General Travel Advice group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Name on passport

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bineba Premium account Joined: Jul 04 Points: 15174 Posts: 44 Posted: 2010-02-08 08:50:00    I am really confused as to which name to use when I book tickets as airlines are really cracking down and insist that you give your name 'exactly as it appears in your passport'. My passport is in the name of Sabine Bxxxxxx (that's the name at the bottom of the page), but under given names it says Hxxxxxxx Sabine Bxxxxxx, as it appears that way on my birth certificate (Sabine is underlined on there to indicate that this is my first name). The last couple of times I booked flights even the sales advisors couldn't give me an answer. So far I haven't had any problems using either name, but I would really like to get to the bottom of this. Any advice? --- Sabine Reply    Reply with quote    Contact bineba   ta-shy Joined: Jun 02 Points: 4110 Posts: 170 Posted: 2010-02-10 16:48:00    Good health and high spirits! I am in the same predictament as you but haven't any problems so far either. My first name is Cathleen(as on Birth cert/health etc) but on my passport it is Cathy ... they say exact but if what they deem as #1 id. go with what it says on the passport.. they can't argue that. Tashi --- LIFE IS AN ATTITUDE! ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU WISH YOU COULD! ALWAYS! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact ta-shy   krisek Premium account Joined: Jan 08 Points: 84174 Posts: 203 Posted: 2010-02-11 00:23:00    This is funny Sabine... Why don't you use both names!? :) Or the first name and then the initial, or the second name and then the initial followed by the last name? My name has been misspelled so many times, and no-one cared, actually, except one snooty Ryanair woman. Most of the Ryanair staff got exceptionally vicious, almost grotesquely nasty, recently I have noticed, by the way. Kind regards Krys --- Open your eyes. Free your mind. Touch lives. Sink into the different. Travel and belong. Profile photo: Palma de Mallorca. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact krisek   citybell2 Joined: Feb 06 Points: 158 Posts: 18 Posted: 2010-02-15 08:37:00    For bookings airlines tickets, the airlines staff always ask for passport (or id in some countries).So you should use the name exactly as given in the passport.That is, you should use both given name and the surname/family name. In China , the authorities are very strict. Even a spelling mistake will land you in problems sometimes. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact citybell2   horourke Premium account Joined: Sep 04 Points: 11274 Posts: 142 Posted: 2010-02-16 00:13:00    This is a game where you cannot be sure of winning. The Ryanair and China incidents listed above highlight the arbitrary nature of the application of rules that can arise at the whim of the check-in staff. In the case of Ryanair the cost of correction can be significant and then again they may not raise the matter at all. The presence of two different versions of the name on the same passport would be a very fruitful source of confusion leading to correction fees in the hands of hard-pressed desk staff. Without naming any airline I feel on occasion that there is a quota system where the check-in people are required to find x amount of income on a particular day from overweight baggage, refusing to book in people a couple of minutes after the desk closes etc. resulting in additional charges to be put on the next available flight. These irritant elements are just part of the great adventure of setting out in the morning with a schedule which may become meaningless through the accident of fog many hundreds of kms away, resulting in delay of the incoming aircraft which is ti provide service for your journey. Perhaps it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive --- Hugh Reply    Reply with quote    Contact horourke