Some elite-level frequent flyers may encounter status recognition problems at airports now that airlines and travel agencies are implementing the Transportation Security Administration's Secure Flight passenger prescreening program. Under Secure Flight rules, the names travelers use to make bookings must exactly match the names on their government-issued identifications (including middle names, first or middle initials, etc.), which may not exactly match the names associated with their frequent flyer accounts.
According to travel agency sources speaking with The Beat, discrepancies between travelers' frequent flyer account names and the names on their official IDs historically caused no problems at security checkpoints or with airline loyalty programs. Now, when some travelers book with names that don't match their loyalty program profiles, they miss out on upgrade opportunities and other perks.
"We are indeed aware of this problem," according to Paul Ruden, American Society of Travel Agents senior vice president for legal and industry affairs. "At the moment, I see no solution except the long and laborious one. Clients, with or without the help of their TMCs, are going to have to square away their frequent flyer identities with their government ID identities. It may be difficult and/or tedious at first, but I suspect the airlines will end up trying to facilitate the process even if they are late getting started."
The "laborious" solution is revising frequent flyer account information. Depending on the airline, that could require faxing or mailing paper documents, and/or attempting to make the change several times before it sticks. Nevertheless, some travel agencies have advised travelers to change frequent flyer accounts as soon as possible so the information matches their official identification.
Management.travelasked the six largest U.S. carriers if they had adapted frequent flyer account systems to ease the Secure Flight transition for their best customers. Continental Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways did not provide an answer. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines responded but indicated no changes to their systems or processes, and offered no details about Secure Flight implementation.
"The government says that your travel documents need to match your ID," according to an AA spokesman. "If there are discrepancies, TSA might do some review of the documents at the checkpoint, but it's not impacting our AAdvantage database at this point. We're still confirming with TSA to determine how we want to communicate that with our frequent flyers. At some point, they will need to use full legal name."
At Delta, the airline "is working with TSA to ensure we comply with the implementation of the agency's Secure Flight initiative," according to a spokeswoman. "We will make the appropriate customer notifications closer to implementation later this year."
Disparities between names in frequent flyer accounts and on official IDs are not yet affecting many travelers, given the phased-in approach TSA is taking with Secure Flight implementation (full industry compliance is not required until the second half of 2009). Many agencies have not yet begun requesting from travelers the exact information Secure Flight requires, primarily because they are awaiting specific instructions from airlines and global distribution systems.
But some travelers already have been affected.
A & I Travel Service president Rebecca Martin last month described the case of an American Airlines frequent flyer who has maintained platinum status in the carrier's loyalty program for 14 years. "His reservations have always been booked by us under R. David Baker (not his real name)," she explained this month. "His ID reads Robert David Baker, but he's never had trouble getting through security to date. His frequent flyer account reads Robert Baker, but that's never been an issue with American ... until this week. [American] advised that he must either change his reservation name to match his frequent flyer account in order to receive miles and elite status recognition (i.e., upgrades), or he must change his frequent flyer account to match his reservation name. Ultimately, his government ID name will trump either process."
The FlyerTalk forum for frequent travelers this month highlighted a similar experience. "My [Continental] OnePass account is listed as 'Shawn', but my ID and passport is listed as 'Shaun'," explained the author of one post. "In 10 years, I have never had a problem until checking in last week for an international flight. It was a huge [pain] to get me checked in for the flight."
Some travel agencies may have systems in place requiring consistent traveler profiles, but for others, Secure Flight will "be a huge administrative task for corporate travel management companiessuch as ours," said A & I's Martin. "We see a looming disaster if this issue is not addressed in conjunction with Secure Flight mandates. It's a potentially very ugly scenario--for the traveler who will not get his/her elite status upgrades; for the airline frequent flyer departments that will be overwhelmed with name change requests; and for the TMCs, which will have to explain it, deal with it, fix it, hand-hold it, etc."