Woman kept off WOW flight for not having middle name on boarding pass

[OriZ 3,157]

So here is what I mentioned in the other thread that I will post...no this is not another thread bashing airlines, quite the contrary. Again, zero accountability, lets just blame everyone else but ourselves. WHO THE HELL BOOKS A FLIGHT WITHOUT MAKING SURE THEIR NAME MATCHES THEIR PASSPORT? Stop blaming everyone else for your own stupidity, this shouldn't even be newsworthy.

 

A Canadian woman was allegedly denied boarding on a WOW Air flight because her boarding pass did not have her middle name printed and therefore did not match her passport.

Ashley Collins of Mississauga, Ontario said she arrived at Pearson International Airport Sunday with her friend to fly to Iceland, City News reported. However, when Collins went to the airline counter, she claims she was told she would not be able to fly.

“Once we got to the front, the lady said to her supervisor, ‘It’s another one.’” Collins said to City News. “She handed me my passport and said I was missing the middle name on the ticket so I was denied boarding the flight.”

Collins said she was given a customer service number to call, but a WOW airlines agent told her they could not change her name on the ticket less than four hours prior to the flight.

“We were really looking forward to this trip,” she told City News. “We had no options at that point.”

Collins ended up having to pay for a new flight to Iceland for the next day, which she told City News cost more than the round-trip tickets she had initially purchased. She was also charged $23 to change her name on her return ticket.

Collins was far from the only one affected by the middle name rule. She said an airport employee told her the same thing happened to 11 WOW customers the day before.

“I just advise everyone to make sure you put your middle name (on your ticket) whether the airlines require it or not because you don’t want to run into a situation like I did,” she said to City News.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/04/10/woman-kept-off-wow-flight-for-not-having-middle-name-on-boarding-pass.html

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

Well, in her defense, it’s a dumb rule to not be able to change the name on the ticket inside of four hours.  If you are at the counter, and can prove who you are with valid ID, there is NO reason not to change it.  

That being said, my tickets always reflect my full name, as do every form of ID I own.

[yuna628 9,688]

Well if the name is not a required field there could be some who simply don't fill it out. They should have it be middle name required or a tick box to select that you have no middle name.

Would they deny someone if they decided to just put an initial rather than the full middle name? If you can prove who you are with ID, I see it as kind of being a stupid policy. Yes, they should have filled it out, but if there's not a requirement on the form...

 

[OriZ 3,157]

I've never flown WOW so I'm not really sure how they do it but that's a well known requirement - if you're not aware of it maybe you shouldn't be flying. Any attempt to lay blame on anyone else but herself in this case just won't fly with me(pun intended)

[yuna628 9,688]

18 minutes ago, OriZ said:

I've never flown WOW so I'm not really sure how they do it but that's a well known requirement - if you're not aware of it maybe you shouldn't be flying. Any attempt to lay blame on anyone else but herself in this case just won't fly with me(pun intended)

People are, shall we say, in general, usually stupid... and do stupid things. It makes sense to me that I would fill out the fields asked, but if WOW didn't make it a required field, a general dumbdumb might not answer it. My in-laws fly constantly, but they get someone else to fill out everything for them.. they don't have an honest clue.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

6 hours ago, IDWAF said:

Well, in her defense, it’s a dumb rule to not be able to change the name on the ticket inside of four hours.  If you are at the counter, and can prove who you are with valid ID, there is NO reason not to change it.  

That being said, my tickets always reflect my full name, as do every form of ID I own.

I agree. Seems like something like that could be fixed on the spot, with proper ID

[bcking 3,157]

7 hours ago, OriZ said:

So here is what I mentioned in the other thread that I will post...no this is not another thread bashing airlines, quite the contrary. Again, zero accountability, lets just blame everyone else but ourselves. WHO THE HELL BOOKS A FLIGHT WITHOUT MAKING SURE THEIR NAME MATCHES THEIR PASSPORT? Stop blaming everyone else for your own stupidity, this shouldn't even be newsworthy.

 

Sometimes things are newsworthy to educate other members of the public.

 

Perhaps less people will make this admittedly stupid mistake after having read the story about her. From what you quoted it doesn't seem like the customer necessarily blamed WOW airlines either. She is saying that she hopes other people won't make the same mistake.

 

I always include my middle name and as a result my boarding pass almost always has a strange amalgam of my first and middle name as my "first name". I'm always worried someone will say something since it's my first name and then the first 4 letters of my middle name (I guess because they run out of room?) so technically it doesn't match my First/Last name or my First/Middle/Last name. I assume the computer system has the whole thing.

Edited April 12, 2018 by bcking

[charmander 692]

9 minutes ago, bcking said:

Sometimes things are newsworthy to educate other members of the public.

When there is nothing to talk about, even the sex-crazed pandas could become newsworthy.  Coincidentally it could be on the same day Trump's attorney getting raided by feds.

https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/tucker-carlson-pandas-sex-crazed-fox-news.html

[Unidentified 2,930]

4 hours ago, yuna628 said:

Well if the name is not a required field there could be some who simply don't fill it out. They should have it be middle name required or a tick box to select that you have no middle name.

Would they deny someone if they decided to just put an initial rather than the full middle name? If you can prove who you are with ID, I see it as kind of being a stupid policy. Yes, they should have filled it out, but if there's not a requirement on the form...

 

The name of the ticket need to match your ID. So if your ID (let's say driver's license) have the full middle name, you have to put in the full middle name. If it only has an initial, you put an initial. Same with passports. They have to match. 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

23 minutes ago, Unidentified said:

The name of the ticket need to match your ID. So if your ID (let's say driver's license) have the full middle name, you have to put in the full middle name. If it only has an initial, you put an initial. Same with passports. They have to match. 

The rule on Passports in Canada is quite interesting.  The middle name is required and must match exactly your birth certificate. Like:  Carrie-Ann, Carrie Ann and Carrie all being different.    Enhanced DLs are more relaxed.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Il Mango Dulce

[Unidentified 2,930]

1 minute ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

The rule on Passports in Canada is quite interesting.  The middle name is required and must match exactly your birth certificate. Like:  Carrie-Ann, Carrie Ann and Carrie all being different.    Enhanced DLs are more relaxed.

You mean when applying for Passport? Since you mention birth certificate. Isn't like that everywhere?

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

4 hours ago, Unidentified said:

You mean when applying for Passport? Since you mention birth certificate. Isn't like that everywhere?

If your application does not match your middle name exactly they will reject it.

[Lemonslice 4,922]

1 hour ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

If your application does not match your middle name exactly they will reject it.

If you are renewing your passport, you can renew it in the exact same name.  (Simplified renewal)

If you are filing a complete application *necessary when the passport has been expired for more than a year, lost or stolen, or first time after 16 years old), then you have to submit your proof of citizenship (ex. Birth certificate) and then it has to match your full name.  

 

One of my life goals is to never lose my Canadian passport since my four first names (no middle names) are not fitting in the passport, or airlines reservation systems. 

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

And this is what happens when one books a flight on a third-rate LCC airline.  Would never have happened on a US airline.

[payxibka 10,047]

6 hours ago, Unidentified said:

The name of the ticket need to match your ID. So if your ID (let's say driver's license) have the full middle name, you have to put in the full middle name. If it only has an initial, you put an initial. Same with passports. They have to match. 

Never have put in my middle name and never a problem