Name on Passport and Name on Airplane Ticket

It doesn't matter. Something like a maiden last name would, but even that can be overcome with a chain of supporting documents with authenticated translations.

I don't know what would happen if one said Joe P Smith and the other said Joe Ralph Smith or some other combination that didn't make a lick of decipherable sense.

Middle names and initials are not the issue. First and last name must however be exactly the same( if name on passport is William, do not book airline ticket as " Bill") use no shortened or nicknames for tickets as passport usually ( in Canada anyways) be your legal name on birth certificate .

Ok, thanks! Yes, I called Lufthansa and they just put the middle names into the computer so they match with Homeland Security info.

Every time we fly the airline abbreviates my wife's middle two names. She has never had any problems as long as the first and last are correct. The other Alex in Longmont (male version).

I omit the middle name from tickets. Never had a problem. It is my understanding that middle names are not critical but if you use a middle then it has to match. Joe Smith on the ticket is fine when matched to Joe Micheal Smith on the passport. However, a Joe Paul Smith on the ticket and Joe Michael Smith on the passport would be a problem. We have had an inconsistency over the years with my wife who sometimes has id with her given middle name, Mary Sue Smith and sometimes uses her first name, maiden name, and last name, Mary Jones Smith. Because we are never sure about which middle name she used we just started using Mary Smith. Never had a problem in not using a middle name.

My passport and driver's license contain my first name, last name from first marriage (name I used at work), last name from second marriage (matching my child's name). Airlines often only use initial of "middle" name but no problems as long as it reflects what's on ID.

Note that's why for many women "birth certificate name" doesn't count as "passport name"

Virgin Atlantic actually has a quirk where it appends the middle initial onto your first name, leaving Joe Michael as JoeM in their system and guaranteeing it won't perfectly match the passport.

My passport has my full middle name. On my last flight to Europe, my ticket had only my middle initial printed on it (although the airline has my full middle name). Not a problem.

My last plane ticket had my name as: MSNANCYL (all one word) then my last name. Obviously didn't match my passport but had no problem. Immigration people are used to these small differences between tickets and passports.

Whoa!

TWO Alex in Longmont, CO, USA?!? How'd that happen?!? I didn't think the site allowed the second one...

Now each time I see you, I'm going to have to check each of your profiles ;-)

OR - from now on, just type the first word of each of your responses in either pink or blue.

We gave our son two middle names (after his grandfathers). This makes it hard to ever get the entire middle name (15 characters total) on any form. He has never had a problem, but I do admit to anxiety.

My middle name is on my passport and even if I enter it when ordering my plane tickets, it never shows up on the tickets other than as an initial. Like others, I fly like this every time and never had a problem.