No birthdate? No ticket? TSA “Secure Flight” is sneaking up on travelers

[safetymom]

http://www.consumertraveler.com/tod..._campaign=Feed:+tripso+(Consumertraveler.com)

You might want to check your reservations!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Meh, I don't see a big problem, really -- airlines require ID to issue a boarding pass (either on the spot or in your records), and your ID is going to have your DOB on it. I think that it has been up to the airlines to not sell tickets in situations where they don't have the proper info unless they can update the record prior to flight.

AFAIK, the rule does not say that the passenger cannot be sold a ticket without a DOB, only that they cannot be cleared for flight if it isn't on the reservation before scheduled departure. (I saw the Delta letter on FT, and they are saying that they *might* cancel the reservation if they don't have the Secure Flight ID info 72 hours out, but that's Delta's rule, not TSA's.)

I read a DHS powerpoint on the subject, and it looks like what is going on is that for efficiency the airlines are batch-uploading the manifests to the DHS databases for checking, and that that is being done about 72 hours out. However, TSA has provision for letting the airline manually re-submit information on anyone who errors out on the initial database check, or for walk-up ticket purchasers. Obviously they don't want to have to do this for everyone because it's too time-consuming, but most people will have turned in the info well ahead of this point; it appears that the airline will only have to do the manual check on a small percentage of passengers.

I believe that it's all in the programming. If the airline is staying on top of their IT requirements this should be relatively simple to get through, though I suspect that there might be longer check-in lines for a few days while people who bought tickets really far in advance and do not have FF accounts initially get rejected at the kiosks and for printing BP's at home. (I think SWA probably has eliminated the missing DOB issue entirely, because they started requiring it to be supplied for purchase nearly a year ago. Since they only open for purchase a few months in advance, they have surely cycled completely through all their prior-to-the-software-change reservations already.)

Nicknames are going to be the biggest issue, I think. Unless the airlines start requiring a scan of your ID at purchase, there is no way they can make sure that you are using the same form of your name to buy the ticket. My DL and passport have barcodes; I guess that the intelligent thing would be to setup the reservations software to accept a text message photo of the barcode in order to match the name format for purchase if you haven't already had your ID verified for a FF program. (Though there are privacy concerns with that -- it would require the various state ID agencies to give the airlines access to their DMV databases.)

I'm easy, I guess. I always sign up for the FF program of any airline I ever use, because then they put all my identifying info on file, and I don't have to repeat it every time I buy a ticket.

 

[safetymom]

I posted this because someone was asking about providing this information just last week. One res. had it and the other one they didn't ask.

I think it is nothing for most frequent flyers to already do this but I posted because there are a lot of first time or very infrequent flyers on the DIS and I don't want them to be surprised at the airport.

 

[safetymom]

bump

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't see a big problem

It's not a problem---unless for some reason you haven't entered it. I got a note from Delta reminding me to make sure I had entered it for all of my pending reservations...or they would be cancelled.

 

[msjprincess]

I don't remember whether or not they asked for birthdates when I booked my flights with SWA. When I pull up my reservation there is no mention of it.

 

[safetymom]

I would check with the airline then to make sure the information is in your res.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I think SWA probably has eliminated the missing DOB issue entirely, because they started requiring it to be supplied for purchase nearly a year ago.

Are you saying that SW asks for the birthdate when you make a reservation? I can't remember if I had to enter my son's birthdate (about 6 weeks ago) and I can't find it anywhere on his reservation information. If I knew you had to do it, that would be a relief and I won't have to call the airline.

 

[msjprincess]

Are you saying that SW asks for the birthdate when you make a reservation? I can't remember if I had to enter my son's birthdate (about 6 weeks ago) and I can't find it anywhere on his reservation information. If I knew you had to do it, that would be a relief and I won't have to call the airline.

I just made believe I was making a reservation and it says

"* The TSA Secure Flight program requires Southwest Airlines to collect this information for each passenger."

But I don't recall seeing that when I made my reservation back in June.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I just made believe I was making a reservation and it says

Too funny - only a true DISer would pretend to make a reservation to get an answer! I can't remember if I saw that when I was making my reservation in late September. I wish there was someplace to check on SW's site like you can on Delta's.

 

[dburg30]

I know it was on there because when I made ressies last fall for my mom, wife and I to fly to visit family, I couldnt remember her exact year, had the day right, was just off by a year . I hadnt been asked for it before but this was either late last year or early thing year. For sure before I was able to make reservations for the trip I am on right now.

 

[NotUrsula]

Are you saying that SW asks for the birthdate when you make a reservation? I can't remember if I had to enter my son's birthdate (about 6 weeks ago) and I can't find it anywhere on his reservation information. If I knew you had to do it, that would be a relief and I won't have to call the airline.

I've been trying to find the email that SWA sent me that told me that they were going to start requiring it for online purchases, but I'm having trouble finding it; I did a big inbox cleanup a few weeks ago and I may have deleted it, but I know for sure that it cannot have been any later than June 1st of this year because we went to WDW then. I remember having to call SWA prior to that flight to ask for a new RR card for DD because we could not find her RR password anywhere, and they were asking us to be sure that her birthdate was in her account because they were requiring it for online ticket purchases. (It turned out that we had already had the info in the account all along.)

However, just so that you know, SWA is *not* coercing passenger compliance the way that Delta is, by threatening to cancel existing reservations. This is from the Secure Flight FAQ on the SWA website:

What happens if I choose not to provide my Secure Flight Passenger Data?

Airlines are required to provide this data to the TSA before the carrier can issue a boarding pass (either in advance or at the airport). If you prefer, you can choose to provide the personal data directly to the airline at the airport each time you travel. However, please note that you will not be able to purchase a reservation online and, therefore, will not receive a boarding pass or be able to travel until the appropriate data has been collected.
When am I required to update my Secure Flight Passenger Data? For all reservations booked on or after October 1, 2009 for travel on Southwest Airlines, you must provide your information before a boarding pass can be issued. If you are a Rapid Rewards member, the name on your reservation is validated against the name in your Rapid Rewards account. If the names do not match, we will not be able to process your reservation with the account number and therefore, you will not receive the Rapid Rewards credit you deserve. Therefore, we highly recommend that you update your Rapid Rewards account with your name as it appears on the government-issued ID with which you will be traveling.

http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/faqs.html?topic=tsa_secure_flight
AH, I found it!! Here is the official announcement of when they would start requiring the info to be entered on the purchase screen: October 1, 2009 (which matches the date that they started requiring people to supply it when checking in in person.)

http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/secure-flight-procedures

...
The commitment will expand on October 1, 2009. On that date Southwest Airlines will begin participating in the government’s new Secure Flight program. As a Customer, you may notice two small but meaningful changes when you book your reservation to fly under the new Secure Flight program. In addition to ensuring that the name provided when you book your travel matches the government ID (state issued drivers license or passport) that you will use when traveling, we will also ask for your date of birth and for your gender. ...

 

[PSUGuy]

What about ressies made months ago for a March 2011 flight? My AirTran ressie on the Itinerary site says 'DOB Added' for both of us, but doesn't display our BD. Do I need to call them to be sure?

Bill From PA

 

[Brian Noble]

Sounds like you're good, Bill, but it can't hurt to call them just to double check.

 

[mouseaddictoldschool]

We booked online and Delta emailed us today to remind us. We were able to update our itineraries online to reflect the needed information.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

NotUrsula,

Thanks for checking on that. I must have input his information and just don't remember it (no big surprise there).