticket and, if memory serves, the only one that matched the person was his own. They all got home with no problem at all.
Mind you, that was all over 30 years ago!
An extreme example was an ex employer. He ran a number of companies including the travel agency I worked for. He had been commuting back and forth to Paris for several months with various members of staff from his other companies, sometimes by car and other times by air, and one day there were five of them all trying to get back to London. Over the weeks several people had flown out and returned by car so he had several tickets in various names in his pocket. He simply gave each person a ticket and, if memory serves, the only one that matched the person was his own. They all got home with no problem at all.
Mind you, that was all over 30 years ago!
Over the weeks several people had flown out and returned by car so he had several tickets in various names in his pocket. He simply gave each person a ticket and, if memory serves, the only one that matched the person was his own. They all got home with no problem at all.
It is as if I book and prepay for theatre tickets as Sandy Smith, and when I get there they say "oh, your credit card says MR A SMITH, you will have to pay again to sit in those seats". Which would be an obvious and outright fraud.
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Hartington, we are saying the same thing. The name I use is a diminutive of my second name. I.e. I'm known as Sec even though my name in my passport is Primary Secoundous ExXB.
For years I travelled on tickets issued to Sec ExXB, no issues. But had I tried to travel on a ticket for Tertiary ExXB, or for Sec EzZB I'd be out of luck. The requirement for a match was there but loosely interpreted.
The rules were a lot looser for AD and ID tickets, which might explain your ex-employer. I had a briefcase full of OAL passes that I would use some, or all of, as needs required. No sequential or complete use rules for these tickets. They were free after all. I even used a few after they expired.
For years I travelled on tickets issued to Sec ExXB, no issues. But had I tried to travel on a ticket for Tertiary ExXB, or for Sec EzZB I'd be out of luck. The requirement for a match was there but loosely interpreted.
The rules were a lot looser for AD and ID tickets, which might explain your ex-employer. I had a briefcase full of OAL passes that I would use some, or all of, as needs required. No sequential or complete use rules for these tickets. They were free after all. I even used a few after they expired.
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This simplistic description fails to point out that those return halves of tickets had been PAID FOR. Why shouldn't seats/ticket which have been paid for be used ?
It is as if I book and prepay for theatre tickets as Sandy Smith, and when I get there they say "oh, your credit card says MR A SMITH, you will have to pay again to sit in those seats". Which would be an obvious and outright fraud.
It is as if I book and prepay for theatre tickets as Sandy Smith, and when I get there they say "oh, your credit card says MR A SMITH, you will have to pay again to sit in those seats". Which would be an obvious and outright fraud.
There is also a security issue. The airline, and receiving/transit government wants to know who the passengers are. They have blacklists which they don't want circumvented, probably for good reason. Sandy Smith might be OK, but MR A SMITH could be a black hat.
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You can also have your passport amended to reflect your name as that by which you are normally known.
All it requires is that you contact your passport issuer and apply to have it changed. A stamp will entered in your passport to state that you are registered as Joseph Alfred Bloggs but your passport will describe you as Alfred Bloggs. Simples.
You can then have yourself legally described as you are normally known on all documents, bank accounts, voter registers etc etc.
I did it over 25 years ago, it makes life much simpler.
Good luck.
All it requires is that you contact your passport issuer and apply to have it changed. A stamp will entered in your passport to state that you are registered as Joseph Alfred Bloggs but your passport will describe you as Alfred Bloggs. Simples.
You can then have yourself legally described as you are normally known on all documents, bank accounts, voter registers etc etc.
I did it over 25 years ago, it makes life much simpler.
Good luck.
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Sorry - but airlines DID tighten up on name rules about 10 years ago.
Mainly due to some unscupulous (but some might say ingenious) travel companies who would book seats in dummy names for popluar flights, well in advance at the cheapest fares (think UK - Florida out 21 Dec back 2 jan).
They pay £300 per seat, then sit on these till flights are fuller/only available in high price seats, and then sell them at £800 and simply changed the name, then issued the ticket...
This is also why airlines massivly tightened up on restricted fare ticketing policies...
Mainly due to some unscupulous (but some might say ingenious) travel companies who would book seats in dummy names for popluar flights, well in advance at the cheapest fares (think UK - Florida out 21 Dec back 2 jan).
They pay £300 per seat, then sit on these till flights are fuller/only available in high price seats, and then sell them at £800 and simply changed the name, then issued the ticket...
This is also why airlines massivly tightened up on restricted fare ticketing policies...