Hi everyone, I booked travel to Bali the other night. There is a layover in China. On my booking, I did not include my middle name as it wasn't a requirement. Now I am seeing this WAS a requirement for them. But it will be almost $400 to cancel and rebook.. Has any one traveled to China/Indonesia without putting their middle name? I want to know if this is a huge issue or not.
EDIT: I contacted the website I booked on, as well as the airlines, and they cannot change it. The only thing the airline can do is change up to 3 letters of my name. My middle name is 5 letters so they can’t do it. My middle name is listed on my passport and ID, but not my booking.

Most airlines let you cancel a reservation within 24 hrs with no fees/penalties.

It’s over 24 hours now, and I booked with cheapoair, and their cancellation/change policy is of 10pm the same day. So dumb

Maddy they will tell you that but by law it is always 24 hours. Just for future info

Yes a ticket can be voided usually by midnight of the day you make the booking. The 24 hour policy will vary by airlines. Just for future bookings, always book the way your name appears on you passport. I don’t foresee it being as problem if your first and last are as they appear on passport

I travelled to Europe and had the same thing and spoke to the airlines and it ended up that’s it wasn’t a problem. I think if it’s the other way around it might be but for me it was fine.

Phone the airline directly and explain situation. Often they can make a notation on the PNR( your file) with the info. So long as you have the first and last name correctly it shouldn't be a problem , discretion of airline, but strictly speaking your ticket should have the name shown exactly the way it appears in your passport.

Yes, this. It's a little bit of a risk but it's the best chance.

It depends if the people checking your paperwork really read the we made a mistake on my husband's paperwork when we were travelling around Europe, it was written. Mrs instead of Mr and not one person noticed.

Is it on your passport? If not, then you’re okay

It is on my passport

Maddy how about changing your passport? Cheaper option! When my kids were born I had 2 middle names for both my kids. For the renewal I decided to drop all their middle names on the passport!

New passports require middle name on them anyways i believe

Amanda unless rule have changed in the last couple of years- I changed all mine and mine too.

My sister had put on her plane ticket (before she got her pass port March this year) with out her middle name because mine doesn’t have my middle name on it, and when we went to get her passport they said it was new!

Amanda thanks for the info:) glad I had all family passports changed few years ago! With our long last name, we had a hard time in Naples Italy bc it won’t print our boarding passes- they blamed it on Greek last names!

Have you talked to the airline about making changes to your ticket? I have done that before at a booth at Air Asia while I was in Thailand. But I was already in Asia. They might not let you fly so it's best to call or see the office of your airline.

I have reached out to the airline and they cannot change it. They can only change up to 3 letters ... which is ridiculously short!

The airline sounds strict. So I'm unsure. But I have done it before with Air Asia. They just made me go to their booth at the airport. Bring as much ID as you think you'll need to prove that you are you. But if you want reassurance it's best to rebook.

Just ask to add the three first letters of your middle name then. I have a ridiculously long name. My name never shows up entirely on my ticket but tjere is always a combination of my middle names in there somehow...

I traveled to Shanghai and my ticket was without my middle name. This was five years ago, tho, fyi.

Should be fine. I got away with my first name in both first and last. As long as first, last and other info matches, you should be good.

Ask them to add that 3 letters... as far as I know it could be up to 3 letters wrong kn the booking )

you should be fine. I forgot to put my middle name as well but as long as you have other i.d's you should be fine.

We went to Beijing last year I contacted the airline and they said there was a good chance we would get denied my wife was missing part of her middle name so we had to pay to change everything

Oh gosh. Yeah the airline kept saying it has to match. But I did see online a lot of people said I should be fine, so I'm a little torn.

I found it's more of a problem the other way around; if your passport has no middle name but you put a middle name on your ticket/booking. You should be okay if your ticket doesn't have a middle name even if your passport does.

Yeah I did this on my trip to Japan and it was something they let me off on, but said it REALLY shouldn't happen, and don't let it happen again

Careful on your layover in China that you get the right immigration stamp when let in. I was travelling alone coming back through Shanghai and had a one night layover. Hardly anyone at the customs entry spoke English. I showed them my hotel documentation and they stamped me on through. Flash forward to the next day. Trying to go through to catch my flight. I was hauled into a side room for 1.5 hours. No one would speak English to me so I had no idea what was going on. Finally this lady police officer comes in and can speak enough English to tell me that I violated my length of stay and had to pay a 500.00 fine or go to jail. And the kicker was they only wanted cash and so they marched me around the airport to four different ATMs before one of them finally worked. I was crying and freaking out. They also confiscated all my souvenirs from Laos. I barely made my flight when they finally let me through. And they made me sign 8 pages of documents that were not in English and I had no clue what they said. And also the cab driver who drove me to the hotel the night prior was creepy and propositioned me so I told him to pull over and ended up walking the last km to the hotel. Not trying to scare you. Just make sure you know the rules for everything you are doing. And this happened in Shanghai.

What a day you had. I bet you're dying to go back. In future Google translate might help. There is even an app you can take a picture and it will translate. I used it in Japan

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience! I will definitely keep my eye out for these things!

My biggest problem was that the airport wifi was shoddy and I was having a hard time connecting to it so I was basically on my own. And they just kept yelling at me and brushing me off then leaving me in this tiny interrogation room. I couldn't believe that an international airport like that would not have people working that could communicate with travellers.

Thea haven't you ever seen Broke down palace?! Don't sign anything not in english

At least you weren't in a place like Vancouver where they tackle you down or tazer you to death.

Bring your credit card statement

If they allow you three letters just put your middle initial.

Like Homer j Simpson
Middle name is actually Jay

i had the same issue with cheapoair and ended up having to pay to add my middle name even tho i realized it immediately... on the otherhand, when my parents fly to the US, they never have their middle names on their tix and have had no problems.

I had a layover in Shanghai last October and I did not have my middle name on my ticket. It wasn't an issue.

From experience, I've flown with air canada with my name mispelled. I've flown with with EVA where they condense your first and middle name into ONE name. I think you'll be fine.

I've flown to china and Indonesia with and without the middle name. It hasn't been an issue.

You’re all giving me high hopes. Thank you for all your comments & help!!

I've had similar situations and it has never been an issue.

Should be fine

I just added my middle name ( only included initial during booking). Cost $50 and I figured it was worth the chance when traveling with my family of 6 who all have their full middle names on tickets. expedia explained that you can only change up to 3 letters but that did not apply to adding a name (my middle name has 7 letters). I booked EVA air through expedia so expedia dealt with the airline on my behalf. I just had to spend a few hour on the phone and scan and send my passport. expedia was pretty adamant that it’s best to have the ticket match the passport.

Should be fine. air canada messed up my husbands name - put together his middle initial to the end of his first name. When checking in the kiosk asked us to confirm the name and we had no issues entering China.

it's fine... i have traveled without using my middle name and there is no problem. you might just have to get your passport checked at the counter prior to checking in. i am also going to Bali

The same thing happened to me last year. Didnt put my middle name and had to rebook the flight
aircanada sucks!

They just want your money for the fee of changing it.
Youll be fine!

You can have them add a note to your reservation. I’ve done that and it was fine

its totally fine. they r not sticklers

Just out of habit, I don't think I've ever once entered my middle name when buying an airfare. I just instinctively skip over entering it. My passport has it. I've never once had it be any kind of issue going to/from any country.
I've seen people ask this question before from other cities, and so far I have yet to ever see anyone state that the lack of a middle name on their ticket caused them a problem. So I think it's pretty safe to say nobody cares about middle names

Thank you!

You'll be fine. I used to fly I and out of China all the time. Sometimes with typos and such on the visa vs the passport vs the ticket, etc

Something similar happened to my partner, he had his middle name on the booking but it wasn't on his passport / ID. In the end it wasn't an issue at all.

In Thailand I discovered the airlines are very strict on passport rules because I was told if they don't catch an issue that customs might have, customs will send you back at the airlines cost. So you may want to look into the rules with Indonesian customs? If Indonesia doesn't care the airline shouldn't.

I've never entered my middle name on my ticket for Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Hong Kong, Europe, Iceland, Africa, etc

Not an issue especially you're just laying over

You're 72 hours in Shanghai visa free now. Check Chinese visa website for confirmation

I travelled to Hong Kong and Beijing, never entered middle name while booking the tix

Just add the initial of ur middle name. I have done that before. Do not need full middle name. I have flown with my name being misspelled/typos so I doubt a middle name will cause problems.

Having worked for Passport it’s always best to put your name exactly as it is on the passport when booking travel. They do look at this information. It’s always the discretion of the border services officer to make these decisions though. You can be refused travel if your other Id doesn’t match or your booked travel doesn’t match your passport. Ie name, passport number etc.

First and last names are what's required usually. You should be fine

Not big issue and maybe just to be safe just enter the initial of your middle name.

Should be no problem. I fly in and out all the time with and without middle name.
One time my boss booked my ticket and added an extra R to my first name - "Kiernan". I shit you not, the girl at the Hainan Air counter at Pearson just took a sharpie and scrubbed out the extra R on my ticket.

I always put in my middle name.

I went to Bali without my middle name and it was no issue. They mainly care that the last name and the passport number match. I asked them to put the right name on the boarding pass when I checked in, so it's not as much hassle. But I got through to Bali, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan all ok.

I've traveled before with mismatches on my middle name (aka present / not present). No one has ever cared.