Comments on: Are TSA screenings about to get tougher?

By: TerryO

TerryO — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:05:27 +0000

I live in an area where multiple middle names are common. Being very aware that the pax name–as it appears on the passport–is required, I comply when booking flights/cruises. Apparently, many of the airline providers don’t have the capability of including a “space” between words. As a result, Mrs Mary Sue Louise Joan Jane Smytherly-Brownstone prints out as:
“SMYTHERLY-BROWNS, Marysuelouisejoa Mrs” on the ‘E-ticket’
It doesn’t resemble the Passport very much, but, that’s the way the “system” does it. So far, most of the bookings I’ve made accept the hyphen. For now.

It’s one thing to have a requirement. It would be nice if the ‘requirement maker’ checked to see if all the systems were compliant (or able to be compliant) first.

By: Bela Fleck

Bela Fleck — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:45:58 +0000

I was also wondering about those folks who have multiple middle names. Which one do you provide? I’m sure there won’t be room in automated systems to give all of them? I knew a girl in high school who had four middle names. What a nightmare for her if she travels a lot these days.

By: Jennifer (the other one)

Jennifer (the other one) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:03:13 +0000

On the plus side, this should reduce the number of five-year-old ‘terrorists’ and senators barred from flying because they have the same names as IRA members…

Sad, sad world we live in.

By: Steve Surjaputra

Steve Surjaputra — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:27:08 +0000

I just heard on the radio that TSA is redoing the Random Gate Checks now. In other words, even if you are at the gate, TSA will have an agent at the gate to pull people off the boarding line to check your carryons.

By: Don J

Don J — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:00:41 +0000

The added information is a step in the right direction. Formal identification should have full name. Full first, middle, and last name, along with date (DOB) and place of birth (POB), supplemented with gender would be better. POB, combined with the other data, is the one that would really winnow down the false positives. For international travel, where a passport number is required, the POB becomes known as that is on the passport. That’s the good news.

Some provision needs to be made in the system for individuals who have only a first initial or middle initial — it stands for nothing, it is just an letter — and for those who have neither middle name nor middle initial.

Then, of course, there are folks with hypenated surnames……..

None of this is worth two cents if the underlying documentation the person presented when getting all the official documents (driver’s license, passport, Green Card, etc.) have not been thoroughly verified.

Total securitiy = Total immobility