American Airlines and Secure Flight ...

[pms4104]

American Airlines now is gearing up with the Secure Flight program.

 

If you are a member of AA Advantage, you can log in to your account and go to the Contact Info and Password area. Click on the "edit" link next to your name to enter your date of birth and gender.

 

Warning: do not close that page without adding that info, or (like I had to you) you will need to phone AA Advantage and have them enter that info manually.

 

If you fly American and you are not yet a member of the Advantage program, this is a good chance to join ... and get your required Secure Flight info into the system.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting. We received an e mail from AA last night.

 

I was able to update my information on line but needed help from their desk with my wife's.

 

Keith

[Globaliser]

Thanks for posting this.

 

For anyone who's not already aware of what this is about, American Airlines has also provided an explanation page, plus a page of FAQs.

 

In particular, CC members may want to note this:-

Please note that [secure Flight Passenger Data] is not being collected from AA passengers whose tickets were issued prior to September 15, 2009, regardless of their travel date.

And the reason underlying camp637's warning is this:-

Should you need to make adjustments to the name on your account, we're providing a one-time option to do so via AA.com.

It occurs to me that the following FAQ might answer some of the questions that CC members have already posed:-

Q: Why is this good for me as a passenger?

A: Providing this information is beneficial to passengers because it helps ensure you are not misidentified as a person on a government watch list.

 

Q: My driver's license has one name, but my name on my passport is different. Which one should I provide?

A: You should ensure the name provided when booking your travel, as well as the name on your AAdvantage account, matches the government ID that you will use when traveling. Over time, you should strive to achieve consistency with all of your identification documents.

 

Q: Does the full name on all of my IDs have to match? What if my driver's license has only my middle initial, but my passport has my full name? Should I change my driver's license to match my passport?

A: Secure Flight does not require that the names on all of your IDs be identical. Passengers should provide their name as it appears on their non-expired government-issued photo ID they plan to use when traveling. This provides TSA the best information possible to use when performing watch list matching. This will result in a better process for travelers and greatly reduces the number of misidentifications. By adding date of birth and gender, the number of misidentifications is reduced further and can more readily identify passengers who do not pose a threat.

 

Q: If the name printed on my boarding pass is different from what appears on my government ID, will I still be able to fly?

A: Yes, you will still be able to fly. However, passengers should strive to obtain consistency between the name on their government-issued photo ID and their travel information. For the near future, small differences between the passenger's ID and the passenger's reservation information, such as the use of a middle initial instead of a full middle name or no middle name/initial at all, should not cause a problem for the passenger.

 

Q: How does Secure Flight impact minors?

A: With the exception of lap children, Secure Flight information is required for everyone, regardless of age.

 

Q: Are all airlines participating in the Secure Flight program?

A: Yes, however; TSA states, “Secure Flight will be phased in and each airline will be incorporating the necessary changes into their systems over the coming months. Passengers shouldn’t be concerned if particular airlines don’t ask them to provide the additional information right away; it should not affect their travel. Each airline will request this information as their capability to capture it is integrated into their individual systems.”

And this interesting little titbit of information about an aspect of the system that we don't normally see:-

Q: What is a Redress Number?

A: A Redress Number is a TSA issued code assigned to certain passengers whose names have erroneously appeared on the watch list. This number is not required to book a reservation on AA.com.

[pms4104]

... for expounding on my original post. Everyone here benefits from your detailed info.

[Globaliser]

My pleasure. These are the questions that particularly interested me for my own travel, so I thought that they might well be asked by other people as well.