TSA boarding pass and movement monitoring issues...

[ChrisFlyer]

Hi all,

I've recently returned from North America, and ran into an issue at the LAX TBIT north checkpoint (before boarding the final flight back home) a few days ago.

During the trip, I travelled on QF, UA, AC, VX, and DL - and while abroad, passed through LAX, JFK, EWR, YQB, YUL, YYZ, ORD, YVR, SFO, LAS, and then LAX again at the end (and yes, I realise some are non-TSA airports (ie. in Canada), but in many cases those were USA-bound flights). When entering the LAX checkpoint for my QF LAX-MEL flight, the TSA ID checker didn't like the fact that QF had printed my full last name, but only my first initial on the boarding pass (as they have done on EVERY boarding pass I've ever had - as my full name doesn't appear to fit)... she tried to demand that I return to the QF counter to get a new boarding pass, and when I protested, her colleague overheard, and told her to let me through if I had a printed flight reservation showing my full name (with matching flight details). She was of course not happy with this at all, and argued with the colleague before eventually letting me through.

The initial has never been a problem anywhere else (and also wasn't a problem at LAX 3 weeks prior, albeit the south checkpoint instead). As to the other boarding passes, UA & AC showed full first and last name with no middle name details, VX showed full first and last names, and also the first 5 letters of my middle name (which made it incomplete), and DL showed my full surname, with only the first 9 letters of my first name (incomplete again), and no middle name details. All of these other boarding passes were accepted without question.

Given the variants described above are occurring when the same exact name is entered into the system, was the TSA agent just getting her daily power-fix, or is there actually some requirement to print more than just the initial? For the record, the full name was always entered when making the booking, and was also submitted in full with the Secure Flight information. I also didn't trigger the 'SSSS' marking, despite having many one-way bookings, and a total of 5 North America border crossings throughout the 3 week trip.

Also, when checking-in for the YVR-SFO flight (essentially my 3rd USA entry on the one trip), I needed to supply the exact date that I would return home to Australia. Additionally, my partner was asked to present her QF flight itinerary for the final flight home to the CBP officer at YVR pre-clearance. Then, every time we checked-in until reaching LAX, we were required to give the same information, and "Tvlr meets requirements" was printed on all our boarding passes, in addition to the "Verify AU Passport" line which had always shown. I found this interesting, as the YVR-SFO leg was our 3rd flight on the UA reservation, but was the first time that the information had been required. Long story short, is it standard practice for the Secure Flight program to prompt for this information after a certain number of border crossings, or after staying in the country for a certain number of days? ... or would someone at a government agency have needed to manually force the collection of this data against our passport numbers?

Many thanks in advance to those that manage to decipher my questions!

 

[dfcatch]

1/ In terms of your first question - I'm no expert, but it seems that QF was the most "incomplete" based on your examples.
I've found that TSA couldn't care less about the middle name, but they do care that there is enough of a "match" to your photo ID. Someone else may have a more technical answer.

I would suggest perhaps a slightly over-zealous officer in this instance, and a slightly slack one in your other TBIT checkpoint (assuming this was also QF with the same BP details).

2/ I have found YVR preclearance to be very thorough, so not surprised at their questions. YYZ IME can also be a pain.

As my understanding and experience goes, Secure Flight doesn't add anything to the system. You simply get red-flagged or you don't (AFAIK). I've never had any of the notations that you mentioned on AA, UA or AC. (although I've only flown UA on domestic since 9/11, so it may be different for Transborder flights).

So I would suspect that if there are additional flags against you it would have to have been placed there by someone. Also - CBP entry appraisals and Secure Flight are two different programs. One tests you against watch lists, one determines whether you meet entry requirements.

FWIW - I have found that showing your itinerary (return flight home) and stating exact travel details are standard questions.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Thanks very much for your detailed reply! I think next time I'll just ask QF to print my full name (if possible), or for the checkin agent to write it on and sign/stamp it. As to the CBP flags, I'll pay close attention during my next trip to see if/when they reappear.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thanks very much for your detailed reply! I think next time I'll just ask QF to print my full name (if possible), or for the checkin agent to write it on and sign/stamp it. As to the CBP flags, I'll pay close attention during my next trip to see if/when they reappear.

I would also take a copy of your eticket itinerary receipt with you to prove your name is booked exactly how it is in your passport. A hard copy of your ESTA application should verify this as well. I think TSA were probably assuming that if only your first initial was on the boarding pass, then that was how your name appeared in the booking which obviously wasn't the case.

The fact that only your initial prints out on the boarding pass is only cosmetic so would be more to do with the QF system parameters. It sounds like the boarding passes will only print out a certain amount of characters so going back to QF & asking them to reprint it wouldn't work.

If your airline pnr is correctly booked under your full name which is identical to the name in your passport IMHO there's nothing more that needs to be done & you as a passenger have fulfilled your obligations.

Maybe TSA need to take the issue up with QF & ask them to reprogram the system.