# Do I need to be concerned about my flight **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830 "2015-07-11T02:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/1 "2015-07-11T02:31:11Z")
I have a flight tomorrow and registered for it through [Expedia.com](http://Expedia.com). When I got my notice a few minutes ago about my boarding pass I noticed my name was a little wrong. Expedia has my name as John Jacob Smith (not my real name), but Delta Airlines registered me as JOHNJACOB SMITH. The first and middle names aren’t split. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but airlines and security being what they are, is this going to cause me grief tomorrow? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/2 "2015-07-11T02:48:20Z")
Delta does that to my name, too. It seems to be a [del]bug[/del] feature in their booking system. It’s never caused a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/3 "2015-07-11T02:49:40Z")
That’s normal. As I understand it, not all airlines have a middle name field in their computer systems, and spaces aren’t valid characters in the first name field, so everything just gets smashed together like that. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/4 "2015-07-11T03:38:04Z")
Me too. It did not cause a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/5 "2015-07-11T03:54:24Z")
If there was an _easy_ way to change it (like a quick call to the airline), I’d do that, but for a domestic flight, I’d probably not worry about it. But, I would probably show up to airport even earlier than I normally would just in case something does go wrong. Many years ago my ex had her first and last name transposed on an international flight. I could be wrong but I think we just ignored it and it was fine. I’m not sure if our travel agent did that (probably the case) or if it was because, out of the four of us (two couples), the two females had the same first name and possibly someone, somewhere just assumed the those must be last names, since they were the same. IIRC, both of them had their first and last names backwards. But, like I said, I think we ignored it, crossed our fingers and it was no one even noticed. I was more worried about that one since it was international, passports, customs etc were all involved, but it was a non-issue. TLDR, probably not a big deal, maybe get to the airport a few minutes early to sort it out if need be. But keep your mouth shut, I wouldn’t bring it up if no one asks. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/6 "2015-07-11T05:58:52Z")
It often does that to me, sometimes cutting off my long middle name (to use that example JOHNJAC SMITH). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/7 "2015-07-11T12:38:46Z")
I once had TSA give me shit because my middle name was “Steven” on my boarding pass, but “Stephen” on my driver’s license (an employee had booked the flight). At first I thought he was kidding around, but he made it clear that he did not have to let me fly that day. Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/8 "2015-07-11T22:20:48Z")
OK, my first name is Amelia, but got spelled \*\*Amila \*\*on my TSA precheck/boarding pass … escaped to Alaska via Boston; no hassle. But on the way back from AK, my pass was challenged … the senior TSA guy was called andhe let me through. I’m guessing the previous AK TSA was still in training. FWIW. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/9 "2015-07-11T22:28:31Z")
I believe that depends on whether or not you look like you could possibly be of middle eastern descent. ---
**Author:** ![BundleOfStix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BundleOfStix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BundleOfStix)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/10 "2015-07-12T02:35:23Z")
I brought the same problem to Delta’s attention just last week. The customer service rep says that’s just how they show the names: w/o the space. I’ve never had anyone give it a second glance, and I fly fairly frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/11 "2015-07-12T02:51:45Z")
German airlines smoosh up multiple-word lastnames (or multiple lastnames) into a single word; same for firstnames; letters with umlauts get turned into two un-umlauted letters or just lose the diacritic; other diacritics get lost. The autocheckin machines have a problem with that; the human beings don’t. On the other hand, having the wrong word assigned as your “lastname”, or spelling variants like **kayaker** ’s Stephen/Steven, does cause trouble with the humans. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/12 "2015-07-12T05:06:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I once had TSA give me shit because my middle name was “Steven” on my boarding pass, but “Stephen” on my driver’s license (an employee had booked the flight). At first I thought he was kidding around, but he made it clear that he did not have to let me fly that day. > > Fuckers. I had a serious problem once with a flight from Denver to Boston because of that problem. It was a work flight that I make frequently but work only knows me by my middle name that I have gone by since birth. They booked my tickets under my middle name which normally does not cause much problem except for casual questioning and maybe a show of id with my full name. However, one time in Denver, I encountered the worst power hungry bitch I have yet to meet. She knew I was telling the truth but refused to relent and told me that I wasn’t going to be allowed on the flight at all because of the name discrepancy. However, as luck would have it, she got called away and her coworkers took pity on me. A very kind flamboyant gay man called me over and told me that she tries to terrorize anyone she can and not to worry about it. A few key strokes later my ticket was fixed with a smile and a wink. I had no trouble after that. Those occurrences are rather rare however. I fly with my daughters several times a year and their first and middle names often get smashed together on their tickets but not on mine for some odd reason (patriarchy I assume?). I am not sure why they can’t fix that flaw but it has never caused any problem. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/13 "2015-07-12T14:39:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > \A very kind flamboyant gay man called me over and told me that she tries to terrorize anyone she can and not to worry about it. A few key strokes later my ticket was fixed with a smile and a wink. I had no trouble after that.\ If I ever want someone on my side, this is it. Seriously. I would suggest that the OP not worry about it. And that the attempt to change could cause more disruption. They don’t like change. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/14 "2015-07-12T14:45:28Z")
The OP was on Friday. His flight was on Saturday. Today as I write it’s Sunday. I wonder how it worked out for him. We all know what to expect, but reality sometimes differs. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/15 "2015-07-12T15:13:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder how it worked out for him. We all know what to expect, but reality sometimes differs. Maybe he is only allowed to make one phone call from where he is being held now. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/16 "2015-07-12T15:31:35Z")
Maybe they discovered that his real middle name was Jingleheimer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/17 "2015-07-12T16:27:57Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Maybe they discovered that his real middle name was Jingleheimer. Hey, that’s my name, too! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/18 "2015-07-12T16:41:20Z")
Alaska does this too when I load up boarding passes on my smartphone. Hasn’t caused any problems. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/19 "2015-07-13T03:04:29Z")
I’m a little sloppy about how I style my name and it appears variously as John Smith, John J. Smith, John Jacob Smith, John Smith IV, and other combinations. I think the only document that has John Jacob Smith IV is my passport. When booking airline tickets I just use John Smith. I have never had a problem. I fly in the US perhaps 10 times a year and internationally once every couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830/20 "2015-07-14T22:16:55Z")
Yep, no problems on flight at all… Strangely I noticed my return flight has been diverted to gutanamo bay so maybe I should worry there? 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-be-concerned-about-my-flight/724830.md?page=2)