We have had the same problem as OP. Our last name is similar to O'Brien. We enter it that way but often the boarding pass will say Obrien. Our daughter was flying home after studying abroad and they gave her trouble because her boarding pass and passport didn't match identically.

It worked out and they eventually let her through, but it was the system that messed it up.

I think the problem is your frequently flier account.

I could book a plane ticket today for Elmo Big Bird and they would let me as long as I have ID to match at the airport.

If your name is Thomas William Smith Jones, then the "last name" is considered Jones and the "middle name" is considered William Smith by most naming conventions in the US.

If your name is Thomas William Smith-Jones, then the "last name" is considered Smith-Jones and the "middle name" is considered William by most naming conventions in the US.

If it bothers you to have the Smith placed in the middle, then typed it in as a hyphenated Smith-Jones. Problem solved.

Another reason my hyphen or maiden names are a nuisance

I use my full maiden name as a middle name. Only way I get it to work is

[FIRSTNAME MAIDENNAME] [Lastname]

What if you try to type it as one word, SmithJones?

My kids have a hyphenated name that's pretty long, but if the last letters are cut off, it's never been a big deal - people can tell it's a computer issue.

Anonymous wrote:How do you make an airline reservation? If you do this online or on the app on your phone, can’t you just put it in correctly there?

This. How are you making reservations?

Did you initially enter it incorrectly somehow? I have 2 middle names and 1 last, and they all always show up correctly, so the system is capable of handling unconventional situations.

Change your name.

Anonymous wrote:How do you make an airline reservation? If you do this online or on the app on your phone, can’t you just put it in correctly there?

Not really. If you get married or divorced and change your name, you have to show proof of legal change.

Anonymous wrote:How do you make an airline reservation? If you do this online or on the app on your phone, can’t you just put it in correctly there?

They control the names, you have to put in a request every time you try to change it if you have an account. It's frustrating.

I suppose you can call and tell them but there is no guarantee that they don't movie it in the wrong spot anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I would assume it's as simple as a computer character number issue. I have a rather long first+middle+last name so on documents that print all three something frequently gets cut of.

Sorry I don't have a solution for you. But I don't think it's intentional difficult-ness, it's just the limits of technology.

I don't think I'm being singled out, hopefully it didn't read that way. But my actual names are about as short as Smith Jones, so I don't think it's a character issue. My colleague's last name is Indian and 13 letters--that's more than mine.

How do you make an airline reservation? If you do this online or on the app on your phone, can’t you just put it in correctly there?

I would assume it's as simple as a computer character number issue. I have a rather long first+middle+last name so on documents that print all three something frequently gets cut of.

Sorry I don't have a solution for you. But I don't think it's intentional difficult-ness, it's just the limits of technology.

Just wondering if anyone else has had these issues and how you managed to resolve them. My last name is two names, so essentially Thomas (First name) William (middle) Smith Jones (Last Name). They either drop the Jones entirely (first go around) or now they have moved Smith to middle. Problems always arise with TSA since now the ticket no longer matches passport.

Not sure why this seems to be so hard. I don't care if they stick in a hyphen or just run them together like Smithjones, but somehow that seems a bridge too hard.

Am I just having bad luck or they just difficult? Or both.