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I am traveling within the US, but my boarding pass shows my first name and middle name joined as such: Firstmiddle instead of First Middle. How do I correct this, or is this something that shouldn't be a problem with identification? I am already on hold with the airline to bring this to their attention, but I am not sure if there's a better way to correct this.

question2018
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    It's not a problem. I used to fly all the time with tickets with my name in the form SMITH,JMR instead of SMITH, JOHN; I have no reference to support this though, and the rules have changed a bit, hence the comment rather than an answer. – phoog Jan 07 '18 at 19:55
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    To give a better example, if your name was John Walter Smith, it would be Johnwalter if your boarding pass was showing up like mine is right now. Is that still okay? – question2018 Jan 07 '18 at 19:59
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    Another factor I forgot to mention: I never give my middle name when booking tickets, even though my passport shows it. – phoog Jan 07 '18 at 20:06
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    Unfortunately, it is sometimes an issue, as specifically United does often not allow online check-in for international travel, as the name in the passport doesn’t match the (incorrectly joined) name on the ticket. I have been complaining for years with them. It is no issue at the airport though, just disables online check-in (and seat selection, meal preferences, etc.) – Aganju Jan 07 '18 at 22:55
  • For some reason my government-issued photo id (driver's license) only lists my middle initial, not my full middle name. I've flown pretty regularly for business for years, and it's never even been mentioned. – GalacticCowboy Jan 08 '18 at 14:56
  • Related (but not duplicate): https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/30947/my-name-has-mr-appended-on-airline-ticket-reservation-would-that-cause-proble – CompuChip Jan 09 '18 at 13:41
  • There won't be a problem getting on the plane, as others have said. The main concern is that your frequent-flyer number is correct! – Mike Harris Jan 09 '18 at 15:58
  • I called United about this the first time I noticed it. They told me it was normal. Pretty dumb, if you ask me -- they must have hundreds of people calling to ask about it every day. – foobarbecue Jan 09 '18 at 17:51
  • Once, they put my two last names together and truncated in a ticket. It was not a problem traveling but, still to this day, I receive publicity mail that is addressed to my name with the two last names together and truncated (specially from, but not limited to, a bank that rhymes with “grace”). – Alvaro Montoro Jan 09 '18 at 19:08
  • This exact problem is here, where there isn't a problem. – wizzwizz4 Jan 09 '18 at 19:22
  • The hyphen in my last name is always missing, it's also just one very long name. Never had a problem. – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun Jan 10 '18 at 14:15
  • I recently installed and registered the CheckMyTrip app for easy management of all my flights, and it refuses to accept any United reservations because their FIRSTMIDDLE first name data does not match the FIRST first name data registered on the app. All other airlines' reservations work fine. This is a simple fix when designing a new system but I suspect that United's reservation system is probably 50 years old and would be difficult to modify. – Keith Bennett Feb 12 '24 at 03:49

2 Answers2

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There's nothing to correct. This is very common with airline reservation systems, and everyone handling your boarding pass should know what it means.

Zach Lipton
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    To give a better example, if your name was John Walter Smith, it would be Johnwalter if your boarding pass was showing up like mine is right now. Is that still okay? – question2018 Jan 07 '18 at 19:59
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    @question2018 Yes, exactly. My United boarding passes are usually of exactly that form (actually, they usually add "Mr" on the end so it's more like "Smith JohnWaltermr", sometimes even truncated) and nobody blinks twice at it. It does have your last name on there somewhere, right? – Zach Lipton Jan 07 '18 at 20:01
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    Yes, it has the last name too. It says Traveler Name: Firstmiddle Last – question2018 Jan 07 '18 at 20:06
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    That likely is a technical standard going back many years. They combine it into two fields and the separator in some transfer is a space - so first and middle name must be without space. Most of those system standards are OLD. – TomTom Jan 08 '18 at 08:26
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    It's also a case study in silly validation assumptions when dealing with real-world identifying information. Think of all those "ZIP Code" forms online that require you to live in just one of almost 200 countries available. – Lightness Races in Orbit Jan 08 '18 at 15:07
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    This is indeed correct. I've never had a problem. One way to look at it is, they just don't have "hyphen" or even "space" in that character set for that field - so it comes out that way. After all, folks with rock-umlauts etc. in their name, also suffer simplification of the presentation of the name. – Fattie Jan 08 '18 at 16:42
  • @LightnessRacesinOrbit related reading http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ – user2752467 Jan 08 '18 at 21:18
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    It is also worth noting they often do this with hyphenated surnames too: SMITH-JONES goes to SMITHJONES. Many website won't accept hyphens and this has never been an issue when travelling extensively around the world. – sam_smith Jan 09 '18 at 01:24
  • Keep in mind that although Americans usually have a first, middle, and last name, that's not how it works everywhere (and plenty of Americans have more than three names). Japanese people only have a first and last name. Hispanic people frequently have one given and two last names. If the airline has two name 'slots' and combines FirstMiddle, LastLast, etc, they can accommodate all kinds of names without having to have a bunch of different name fields. It's easier for everyone. – Keiki Jan 09 '18 at 14:16
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    Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff = Adolph Blaine Charles David .. plus, of course Some societes have naming rules you wouldn't expect – quetzalcoatl Jan 09 '18 at 14:42
  • @JustinLardinois: Exactly the page I had in mind! Thanks for digging it out again - I would never have been able to find it. – Lightness Races in Orbit Jan 09 '18 at 14:53
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Having worked on airline reservations software development teams, PNR name records are usually using antiquated systems and the names are limited to 10 characters for first-middle name. They id you by your drivers license or passport numbers (if that) If you think John Smith is a problem, wait until you see some Asian and pacific islander names, and even middle eastern names... ArtsrunHovhannisyan, VohanHovhannisyan, and a million duplicate Zhang Wei Changs, Wang Fang Chungs, etc. The systems were not designed to handle long names so they are often, very often abbreviated. I.A.T.A. and others have been trying for decades to fix things like this.

Richard Howes
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