Middle Name in QFF Profile

[Einherjar]

I understand that you need to have your middle name included in the QFF profile if you want to redeem international flights due to the requirements of having the ticket matching the passport.

Is it true that Qantas don't have a middle name field in their QFF databases? Bit of an oversight if that's the case.
I keep receiving letters addressed to me as "Dear {FirstName} {MiddleName},"
I usually obscure my middle name in credit cards (with initial only) more for privacy reasons as I don't advertise my middle name for the majority of my correspondence.
Customer service confirms that there is no {MiddleName} field so they tack on the middle name to the first name like a suffix. It's a bit annoying, unless I'm not being specific with them?

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

My passport of course has my middle name, but I have travelled (not to US though), only to NZ and Singapore with this new passport, with QF with EK, (Air)NZ and VA/old V(Blue), and have never had a problem either not having a middle name or not.
My last trip was coming back from NZ, with (Air)NZ, in Jul, without middle name and it was no problem.
With QF too, even when there was the EK flight Au - NZ, no middle name wasn't a problem.

 

[Einherjar]

My passport of course has my middle name, but I have travelled (not to US though), only to NZ and Singapore with this new passport, with QF with EK, (Air)NZ and VA/old V(Blue), and have never had a problem either not having a middle name or not.
My last trip was coming back from NZ, with (Air)NZ, in Jul, without middle name and it was no problem.
With QF too, even when there was the EK flight Au - NZ, no middle name wasn't a problem.

That's good to hear although I have read about some nightmare issues when they straight out refuse to let you board because it does not exactly match what the passport says. Maybe those news articles omit some information which caused them to be in that situation and to be singled out later.

 

[mannej]

I am failing to recall ever having my middle name on a booking, domestic or international?

 

[Jack_OC]

I understand that you need to have your middle name included in the QFF profile if you want to redeem international flights due to the requirements of having the ticket matching the passport.

Who told you that?​

I don't have a middle name, but my wife and kids do, and I have never included their middle names in any bookings I've made on their behalf. Nobody has ever even commented on this. I can't say for certain that this is not an issue anywhere, but we have been to a fair few places in recent years (including the US, Singapore, UAE, Japan, NZ, Germany, Italy, Ireland and the UK).

 

[Einherjar]

Who told you that?​

Spoke to Qantas FF Customer Service and I was planning to remove my middle name and the 1st thing they warned me was that if I was travelling international, my middle name should be included.

I recall reading news articles "for" and "against" the inclusion of middle names. A quick google on 'middle name' 'international flights' 'ticket' 'passport' comes up with a few articles I've seen

Can I fly if my ticket is missing my middle name? - Point Hacks
Leaving your middle name off your plane ticket can get you denied from boarding your flight — here's why
No middle name on ticket could get you kicked off a flight
Do I Need To Put My Middle Name On My Airline Ticket? [2018]

Of course no site (including this forum) is a definitive source of truth as YMMV between airlines (and staff, especially if you piss them off and they want to find a way to make your day miserable). I just wanted to hear everyone's experience..and why a database would not include a middle name field if Qantas Customer Service are telling people that this "should" be included in their profile if it isn't.

 

[eminere]

Spoke to Qantas FF Customer Service and I was planning to remove my middle name and the 1st thing they warned me was that if I was travelling international, my middle name should be included.

Interesting, as Qantas's official policy actually appears to be the opposite:

Are Middle Names Required?
Qantas does not require a middle name to be included when making a booking and issuing your customer's ticket. If other airlines are included in the booking, we recommend you check their policy.

If your customer’s itinerary includes the USA, it is mandatory for you to add Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) and Secure Flight Passenger Data to their booking before you can issue the ticket. The added name details must match the passport and include any middle names. Middle names are not required for ESTA applications.

Source: Qantas Agency Connect

A good rule of thumb I reckon however is:

Domestic: No need for middle name
International: All names as they appear in your passport/travel document

 

[Jack_OC]

The reality is that some people working for QF Customer Service have no idea what they are talking about. Same with most airlines, unfortunately. Clearly QF does not require middle names on bookings of any description - if they did, then as you said, they would have a middle name field.

Two of the links you posted relate to the same incident, where an airline refused to board a passenger due to this issue, and I note it's an LCC. It's hard not to conclude this is just another LCC money making scam - i.e. they set their booking system up to ask for a middle name and then use it to catch people out if they don't bother, thus forcing them to pay exorbitant change fees. This incident doesn't seem to have had anything to do with security checks or passport control issues.

The other two articles don't really say anything other than you probably don't need to add your middle name - as they point out, your middle name will not always appear on your BP even if it is in the booking, so security/passport control are highly unlikely to even check this IMHO.

 

[Einherjar]

The reality is that some people working for QF Customer Service have no idea what they are talking about.

I can agree with this. I tried calling up to simply remove my middle name (or should I say my 2nd first name since they dont have a middle name field) and they want me to submit Identification to prove that I don't have a middle name...
Since when have they become so tight on checking ID to fix my profile? If I'm trying to fly without a middle name, then that's on me. If I'm completely changing my name and committing some fraud act, I'm not too sure how that can be done as it's not a financial institution (although some clever person will have figured a way to do something, I'm sure).
You don't need ID to create an account. I was able to create one simply by creating a Woolworths Everday Rewards account and go via that route. Another option to avoid paying Qantas fees is the Joey Kids sign up route: Frequent Flyer Membership

I'll try and call again and just tell them to remove it...

On a slightly different note: Would having my middle name with financial institutions (ie: all my credit card rewards which go to Qantas FF) have an issue if my QFF profile has no middle name? Doesn't "officially" match? I wouldn't think so but thought I may as well ask this, too.

 

[calmelb]

I can confirm middle names make no difference (and I usually omit mine since I have two middle names, even when travelling internationally). The important passenger information is passed onto the relevant countries when they check you in so unless you need to enter the APIS data it is not needed beforehand (This has been my experience on SQ, CX, BA and, QF). The most I've had was the check in person in the Changi premium check-in scribbling my middle names onto my BP.

As with the credit card it also doesn't matter. Since it does work for my mum who doesn't have her middle name with QF but does with ANZ. As far as I know it just checks your first name/ last name from your bank account and the ff details

 

[ftm]

The middle name requirement varies by airline. QF doesn't require it.

What we have seen recently is more airlines being "difficult" when it isn't included, so we are now booking clients as a matter of course with their middle names included. Cathay and Singapore are the most prominent and while I haven't heard of anyone being denied boarding because their middle name is missing, it can block online check in because the passport name doesn't match the ticket name.

 

[There'sOnlyOneJimmy]

Although one incident doesn’t constitute a definitive ruling, I had an experience a couple of years ago that’s led to me always including middle names in international bookings...
I had added some flight sectors (on QR) to an existing OWCA Itinerary. But a few days later, the new e-ticket hadn't issued. So I called back and was told that there was a piece of information missing from my booking record (my middle name), which had caused the changes to stall. I was told that QR always require middle name in the booking record. (Note: I’m not saying this is a fact, just what I was told at the time.)

The CSA told me that if I had waited one more day the seats would have been forfeited and they would have gone back into inventory . Although this was a QR specific issue, I still add the middle names to all international booking just to be sure, to be sure...

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Not having a middle name on a BP can also be a good thing, even if your passport has it.
Some people have a very careless attitude about where they leave BP on planes, I have seen them sitting in the magazine holder from previous flight, no, not my BP but others.
If the BP also has the QFF or other program's FF #, that then gives others the opportunity to try and get into someone elses account, if they were that way inclined.
Anyone want to try for a domestic QF booking, and leave out middle name, and see what happens, include your QFF # of course to earn points and QF SC, but don't include middle name and see what happens.
Or exclude middle name on a trip to NZ and see what happens.

 

[calmelb]

Not having a middle name on a BP can also be a good thing, even if your passport has it.
Some people have a very careless attitude about where they leave BP on planes, I have seen them sitting in the magazine holder from previous flight, no, not my BP but others.
If the BP also has the QFF or other program's FF #, that then gives others the opportunity to try and get into someone elses account, if they were that way inclined.
Anyone want to try for a domestic QF booking, and leave out middle name, and see what happens, include your QFF # of course to earn points and QF SC, but don't include middle name and see what happens.
Or exclude middle name on a trip to NZ and see what happens.

I don’t usually ever put my middle names international /domestic. Only times I do is when I’m autofilling a reward flight using my mums KrisFlyer account or my own which both have my middle names

 

[travellerqff]

Just enter your middle name on your ticket when making a new booking

 

[Aus ATC]

My wife does not have a middle name, but a hyphenated first name For example Aus-Atc xx_xx. Calls herself Aus (hates the 2nd part!). Many booking systems do not accept the hyphen so we vary with Aus, or Ausatc depending on what seems best at the time. Never had an issue but once got cold feet and changed a cruise booking to be closer to the full name.

 

[ajw373]

I used online help to make an international booking the other day and didn't provide the middle names of myself or my sons. Near the end of the process it dawned on me and asked if they were needed. The response was only for flights to the US, but if I was concerned I could contact them after the e-ticket had been processed and they would add the middle names at no cost.

 

[cf70]

Cathay are definitely tightening up, have been advised by them to always include middle name for all bookings now. Have heard rumours of similar with Qatar but unconfirmed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Middle name v no middle name is really only a problem when trying to credit FF points or get your FF number added to a booking. In some cases if the name on the ticket doesn't match the FF profile the number won't successfully get added. In other cases it makes no difference.

There have been some reports of airlines not accepting travel without middle name. IIRC WOW Air was enforcing middle names on a flight out of the US recently... but further discussion on the issue seemed to indicate the flight was oversold and they were using that as an excuse to cull numbers.

Some people have more than one middle name, or long middle names that get trunkated any way. I've never had an issue with TSA, CX or any other airline by leaving off - or including - middle names.

 

[kermatu]

I've never had a problem with or without middle names. But have often had check-in agents or initial TSA screening agent writing my middle name(s) by hand on my BP.