A traveller has revealed why having two middle names made booking a plane ticket ‘very difficult’.
The holidaymaker said they struggled to book a flight as a result.
LoveFoolosophy12 wrote on Reddit: ‘My wife has two middle names and it’s making booking a plane ticket on Japan Airlines very difficult.
‘My wife and I are planning a trip to Japan from Los Angeles and we’d like to fly on JAL.
‘Their website will not allow two middle names to be written with a space in between them yet they have multiple disclaimers that names must match what is on the passport EXACTLY.
‘I’ve read some horror stories about people having to pay $500+ to change their name last minute at the airport.’
They added: ‘We spoke to customer service for over an hour today and finally we realised we did not get the error message we had been getting if we combine the two middle names as one long name when booking the ticket.
‘So her name looks exactly as it is, except there is no space in between her two middle names. Does anyone think this will pose a problem?
The traveller encountered the difficulty while booking a flight with Japan Airlines
‘We are considering refunding the tickets before 24-hour cancellation is up and just booking with an airline like Delta to avoid this hassle, but we love JAL’s economy class in comparison.’
Comments on the post were filled with fellow travellers sharing similar experiences – and, helpfully, reassuring the traveller there would be no issues.
One wrote: ‘The airline system doesn’t allow spaces or apostrophes. It also capitalises every letter.
‘So, as long as the letters are in the right order, that’s all that matters. Source – travel agent who has been booking air for 12+ years.’
Another commented: ‘Just adding my two cents as somebody who also encounters this problem: I never have issues with using one combination middle name.’
A third chimed in: ‘I have two middle names myself. I just put them listed as one middle name.
‘Basically writing both middle names with their correct capital letters but just not having a space between.
‘So my name comes out something like “Jane MarieLee Smith” instead of “Jane Marie Lee Smith“ (not my real name).
Having two middle names made filling out all the boxes required more challenging
‘And most of the time on my plane ticket it’s printed as JaneMar Smith because there’s not enough room.’
Another wrote: ‘Exactly this, my mom has the same ‘problem’. Her two middle names are just written as one name.’
Others did face struggles, too, with one saying: ‘I almost had trouble leaving a country because one of my names has a cC in it, and for some reason my passport wrote that with a space between them? And my ticket didn’t, because my name had no space? A quick chat with a supervisor and it was sorted but throwing this story out there for fun.’
When contacted by the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Japan Airlines said: ‘We understand that some customers find it challenging to enter their middle names correctly, which can result in longer times to complete reservations. We appreciate your patience and the opportunity to clarify this.
‘The middle name input field allows spaces between names; however, without specific information about the problems encountered by the customer, it is difficult to identify the exact cause. It could be due to character limits, but in such cases, the system typically displays a rejection message to guide the user.
‘For further clarity, we provide detailed guidance regarding common input errors in the JAL system. This guidance is available via a link that opens in a separate window.
‘Please be assured that we value customer feedback deeply and are continuously working to improve the input process and overall user experience based on such insights.’
