Will I have a problem with my flight booking?

[owenm]

I booked a trip on Thai, and their new updated app has Ms as default when inputing your name details. Usually the box is blank, and you select Mr, Mrs or Ms, but I missed it.

 

So I have a flight booked BKK to Melb next month, the name is correct, but I'm listed as a Ms and not a Mr. Will I have a problem at check-in with this issue?

 

I emailed Thai Airways support asking if I may be refused boarding at check-in? They declined to answer but wanted an extra 2000bht to change my ticketing name. My name is correct, but only the title of Ms is wrong.. Will I have a problem, or should I wear high heels?? My fare was about 17,000bht..

 

Please only reply with certainty, not guess work.. I don't want to be refused boarding.. Thanks..

 

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[Gumballl]

In Thailand, nothing is certain... well, other than nothing is certain.

 

If you have an issue, indicate to the airway person that you entered "Mr." Blame the "Ms." on a software issue with their booking system.

 

Seriously, you probably will not have any trouble.

[owenm]

In Thailand, nothing is certain... well, other than nothing is certain.
 
If you have an issue, indicate to the airway person that you entered "Mr." Blame the "Ms." on a software issue with their booking system.
 
Seriously, you probably will not have any trouble.

I mentioned that to them, and originally they said the onus was on me to check everything I input first.. They are now having someone check the booking process now for me.. I did mention with MAS, Air Asia and Jetstar that the title box is always blank, so you must make a selection.. I've never had this issue before, but to spend another 2k Thb I think is a bit rich..

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[janclaes47]

Wear a dress at check in.

[KittenKong]

3 hours ago, owenm said:

So I have a flight booked BKK to Melb next month, the name is correct, but I'm listed as a Ms and not a Mr. Will I have a problem at check-in with this issue?

Look at your passport. If you can find anywhere on it where it says "Mr" or "Mrs" or "Miss" then you may have a problem. But I dont think you will find anywhere on it where it says that.

 

Thai Airways is typically Thai: they will charge you extra for anything, if they think they can.

[ezzra]

Best will be to to a Thai shop, there are several of them around and sorted it out there and than...

[wellred]

You should just pay to change it and have peace of mind. I made a similar error once with Air Asia. After some chatter amongst themselves they changed it on the spot at the baggage drop off point/check in at Swampy. Not worth the risk though if it's a long haul flight.

[Andyfez]

Yes you will have a problem.

Airline regulations say the title should match your passport.

If you had spoken to them immediately after making the booking they should (in theory) have changed it for you with a Mai

Pen Rai. But this should have been checked, spotted and corrected immediately. 

Not by email.

In this time of various airline fees its usual for most airlines to charge for any change.

However IATA regulations also state that air tickets are non-transferable. So in charging a fee for changing your title, when it's obviously the same person is in controvention of their own terms.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Andyfez

[lanng khao]

100% sort it out now, you don't need any drama at check in, I missed a letter out my wife's first name and they weren't going to let her on the flight, only after a load of feet stomping and tears, that was off me by the way, that they let her on.

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[steve73]

Most passports show "M" or "F" for sex..  There is no distinction between Ms, Miss, or Mrs, since these are purely arbitrary titles. 

 

Preference to use the title Mr. even if you are actually female, or vice versa as in your case, should not be a problem.

 

BWTFDIK.

 

[owenm]

Yes you will have a problem.
Airline regulations say the title should match your passport.
If you had spoken to them immediately after making the booking they should (in theory) have changed it for you with a Mai
Pen Rai. But this should have been checked, spotted and corrected immediately. 
Not by email.
In this time of various airline fees its usual for most airlines to charge for any change.
However IATA regulations also state that air tickets are non-transferable. So in charging a fee for changing your title, when it's obviously the same person is in controvention of their own terms.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions and advice.. I phoned Thai Airways CS and they said I most likely would have an issue, so I paid the 2000bht to get the error in my title fixed.. What I wasn't happy about, was having to give my ccv no. over the phone with my c/c details to charge the additional fees to. Name, card details and expiry weren't sufficient for her.. I believe it could be a big security risk divulging my ccv to her on the phone.

At the same time I inquired about changing flights to a different date for 2 different bookings because my GF and I were on different flights to Melb due to one being booked early before GF Oz visa had been approved. Airfares were the same, only 2 seats available, and CS effortlessly changed both ticketing to new flight at no extra charge..
Her English was great , everything done in 5 mins. New ticketing emailed to me 10 min later.
10/10 for their CS..

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[owenm]

I'm going to put a temporary block on my card for 15 days just in case someone tries to use it with the ccv..
Maybe I'm worrying over nothing, but just to be on the safe side..

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[AgMech Cowboy]

Ouch. 2000 baht. I screwed up and let the auto fill on my computer put my given names in for a Vietnam Airlines flight and it just used my initials.  They corrected my name for no charge.  I really like Vietnam Airlines. Too bad about Thai.

[Srikcir]

Many foreign airlines use US TSA rules for their own security screening, perhaps even necessary where flights connect with or pass through the US.

TSA requires you to provide your full name, date of birth, and gender for the purpose of watch list screening, under the authority of 49 U.S.C. section 114, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and 49 C.F.R. parts 1540 and 1560. 

Under the Under Secure Flight program, passengers will be required to provide their name, gender, and date of birth when making a reservation to fly. The gender provided when making the reservation should match the gender indicated on the passenger’s government-issued identification.

[owenm]

Many foreign airlines use US TSA rules for their own security screening, perhaps even necessary where flights connect with or pass through the US.
TSA requires you to provide your full name, date of birth, and gender for the purpose of watch list screening, under the authority of 49 U.S.C. section 114, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and 49 C.F.R. parts 1540 and 1560. 
Under the Under Secure Flight program, passengers will be required to provide their name, gender, and date of birth when making a reservation to fly. The gender provided when making the reservation should match the gender indicated on the passenger’s government-issued identification.

My Thai GF's title in her PP is Ms.
My Oz PP doesn't list title, only gender M or F.

It does make sense from a security POV to have gender on booking and PP match.

BTW, 12 mths ago I booked a domestic flight with GF. I stuffed up here by entering Mr on her booking. Wasn't a problem then using Thai ID card, but not international..

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[steve73]

21 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Many foreign airlines use US TSA rules for their own security screening, perhaps even necessary where flights connect with or pass through the US.

TSA requires you to provide your full name, date of birth, and gender for the purpose of watch list screening, under the authority of 49 U.S.C. section 114, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and 49 C.F.R. parts 1540 and 1560. 

Under the Under Secure Flight program, passengers will be required to provide their name, gender, and date of birth when making a reservation to fly. The gender provided when making the reservation should match the gender indicated on the passenger’s government-issued identification.

Ref. my earlier post.. #10.

 

Gender is either M or F, yet booking web-sites (usually) ask for Mr, Ms, Miss, or Mrs.

 

Would a Thai ladyboy (whose Passport presumably says Male) arouse suspicion when "she" appears to be female, having booked as "her" preferred titles Ms. ? (or should she book as Mr?) 

Edited January 21, 2019 by steve73

[KittenKong]

1 hour ago, owenm said:

My Oz PP doesn't list title, only gender M or F.

It does make sense from a security POV to have gender on booking and PP match.

My UK passport does not indicate a title either, though of course it does have a box for M/F.

 

On some airlines the title part of the passenger details (not the names) can be modified online in the "manage my booking" section of their website. They also normally have sections for passport number, gender and date of birth etc. along with phone numbers and emergency contact details.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, owenm said:

I phoned Thai Airways CS and they said I most likely would have an issue, so I paid the 2000bht to get the error in my title fixed..

Well, some would call that cheap ...........

 

 

[Ulic]

No problem these days, your preferred gender pronoun can be anything you want. Mr, Mrs, Miss, Miz, Zee, Zur, They, it is how you identify. If someone were to question it, simply say that is how you identify. As I understand it, New York State currently recognizes about 30 gender pronouns for the LGBTQ etc, etc community 

If denied just threaten them with a human rights complaint lawsuit and press conference.

Edited January 21, 2019 by Ulic

[owenm]

My UK passport does not indicate a title either, though of course it does have a box for M/F.
 
On some airlines the title part of the passenger details (not the names) can be modified online in the "manage my booking" section of their website. They also normally have sections for passport number, gender and date of birth etc. along with phone numbers and emergency contact details.

In the new Thai Airways app they've made it much more user friendly, However you cannot change title or name.. No mention of gender.

I remember once in Melb arriving for check-in with Thai, I didn't bring my booking cc with me. Showing bank app on phone meant nothing. I had to do a 2.5hr round trip to get my c/c from home, $165 by taxi. I missed my flight and to re-book for next flight was 2000bht per ticket x 2.
A big lesson learnt. Thai are the only airline that insist you show the c/c used for the on-line booking. Never forgotten since..

But never on phone before asked for ccv no.???

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[KittenKong]

30 minutes ago, owenm said:

Thai are the only airline that insist you show the c/c used for the on-line booking. Never forgotten since..
But never on phone before asked for ccv no.???

Many airlines ask to see the credit card used at check-in if the booking was made not long before departure. They do it to protect themselves against people using stolen cards. If the booking is weeks or months ahead they dont usually bother.

 

The ccv number is often requested for "customer not present" transactions and it is normal to provide it for most online purchases or over-the-phone transactions if they exceed the floor limit of the merchant.

[PerkinsCuthbert]

Just tell them you self-identify as a Ms; hell, there are wingnuts around these days who think they are rococo table legs. You'll have no problem.

[AAArdvark]

Make sure you put "ka" at the end of every sentence.

[Gracas]

You could tell them that in Australia many men are treated as Ms. by the female population.

[richard_smith237]

I had the same issue with Etihad... (or rather my Wife did)... We purchased an Award Ticket (on our Airmiles).... I think at the time we were both Gold Members...  

Although we'd logged in with our Frequent Flyer account, for some reason my Wife's ticket was issued as Mr, even though it was linked to her Frequent Flyer account which is clearly Mrs. 

Etihad wouldn't resolve the issue without a US$75 payment - I argued that it was their mistake not mine (I had a Web receipt at the Time of Purchase for Mr & Mrs Smith - but the issued Tickets were Mr & Mr)... 

It took a handful of phonecalls, a lot of crappy customer service before I just gave up and decided to chance it. 

 

Mr & Mrs Smith flew both to and from the UK without any issues as Mr & Mr Smith.

 

Having researched this a little on global forums it would appear that the Gender is not really an issue, it is the specific spelling of your name and whether or not it matches the specific spelling of your name in your passport which matters. 

 

That said, this is Thailand, you never know...  But... you can claim ignorance and just try to check it, its possible no one even notices. 

[JimmyJ]

I've had problems twice due to booking using Vietjet's website.

 

Low cost airlines never refund.

 

The owner of my hotel in Da Lat told me that even when they cancel flights they won't refund and will only give a credit.

 

It's obnoxious and horrible cs but that's they way the operate.

[sandyf]

16 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Well, some would call that cheap ...........

 

 

Last year we booked a flight to the UK with BA and after the booking my wife, after 10 years of marriage, decided to change her name to mine. BA issued a new ticket free of charge.

 

Regulations are that the name on the ticket must be consistent with the name on the passport. Many passports do not show a title so, title does not come into it. Title and gender are not the same thing, title is an honorific and may not be gender specific.

[steve73]

24 minutes ago, sandyf said:

<snip>

 

Regulations are that the name on the ticket must be consistent with the name on the passport. Many passports do not show a title so, title does not come into it. Title and gender are not the same thing, title is an honorific and may not be gender specific.

Many people who hold a doctorate, refuse to use the Mr/Ms title, and will only ever use Dr. which of course can be either male or female.

Same goes for Prof, Rt. Hon. or many military titles.

Yet their passport will only show M(ale) or F(emale). 

 

Airline booking site should ensure consistency with this.

If a Dr. did not have that option available he may prefer to leave the title field blank, whereupon it could default to Mr. or Ms., which could easily be incorrect.

 

Fortunately I'm just a normal Joe, who will only ever use Mr., and would never attempt to fly wearing a dress & heels.  ;-))

 

 

 

[KittenKong]

I suspect that most (all?) airline staff have instructions to say that the tickets should be changed if there is the slightest discrepancy. The fees are huge and totally unjustifiable. So it's money for old rope for the airline as it costs them nothing at all to modify any e-ticket, apart from the 2 minutes of time of one staff member.

 

[sandyf]

23 hours ago, steve73 said:

Many people who hold a doctorate, refuse to use the Mr/Ms title, and will only ever use Dr. which of course can be either male or female.

Same goes for Prof, Rt. Hon. or many military titles.

Yet their passport will only show M(ale) or F(emale). 

 

Airline booking site should ensure consistency with this.

If a Dr. did not have that option available he may prefer to leave the title field blank, whereupon it could default to Mr. or Ms., which could easily be incorrect.

 

Fortunately I'm just a normal Joe, who will only ever use Mr., and would never attempt to fly wearing a dress & heels.  ;-))

 

 

 

At the end of the day if gender was a requirement for ticketing it would be specifically asked for, as it is on the API screen.

Different issues, different requirements.