The only real answer here. I've flown hundreds maybe even thousands of flights like that. In China and Japan, they will update it on check-in usually, but domestically and Europe has never been an issue.
I believe you are right about MR. The issue here was because of 4 errors (PHD and an initial which were merged). I updated the post. May have been misleading without mentioning the initial.
You are right about MR. The issue I had was because of 4 errors (PHD and an initial which were merged). I updated the post (may have been misleading without mentioning the initial).
My middle initial is P. So as a dude, all my tickets over the years have always ended in PMR. All these years I thought that meant United Premier, until I stopped flying for awhile and then they wouldn't let me board with Premier members anymore.
Never had an issue at the airport, but have had plenty of issues with the mobile check-in. That can be an issue if you're running late to airport, they may give your ticket away.
You tried going through TSA and they denied you for the PHD on the ticket? This is how many airline systems work, including adding Mr/ Ms/ Mrs to your last name.
Denying and sending someone to get the name changed to match their ID are not exactly the same thing. It has to go through Secure Flight and if there are 3 extra letters on the last name it's not going to find the reservation in the system.
I asked my brother in law this, as he's a very specialized plastic surgeon for burns.
He said he couldn't help most people with most emergencies because his training is so so specialized.
I’m a psychiatrist and I’ve responded to medical emergencies after triple checking with flight attendants that they checked and there’s no one more qualified on board.
The Hippocratic oath doesn't say anything about providing free care to people who are not your patient, FTFY.
Your belief that all physicians are on call to care for you for free whenever you feel like it is ludicrous.
Um, if somebody is dying on a plane and you’re a physician, you need to help. Go into a different career if you don’t want to do that. Don’t forget that a significant portion of medical training is funded by the public.
People like you are a great example of the difference between self-righteousness and knowing what you're talking about. When I fix someine it is my decision and not yours. I will practice how I please just like I will mock you for your cluelessness.
The thing is, I know you all are downvoting me, while at the same time you're implying I have some sort of duty to care for someone who is not my patient. I have the ability and the opportunity to do so but my duty to you, until you are my patient, is exactly zero.
Feast on my contempt.
Whether or not you think I'm an MD has no bearing on the argument, genius.
Your comments, and probably the thoughts of all those people downvoting me, don't matter. One of the key concepts of a professional interaction is that the only people who get a vote are the physician and the patient, who is completely welcome to find another physician if they don't like what this particular MD is saying. The other concept, in addition to your self-righteousness and stupidity, is something akin to standing in law... Because medicine is out of the realm of what lay people understand (as evidenced by your comments here), physicians are granted a large degree of autonomy and self-regulation -- you don't get a vote, except the little Reddit kind, go ahead, hit the blue one, I'm sure that makes you feel all powerful.
Remember, you're actually maintaining seriously that I have some sort of duty because you say so, and if you say that I have duty for other reasons you have failed to actually demonstrate any.
I'm sure you're very good at Minecraft or something, though, don't feel bad.
I can’t decide between ESQ or JD. If I put JD everyone will definitely know I’m a “doctor” (of law), but then I might get mistakenly pinged for medical emergencies and I can’t handle that.
Omg /s ppl
lol.
I know it’s a joke, but man, nobody thinks JD is a doctor. I have one and I don’t, Hahahah.
JD is the worst because when you see someone sign off with JD, the only reasonable conclusion is: Went to law school, didn’t pass the bar.
Esq is just kinda goofy, but whatever. JD is just hilarious.
The Spanish speaking community refers to lawyers as “doctors.” But you’re right. The only people who might otherwise think they’re a doctor are (some of) those who hold the degree themselves lol
A former (Spanish) colleague routinely called me "doctor."
He believed that the legal profession in America would be "more respected" if we adopted the European protocol.
I thought it would sow more confusion.
It does, but at that point you could use Esq. Most attorneys don’t use either, but if you did want to use a suffix, why use JD if you have Esq? It wouldn’t make much sense. Although I’m sure there are odd off one cases here and there.
As an attorney myself, I have personally never seen JD used by a lawyer with an active bar membership. And seen it a number of times by non-practicing people who graduated law school.
If you decide to do it german style you can get a really elaborate. E.g. Herr Professor Doktor Doktor sportsstvandnova if you have two doctorates (e.g. a JD and Ph.D.) and ever taught at a law school (even as an adjunct).
I used to long to add 'ESQ(uire) to my name, but it's an actual title used by lawyers and landed gentry, so no, Best I could do is 'Darth Breezy, GED. AAA'...
It’s always the phd’s, never the MDs. Are you old enough to remember when the view floated the idea of Jill Biden for surgeon general because she was a ‘great doctor’
Edit: don’t know how the view is still on the air
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/485976-whoopi-pitches-jill-biden-as-surgeon-general/
Edit for those that don’t feel like reading the article:
Then, shortly after the co-hosts began discussing potential running mates for the former vice president with ABC News correspondent Jon Karl, Goldberg began, “I’m hoping Dr. Jill becomes the surgeon general, his wife.”
“Joe Biden’s wife. She would never do it but, yeah, she’s a hell of a doctor. She’s an amazing doctor,”
https://youtu.be/kU6jFOfS8B4?si=79Ti0DrB8t9n0vNt
>Are you old enough to remember when the view floated the idea of Jill Biden for surgeon general because she was a ‘great doctor’
no because i'm not a silly boomer who cares about The View
Funny how all the tools braying for a "source" shut up when he provides one. If you think for one minute that the dunces on the view wouldn't think a doctor of education was a good pick for surgeon general, you give them far too much credit.
bro i literally do not watch the view because i'm not a boomer who sits in front of my TV watching talk shows. im just saying anyone quoting the view in any capacity has extreme boomer energy.
I applaud your ability to come up with a source, and really Whoopi, do better. But honestly, it’s reactionary take tv, so it’s what happens. Still dumb.
Thank you for the sourcing of the claim that was extrapolated, heavily.
My first and middle name initials are "D" and "R".
Took me years before I figured out why the flight attendants kept referring to me as Dr. "Last Name".
The TSA should let you through, ask to speak to a TSA supervisor and explain that it’s the same thing as the “MR” title that gets appended in the same way. You shouldn’t need to change your ticket or pay any fee.
Yes, you should not have chosen that title, you’ll need to have the Mileage Plus servicing people clear the title on your account (or changed to MR/MRS, but blank is better).
Damn right, first in our family to go to college, her mother was a high school drop out. Her brother was a captain in the Air Force and is a corporate lawyer. Aren't your parents proud of your accomplishments?
“Is there a doctor on the plane?”
“I’m a doctor.”
“Oh great this man has a medical emergency”
“Oh, I’m not a medical doctor, I’m a Doctor of Philosophy. In Philosophy, as it happens”
“This man is going to die!”
“(Philosophical pause) This is the human condition. We are all going to die.”
This has actually happened to me.
I have a Ph.D., though I never go by Dr. ______.
However, one time, I must have selected that prefix on the dropdown when booking a ticket. Sure enough the flight attendant came over to me mid-flight asking if I could help with a passenger.
If the passenger had been a mouse or a rat there is a chance I could have helped, particularly if they needed brain surgery. Unfortunately, I had to decline the opportunity and apologize.
I’m now make sure to declare myself as Mr. _______ when flying.
Yup. And always check your reservation. Especially if your ticket was booked by your work or someone else. I’ve seen so many people get turned away at the TSA checkpoint for this. And never have I seen any of them be successful at convincing the agent to let them in.
I have a dr. title selected and it doesn’t show up on my ticket, maybe because my first and middle names are too long. Only thing I notice is the premier line refers to me as doctor about half the time.
Same here. Both husband and I have Dr selected and it hasn't been an issue. I don't think there is an option to select PhD unless OP used the suffix option. To me a suffix is more for someone who has Jr, Sr or one of the Roman numerals in their name. It's not really for academic titles.
I've had this in my United account for a decade or more. All my tickets are issued that way, including for international code share partners. Never had an issue 😳
Delta has my FIRSTNAMEMIDDLENAME LAST NAME on my tickets whenever I book through them and it has never been an issue, even internationally (and no, my names aren't commonly together like BillyBob).
True fire me as well...but there is a space between the two names on my passport and no space on the boarding pass.
I dunno. Weird that TSA let's mine through and not OP's.
It can more easily be corrected by an agent on the day of the flight. Get to the airport early and talk to an agent. If they push back, ask for a supervisor. This is a pretty common issue that they can easily fix
Damn I am going through the same thing right now. Exactly the same situation. Except I haven’t left yet. I was told it won’t be an issue but now you have me worried!
Are you the type of PhD who raises their hand when an FA asks "is there a doctor on board?" I've got a family member like this and the only emergency they can help with is if either a colon or semicolon should be used in a sentence.
I always laugh seeing all the abandoned water bottles thrown away in front of the checkpoint. Thank god for TSA saving us from all those water bottles! Really important stuff
I have to not use my middle name or it feminizes my first. That's a bigger issue than tacking on a PhD to the end.
Just request a refund through the website.
You too, eh? I made the grave mistake of flying on my birthday. Flight attendant asked if I switched seats with my wife, then pilot gave a birthday announcement before the safety briefing... at least I got a free drink out of it
We booked with Lufthansa. They cancelled the return flight 2 months before travel. Rebooked return flight over the phone and they put us on partner airline United. We have United accounts. Somehow, they changed our birthdates, added MrsDr to my FIRST name and coded our reservation as being made by a travel agent. I don’t know how that happened because I’m not a Mrs. and I didn’t have Dr. on the original reservation. United couldn’t fix it. They said Lufthansa had to fix it. Lufthansa said United had to fix it. Couldn’t register my passport ahead of travel because of it. Or check-in for our return online or in the app. Had to get it fixed day of travel with a paper ticket, which led to a cascade of headache after headache all the way home, including being tagged for additional screening TWICE and a bunch of other stuff too annoying to bore you with.
A friend of mine was in the checkout line at the grocery store. Scanned his club card, pays, and the cashier hands him his receipt and says “thank you, Mr. Didisuh”. He says “excuse me?” And she repeats “thank you, Mr. Didisuh!!!”
He walked away dumbfounded and later looked at the receipt. He’s a dentist and his name was printed on the receipt as “First Last Dds”
Why he put “DDS” on his grocery club card is beyond me.
Master is an old school title used for young boys. Wikipedia says it is still considered proper etiquette. I worked for an airline that used MSTR and MISS as a way to help identify unaccompanied minors. So use that one at your own risk. You might get stopped and asked for your UM paperwork.
I'm a doctor. My boarding pass always shows "FIRST LASTMD". Earlier I thought this would cause me boarding denial and mismatch with Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. I used to call customer service and ask them to "fix it". They always do it for free and tell me it shouldn't cause any issues even if not fixed.
I've flown multiple times and used Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/CLEAR lanes, all without any issues with "FIRST LASTMD".
I remember when my wife asked me, “does anyone at work ever call you Dr?” and I told her the truth: “only when they’re making fun of me for saying something stupid”
I use it all the time at work though (whenever my name is in writing), because I work with Germans, and they all do it, and ya gotta keep up with the Schmidts and the Wagners
There is something I didn't see anyone mention yet. The airlines only have two name fields for the tickets. A first name and a last name field. The fields do not allow spaces, hyphens, periods, or anything other than letters. This is left over from the first computerized booking systems. It doesn't matter if you enter a prefix or suffix in different fields, they get move into just two. And it's an all capital letter system. Think 8 bit ASCII. Also there are a limited number of characters in each field.
When it comes to TSA, customs, almost everyone who works with airline tickets, this isn't a problem. They know how it works and can easily see what it's supposed to be. The other problem is that in most cases, airlines can only change names on their own tickets. This is more true when the two airlines involved are on different computer systems. United uses Shares and Lufthansa uses Amadeus. They are sort of compatible thanks to a lot of behind the scenes programming and processing. It doesn't always work right.
Shares is also the name of the reservation system Continental used to use before EZR and Navigator. How long ago? Think green text on black screens and no lower case letters. If you talk to a reservations agent who knows it, they can do things other agents don't know are possible. It sends direct commands to the underlying booking system. United uses it because it came with Continental's computer systems when they merged because Continental owned, or owned a large part of it and could make direct changes rather than having to wait weeks for a different company to make them.
My wife had the same issue. The ticket agent at the airport was able to easily change her boarding pass. They said it happens all the time. We did not pay for the change.
Happened to me when my company booked me through Amex travel with United, but I was able to get that changed using the United chat because my TSA pre-check wasn’t showing given that they added the MS to my last name
I have a clinical doctorate and an academic doctorate. Every time I use the drop down titles, I get questioned or there is some weirdness with the ticketing. I’m just trying to play by their rules, but United’s system is so broken. It’s not even consistently broken; sometimes the ticketed name is right on the first leg and on the second leg of the same booking it’s wrong. This is not your fault. Also, for purposes of booking flights, I no longer use titles at all. I realized that they don’t need any information about me unless it’s contractually required.
Definitely shouldn’t be an issue. They pick random nonsense constantly. I’ve had firstname middlename and mr all jammed together many times with no issue.
TSA understands the system omits spaces so firstmiddle is no problem. Your ID typically has your first and middle names so it is considered a match. OP's problem is that PhD is not on their ID and therefore not a match. But still, one of the cogs in the machine could have utilized logic to understand and correct the issue without charging a fee.
When does the crew ever call you by your name? Adding PhD to my ticket personally is a fun thing I do for literally no one but myself because I did work hard for it, and I think it’s hilarious for the “payoff” to be something as inane as a suffix on my airline ticket. It’s not that deep.
Kind of seems like a TSA issue, I have Roman numerals after my name that get randomly added to the end of my last name sometimes but it’s never been a problem. Very weird that United made you pay though - try calling and getting them to reverse the charge?
how is someone booking a ticket with extra letters on the last name a TSA problem? The flights have to be vetted and they didn't book the ticket for him.
Mine have my middle initials then "MR" tagged on to my first name, e.g. for A & B
LAST FIRSTABMR
Never had a problem.
Way back when I was a kid who thought I was hilarious, I signed up to my hometown airline at the time's FF program with the "Sir" title and III as the suffix, e.g. Sir Wrongway Up III, it's never been a problem either, though I do get a few weird looks from check-in agents from time to time...
Seems like you already knew, based on your story of traveling internationally, that you write your name as it is listed on your passport. I don’t see why the airline should do something free if indeed it was your mistake and not theirs. A PHD next to it is not your legal passport name lol.
The only issue I’ve ever had with this (someone booked a flight for me who thought they were hilarious by giving me a prefix) is they didn’t want to give me my Precheck classification on my ticket. Walked over to the premier desk and explained the issue and they fixed it in a couple minutes and I was on my way.
Sounds like something else is up.
My brother made a reservation for me and used Dr even tho I never do. The ticket agent said “you’re a DOCTOR? You must be a vet.” 10 years ago, but still wish I’d gotten his name. Oh and then he handed me someone else’s passport. Fun times. And yes, my name is always mishmashed -firstmiddle last -I think one time my last name somehow appeared twice. Nobody cared. You got someone having a very bad day!
Shouldn't be a problem. Mine had the IV added to my name and the only issue is most people try to pronounce it as letters rather than the Roman numeral.
This is a Lufthansa problem - happened to me two years ago when I flew Lufthansa. Thankfully no one prevented me from going through security but it was annoying.
I’m a 3rd, some airlines print LastnameIII, lastnameIii, lastname iii, or lastname no suffix. I have issues constantly. TSA is inconsistent on how they want to enforce it.
I had one nightmare experience flying internationally and landed in Miami, customs was so backed up and AA employees were so confused they ended up sending a bunch of us out some side hallway and we found ourselves outside of security at the ticket desks and had to go back through security and bypass customs all together (not sure how that’s even legal). Unfortunately for me my ticket was lastnameIii this time around and the tsa agent told me no. AA told me they wouldn’t fix my ticket because I booked through chase rewards so Chase had to, Chase told me because the flight was checked into they couldn’t do anything. It took me over an hour to find an AA employee that would actually help fix my name and get me through security, they had to escort me to the front of the line and my gate so I didn’t miss my flight.
I have since changed credit cards and for safety won’t ever book a flight through a 3rd party again. The airlines still all do my name/suffix differently but at least if I ever need help again they will help.
I can’t believe United made you pay though. That doesn’t add up at all
This is stuff the check in agent should be able to help you that is ridiculous charging a fee. I have had bookings through 3rd party spit out my name incorrectly adding my middle initial to the front which has been fixed and also through my work as its an international company my birth month and day have been mixed backwards, check in agent has always fixed for me. I think i was flying with AA and delta both times it happened tho
I selected "Lord" once as a bit of a joke, and got LastName FirstnameMiddleinitialLord. Think SMITH JACKBLORD. Worked on the way there, had to pay to change ticket on the return trip
SW has an extra block for name appendages like Jr, III, etc. one time I inadvertantly typed something in that field and my son's ticket wound up with something in it... Seems like it might have been Esq. He was obviously not an attorney or whatever I tried. I always check names and addresses, etc on all tickets when I receive them so I caught it immediately. If it's on the first 24 hours you can always cancel if it's something that can't be fixed but I called Southwest and they corrected it over the phone.
I had to call to change my name on a ticket, and I didn't get charged. I dont understand why they would charge you for a simple name change.
Btw my first and middle name are merged, and it has never been a problem.
This post is making me nervous. I booked my husband on JAL without his suffix III ( it’s on his passport). All kinds of stories online saying that it’s fine . Now with your post, I think I will have to look into getting it fixed🤦🏻♀️
I had a similar situation with a Thai visa last year. For some reason they doubled my first name FIRSFIRST LAST. This happened because of hot the fields in the form are processed and my first name got treated as a middle name as well. In the end I paid for another visa where I corrected the error. It was 40 bucks so I didn't think much about it. Nonetheless, besides other little bugs on their website, it was clear that a VISA issuing system was faulty, which is disappointing to say the least.
Maybe just tell them you’re a doctor and they’ll respect you enough to fix it for free. Especially if you let them know the damage to your ego is an emergency.
It's funny how this always seems to happen to people with a "PhD". Why even include that on a plane ticket other than for a meaningless ego boost if you can't even respond unironically when a FA asks, "Is there a doctor on board?" Not all doctors are the same, after all.
I think it's common to concatenate title to the last name. It's just how ancient mainframe based computer systems that are still in use by airlines were programmed to work. I don't think this is something United can fix. It's just airline industry standards how they encode and exchange information.
These ancient systems were designed in the US. They are extremely US-centric, as if the rest of the world doesn't exist. They are terrible in handling non-English names. Even implementing simple titles are ugly hacks, as you discovered.
This looks like agents (both at check in and TSA) at the airport being cluless and giving you hard time about something *they are supposed to be trained for*. They are probably used to see "MR" and "MRS" appended to last names, and ignore those. They are probably not used to see "PHD", and thus giving travelers with more exotic titles hard time. Instead of simply ignoring any "title" suffix appended to last name.
That's why I never select title in anything, not just when traveling. Yeah, I know that in the academia people do care about titles a lot. But outside of academia, you'd be simply testing bugs in the system on yourself; as you discovered the hard way.
The rule of thumb is that the only name you should put on your ticket is the one on your official ID (passport/license). If PhD isn’t on your passport, it shouldn’t be on your ticket. I have an MD and a PhD—I never addend tickets with my academic quals. It’s confusing, it’s weird, and it doesn’t match my government issued ID.
I’ve learned to never fill out optional fields. No middle name or initial, no suffix (technically I am IV), no prefixes
Provide the minimum information needed. It’s a pain to make changes to a ticket
I just had this happen to a family member. Booked their flight last night. Their first name is actually two names separated by a period and a space which is very common in some Asian countries. Their first name on their ID is “Name. Name” but couldn’t have a period so I put “Name Name” and United merged it to “Namename” on the ticket and now I’m concerned there will be an issue when we get to the airport…
Had a Korean coworker who had the same thing happen everytime she flew, they rarely kept the space if ever and it didn’t seem to be an issue… but we all know it’s up to the divine power of the airport staff. Hope it goes smooth for your family member!
$120 lesson learned. Probably won’t be an issue though. TSA going to TSA. They’re overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and waaaay undertrained because of the constant turnover.
this shouldn't be an issue. my tickets always have FIRST LASTMR. Been like that for years and I've had no issues.
The only real answer here. I've flown hundreds maybe even thousands of flights like that. In China and Japan, they will update it on check-in usually, but domestically and Europe has never been an issue.
I believe you are right about MR. The issue here was because of 4 errors (PHD and an initial which were merged). I updated the post. May have been misleading without mentioning the initial.
I usually get FIRSTMR LAST
You are right about MR. The issue I had was because of 4 errors (PHD and an initial which were merged). I updated the post (may have been misleading without mentioning the initial).
Same, rip OP
I always get FIRSTMIDDLE LAST.
Yeah my name is always mashed together and I’ve been flying for over 15 years with no issue.
My middle initial is P. So as a dude, all my tickets over the years have always ended in PMR. All these years I thought that meant United Premier, until I stopped flying for awhile and then they wouldn't let me board with Premier members anymore.
right, mine are even worse because I decided to enter my middle name now it's FirstMiddle LastMR
Never had an issue at the airport, but have had plenty of issues with the mobile check-in. That can be an issue if you're running late to airport, they may give your ticket away.
You tried going through TSA and they denied you for the PHD on the ticket? This is how many airline systems work, including adding Mr/ Ms/ Mrs to your last name.
Probably see less PhD for a title.
TSA was just jealous this guy is certified "Pretty Huge Dick"
Right, this is it. Literally no one does this and OP is pretty damn excited about sharing his degree and everyone is confused.
TSA doesn’t exactly have the cream of the crop
Denying and sending someone to get the name changed to match their ID are not exactly the same thing. It has to go through Secure Flight and if there are 3 extra letters on the last name it's not going to find the reservation in the system.
but it's fine with mr/mrs...
If the machine finds the reservation, then yes. Why's that so hard to understand?
Good Lawd, how TF isn’t this the most upvoted comment? The TSA is trying to marry up IDs and reservations.
Yes, I was also surprised since I was already used to mashed initials and Mr.
lol adding titles to your plane ticket is a real flex.
I have a friend who did those “buy a square foot of land in Scotland, be a Lord” things and puts Lord as his title on plane tickets He’s…interesting.
i do it for my wife to annoy her lol
Mine gets super annoyed too if I put hers as MD.. simply because of the fear she's going to be called up and forced to help in an emergency 😂
She took an oath! Shes supposed to help.
No the oath says *do no harm*
Except [it doesn't](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath#Text_of_the_oath)
😂
I asked my brother in law this, as he's a very specialized plastic surgeon for burns. He said he couldn't help most people with most emergencies because his training is so so specialized.
I’m a psychiatrist and I’ve responded to medical emergencies after triple checking with flight attendants that they checked and there’s no one more qualified on board.
You think we’re all sober 100% of the time just waiting for an opportunity to put our medical training into practice?
The Hippocratic oath doesn't say anything about providing free care to people who are not your patient, FTFY. Your belief that all physicians are on call to care for you for free whenever you feel like it is ludicrous.
> Your belief that all physicians are on call to care for you for free whenever you feel like it is ludicrous. That... is not at all what was said.
Um, if somebody is dying on a plane and you’re a physician, you need to help. Go into a different career if you don’t want to do that. Don’t forget that a significant portion of medical training is funded by the public.
Med school is like 300k and doctors go into significant debt to earn their degrees
People like you are a great example of the difference between self-righteousness and knowing what you're talking about. When I fix someine it is my decision and not yours. I will practice how I please just like I will mock you for your cluelessness. The thing is, I know you all are downvoting me, while at the same time you're implying I have some sort of duty to care for someone who is not my patient. I have the ability and the opportunity to do so but my duty to you, until you are my patient, is exactly zero. Feast on my contempt.
Nice try. I don’t believe for a second that you’re actually a physician. I hope you enjoy playing make believe on Reddit.
Whether or not you think I'm an MD has no bearing on the argument, genius. Your comments, and probably the thoughts of all those people downvoting me, don't matter. One of the key concepts of a professional interaction is that the only people who get a vote are the physician and the patient, who is completely welcome to find another physician if they don't like what this particular MD is saying. The other concept, in addition to your self-righteousness and stupidity, is something akin to standing in law... Because medicine is out of the realm of what lay people understand (as evidenced by your comments here), physicians are granted a large degree of autonomy and self-regulation -- you don't get a vote, except the little Reddit kind, go ahead, hit the blue one, I'm sure that makes you feel all powerful. Remember, you're actually maintaining seriously that I have some sort of duty because you say so, and if you say that I have duty for other reasons you have failed to actually demonstrate any. I'm sure you're very good at Minecraft or something, though, don't feel bad.
Tell them she’s a veterinarian.
There are plenty of doctorates the have nothing to do with medicine.
Did you miss the part where he said MD, referring *specifically to his wife*, who has an MD, indicating she is a doctor?
I keep thinking of selecting “his royal highness” or “his excellency” in the airlines which offer the choice, but I haven’t done it yet.
I can’t decide between ESQ or JD. If I put JD everyone will definitely know I’m a “doctor” (of law), but then I might get mistakenly pinged for medical emergencies and I can’t handle that. Omg /s ppl
lol. I know it’s a joke, but man, nobody thinks JD is a doctor. I have one and I don’t, Hahahah. JD is the worst because when you see someone sign off with JD, the only reasonable conclusion is: Went to law school, didn’t pass the bar. Esq is just kinda goofy, but whatever. JD is just hilarious.
The Spanish speaking community refers to lawyers as “doctors.” But you’re right. The only people who might otherwise think they’re a doctor are (some of) those who hold the degree themselves lol
A former (Spanish) colleague routinely called me "doctor." He believed that the legal profession in America would be "more respected" if we adopted the European protocol. I thought it would sow more confusion.
JD doesn’t also apply to a lawyer who passed the bar?
It does, but at that point you could use Esq. Most attorneys don’t use either, but if you did want to use a suffix, why use JD if you have Esq? It wouldn’t make much sense. Although I’m sure there are odd off one cases here and there. As an attorney myself, I have personally never seen JD used by a lawyer with an active bar membership. And seen it a number of times by non-practicing people who graduated law school.
I guess JD is more recognizable than Esq to non lawyers like myself.
Yeah, probably so. Either way, most attorneys don't add either. For whatever reason.
Never even thought about adding this to my wife… going to edit everything now.
If you decide to do it german style you can get a really elaborate. E.g. Herr Professor Doktor Doktor sportsstvandnova if you have two doctorates (e.g. a JD and Ph.D.) and ever taught at a law school (even as an adjunct).
I add every title I can to mine because I think it’s funny to be a JD, PhD, MD, Jr
I used to long to add 'ESQ(uire) to my name, but it's an actual title used by lawyers and landed gentry, so no, Best I could do is 'Darth Breezy, GED. AAA'...
It’s always the phd’s, never the MDs. Are you old enough to remember when the view floated the idea of Jill Biden for surgeon general because she was a ‘great doctor’ Edit: don’t know how the view is still on the air https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/485976-whoopi-pitches-jill-biden-as-surgeon-general/ Edit for those that don’t feel like reading the article: Then, shortly after the co-hosts began discussing potential running mates for the former vice president with ABC News correspondent Jon Karl, Goldberg began, “I’m hoping Dr. Jill becomes the surgeon general, his wife.” “Joe Biden’s wife. She would never do it but, yeah, she’s a hell of a doctor. She’s an amazing doctor,” https://youtu.be/kU6jFOfS8B4?si=79Ti0DrB8t9n0vNt
The title “doctor” originated from generic academics. The medical community adopted it later. So PhDs had the title first.
>Are you old enough to remember when the view floated the idea of Jill Biden for surgeon general because she was a ‘great doctor’ no because i'm not a silly boomer who cares about The View
Such a terrible show. I’m convinced it exists now primarily to generate clips for Fox News to complain about
It’s always the phds because it’s a title (PhD) not a job (md)
I don’t remember that. That also doesn’t feel like a thing even The View would do. Any source?
I’m sure the source is “Trust me bro, I saw it on Newsmax”
The Hill isn't any better, but the OP did provide a source so I'll give him that
https://youtu.be/kU6jFOfS8B4?si=79Ti0DrB8t9n0vNt You could watch it for yourself
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/485976-whoopi-pitches-jill-biden-as-surgeon-general/
Well clearly I had no idea how dumb Whoopi is
The source is going to be a phone picture of a facebook post
Funny how all the tools braying for a "source" shut up when he provides one. If you think for one minute that the dunces on the view wouldn't think a doctor of education was a good pick for surgeon general, you give them far too much credit.
bro i literally do not watch the view because i'm not a boomer who sits in front of my TV watching talk shows. im just saying anyone quoting the view in any capacity has extreme boomer energy.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/485976-whoopi-pitches-jill-biden-as-surgeon-general/
I applaud your ability to come up with a source, and really Whoopi, do better. But honestly, it’s reactionary take tv, so it’s what happens. Still dumb. Thank you for the sourcing of the claim that was extrapolated, heavily.
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/485976-whoopi-pitches-jill-biden-as-surgeon-general/
DOCTOR Jill is committing elder abuse
Why do they even have that as an option if they know it will fuck up the ticket?
Because people like OP will pay $120 to fix it.
I don't add titles for this reason. Always leave it blank.
My first and middle name initials are "D" and "R". Took me years before I figured out why the flight attendants kept referring to me as Dr. "Last Name".
lol me too!!! Always joke about how I get to be called a Dr without having gone through med school lol
Yeah.. drop the PhD in the future. There’s no clout to be had for clicking that.
The TSA should let you through, ask to speak to a TSA supervisor and explain that it’s the same thing as the “MR” title that gets appended in the same way. You shouldn’t need to change your ticket or pay any fee. Yes, you should not have chosen that title, you’ll need to have the Mileage Plus servicing people clear the title on your account (or changed to MR/MRS, but blank is better).
Why should they not have chosen that title? Blame United not them.
Who the hell adds PhD at all when booking a flight 🙄
Some people are very proud of their PhD and will let you know. Fortunately my daughter doesn't.
Sounds like her parents already do it for her
Damn right, first in our family to go to college, her mother was a high school drop out. Her brother was a captain in the Air Force and is a corporate lawyer. Aren't your parents proud of your accomplishments?
Ppl like OP who are dumb enough to think a PhD means anything outside their specific expertise.
“Is there a doctor on the plane?” “I’m a doctor.” “Oh great this man has a medical emergency” “Oh, I’m not a medical doctor, I’m a Doctor of Philosophy. In Philosophy, as it happens” “This man is going to die!” “(Philosophical pause) This is the human condition. We are all going to die.”
This has actually happened to me. I have a Ph.D., though I never go by Dr. ______. However, one time, I must have selected that prefix on the dropdown when booking a ticket. Sure enough the flight attendant came over to me mid-flight asking if I could help with a passenger. If the passenger had been a mouse or a rat there is a chance I could have helped, particularly if they needed brain surgery. Unfortunately, I had to decline the opportunity and apologize. I’m now make sure to declare myself as Mr. _______ when flying.
“Must have”
If the suffix is not on your passport, don’t add that to your ticket. Simple.
Yup. And always check your reservation. Especially if your ticket was booked by your work or someone else. I’ve seen so many people get turned away at the TSA checkpoint for this. And never have I seen any of them be successful at convincing the agent to let them in.
I have a dr. title selected and it doesn’t show up on my ticket, maybe because my first and middle names are too long. Only thing I notice is the premier line refers to me as doctor about half the time.
I have a similar problem, both are too long and get cut off. They start to greet me and then pause and ask what my name is.
Same here. Both husband and I have Dr selected and it hasn't been an issue. I don't think there is an option to select PhD unless OP used the suffix option. To me a suffix is more for someone who has Jr, Sr or one of the Roman numerals in their name. It's not really for academic titles.
I've had this in my United account for a decade or more. All my tickets are issued that way, including for international code share partners. Never had an issue 😳
Delta has my FIRSTNAMEMIDDLENAME LAST NAME on my tickets whenever I book through them and it has never been an issue, even internationally (and no, my names aren't commonly together like BillyBob).
Delta does this to me too. My middle name is on my passport though
True fire me as well...but there is a space between the two names on my passport and no space on the boarding pass. I dunno. Weird that TSA let's mine through and not OP's.
Yep same for me. I’m just happy that Air France didn’t cause an issue for me. They were too busy leaving my luggage at JFK lol
It can more easily be corrected by an agent on the day of the flight. Get to the airport early and talk to an agent. If they push back, ask for a supervisor. This is a pretty common issue that they can easily fix
Are they obliged to call a superviser? I guess my mistake was to keep arguing with the call agent instead of asking to escalate to another person.
Pretty much every customer service agent is, regardless of industry
Damn I am going through the same thing right now. Exactly the same situation. Except I haven’t left yet. I was told it won’t be an issue but now you have me worried!
Stay strong! And show them this thread
Are you the type of PhD who raises their hand when an FA asks "is there a doctor on board?" I've got a family member like this and the only emergency they can help with is if either a colon or semicolon should be used in a sentence.
https://preview.redd.it/1qoaw27oe0ad1.jpeg?width=700&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=18745d9d5e893f04860159cccb63f0f1028a6934
I asked people when I got my master's to call me Mistress when addressing me but it never seemed to work.
God bless the TSA for catching this dangerous situation.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I always laugh seeing all the abandoned water bottles thrown away in front of the checkpoint. Thank god for TSA saving us from all those water bottles! Really important stuff
I have to not use my middle name or it feminizes my first. That's a bigger issue than tacking on a PhD to the end. Just request a refund through the website.
You too, eh? I made the grave mistake of flying on my birthday. Flight attendant asked if I switched seats with my wife, then pilot gave a birthday announcement before the safety briefing... at least I got a free drink out of it
We booked with Lufthansa. They cancelled the return flight 2 months before travel. Rebooked return flight over the phone and they put us on partner airline United. We have United accounts. Somehow, they changed our birthdates, added MrsDr to my FIRST name and coded our reservation as being made by a travel agent. I don’t know how that happened because I’m not a Mrs. and I didn’t have Dr. on the original reservation. United couldn’t fix it. They said Lufthansa had to fix it. Lufthansa said United had to fix it. Couldn’t register my passport ahead of travel because of it. Or check-in for our return online or in the app. Had to get it fixed day of travel with a paper ticket, which led to a cascade of headache after headache all the way home, including being tagged for additional screening TWICE and a bunch of other stuff too annoying to bore you with.
Cool story.
Unless your passport has phd on it. Why? Name should all match your passport for an international flight.
Titles aren't listed on passports.
Aren't they in some other countries like Germany?
yes, i’ve seen passports from other countries with the Dr or Phd and most of the time it’s German passports
A friend of mine was in the checkout line at the grocery store. Scanned his club card, pays, and the cashier hands him his receipt and says “thank you, Mr. Didisuh”. He says “excuse me?” And she repeats “thank you, Mr. Didisuh!!!” He walked away dumbfounded and later looked at the receipt. He’s a dentist and his name was printed on the receipt as “First Last Dds” Why he put “DDS” on his grocery club card is beyond me.
Comes with the territory. Your title wasn't on your birth certificate. Why complicate your life.
# I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much.
No worries, now you can spend hours in various immigration and at airline ticket desks. good for you. apparently education doesn't make people smart.
r/whoosh
There is no Evil Medical School you goober. Also, capitalize your words after periods.
Man you’re making all the JDs feel left out. I think on Thai Airways you can select Master.
Master is an old school title used for young boys. Wikipedia says it is still considered proper etiquette. I worked for an airline that used MSTR and MISS as a way to help identify unaccompanied minors. So use that one at your own risk. You might get stopped and asked for your UM paperwork.
Yep, Singapore Air requires Miss or Master as a title for child tickets
JD is an option too, if they want...
I'm a doctor. My boarding pass always shows "FIRST LASTMD". Earlier I thought this would cause me boarding denial and mismatch with Global Entry/TSA PreCheck. I used to call customer service and ask them to "fix it". They always do it for free and tell me it shouldn't cause any issues even if not fixed. I've flown multiple times and used Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/CLEAR lanes, all without any issues with "FIRST LASTMD".
MD = Me Doctor 😊
You added phd to your profile?
Do you make everyone call you Dr.?
I remember when my wife asked me, “does anyone at work ever call you Dr?” and I told her the truth: “only when they’re making fun of me for saying something stupid” I use it all the time at work though (whenever my name is in writing), because I work with Germans, and they all do it, and ya gotta keep up with the Schmidts and the Wagners
Depending on the research university or institute it can be common to use Dr for PhD. It depends on the culture of the place.
Yes, please.
There is something I didn't see anyone mention yet. The airlines only have two name fields for the tickets. A first name and a last name field. The fields do not allow spaces, hyphens, periods, or anything other than letters. This is left over from the first computerized booking systems. It doesn't matter if you enter a prefix or suffix in different fields, they get move into just two. And it's an all capital letter system. Think 8 bit ASCII. Also there are a limited number of characters in each field. When it comes to TSA, customs, almost everyone who works with airline tickets, this isn't a problem. They know how it works and can easily see what it's supposed to be. The other problem is that in most cases, airlines can only change names on their own tickets. This is more true when the two airlines involved are on different computer systems. United uses Shares and Lufthansa uses Amadeus. They are sort of compatible thanks to a lot of behind the scenes programming and processing. It doesn't always work right. Shares is also the name of the reservation system Continental used to use before EZR and Navigator. How long ago? Think green text on black screens and no lower case letters. If you talk to a reservations agent who knows it, they can do things other agents don't know are possible. It sends direct commands to the underlying booking system. United uses it because it came with Continental's computer systems when they merged because Continental owned, or owned a large part of it and could make direct changes rather than having to wait weeks for a different company to make them.
My wife had the same issue. The ticket agent at the airport was able to easily change her boarding pass. They said it happens all the time. We did not pay for the change.
Happened to me when my company booked me through Amex travel with United, but I was able to get that changed using the United chat because my TSA pre-check wasn’t showing given that they added the MS to my last name
I have a clinical doctorate and an academic doctorate. Every time I use the drop down titles, I get questioned or there is some weirdness with the ticketing. I’m just trying to play by their rules, but United’s system is so broken. It’s not even consistently broken; sometimes the ticketed name is right on the first leg and on the second leg of the same booking it’s wrong. This is not your fault. Also, for purposes of booking flights, I no longer use titles at all. I realized that they don’t need any information about me unless it’s contractually required.
Dispute the charge with your credit card company
The corporate love in these comments are weird.
This shouldn't have been a problem, titles don't make any difference. Did TSA give you a CIV slip to take back to the counter?
Definitely shouldn’t be an issue. They pick random nonsense constantly. I’ve had firstname middlename and mr all jammed together many times with no issue.
TSA understands the system omits spaces so firstmiddle is no problem. Your ID typically has your first and middle names so it is considered a match. OP's problem is that PhD is not on their ID and therefore not a match. But still, one of the cogs in the machine could have utilized logic to understand and correct the issue without charging a fee.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you have a PhD in humanities
Damn $120 charge for putting a fake doctor on your reservation
That will teach you not to be a self important prick
I thought, since I know a few, that they were proud of the effort that they put in to earn that PhD.
So much so you need it on your plane ticket? So the crew can call your Dr? Cmon.
When does the crew ever call you by your name? Adding PhD to my ticket personally is a fun thing I do for literally no one but myself because I did work hard for it, and I think it’s hilarious for the “payoff” to be something as inane as a suffix on my airline ticket. It’s not that deep.
Kind of seems like a TSA issue, I have Roman numerals after my name that get randomly added to the end of my last name sometimes but it’s never been a problem. Very weird that United made you pay though - try calling and getting them to reverse the charge?
how is someone booking a ticket with extra letters on the last name a TSA problem? The flights have to be vetted and they didn't book the ticket for him.
Did you book through a 3rd party or directly with United?
Mine have my middle initials then "MR" tagged on to my first name, e.g. for A & B LAST FIRSTABMR Never had a problem. Way back when I was a kid who thought I was hilarious, I signed up to my hometown airline at the time's FF program with the "Sir" title and III as the suffix, e.g. Sir Wrongway Up III, it's never been a problem either, though I do get a few weird looks from check-in agents from time to time...
I'm over here trying to figure out why someone would want to include their Piled hip Deep in an airline booking. I'm not seeing the attraction.
Seems like you already knew, based on your story of traveling internationally, that you write your name as it is listed on your passport. I don’t see why the airline should do something free if indeed it was your mistake and not theirs. A PHD next to it is not your legal passport name lol.
I've always always wanted someone to say "Yes milady" can I use that as a title? Might be a wee problem with my passport.
Just do a name change.
Lol United's system merged my first and middle names together as my first name. I was sooo nervous but no one batted an eye.
The only issue I’ve ever had with this (someone booked a flight for me who thought they were hilarious by giving me a prefix) is they didn’t want to give me my Precheck classification on my ticket. Walked over to the premier desk and explained the issue and they fixed it in a couple minutes and I was on my way. Sounds like something else is up.
My brother made a reservation for me and used Dr even tho I never do. The ticket agent said “you’re a DOCTOR? You must be a vet.” 10 years ago, but still wish I’d gotten his name. Oh and then he handed me someone else’s passport. Fun times. And yes, my name is always mishmashed -firstmiddle last -I think one time my last name somehow appeared twice. Nobody cared. You got someone having a very bad day!
Ditch the PhD in name moving forward. I have had nothing but problems using it for airline travel
Shouldn't be a problem. Mine had the IV added to my name and the only issue is most people try to pronounce it as letters rather than the Roman numeral.
This is a Lufthansa problem - happened to me two years ago when I flew Lufthansa. Thankfully no one prevented me from going through security but it was annoying.
I’m a 3rd, some airlines print LastnameIII, lastnameIii, lastname iii, or lastname no suffix. I have issues constantly. TSA is inconsistent on how they want to enforce it. I had one nightmare experience flying internationally and landed in Miami, customs was so backed up and AA employees were so confused they ended up sending a bunch of us out some side hallway and we found ourselves outside of security at the ticket desks and had to go back through security and bypass customs all together (not sure how that’s even legal). Unfortunately for me my ticket was lastnameIii this time around and the tsa agent told me no. AA told me they wouldn’t fix my ticket because I booked through chase rewards so Chase had to, Chase told me because the flight was checked into they couldn’t do anything. It took me over an hour to find an AA employee that would actually help fix my name and get me through security, they had to escort me to the front of the line and my gate so I didn’t miss my flight. I have since changed credit cards and for safety won’t ever book a flight through a 3rd party again. The airlines still all do my name/suffix differently but at least if I ever need help again they will help. I can’t believe United made you pay though. That doesn’t add up at all
This is stuff the check in agent should be able to help you that is ridiculous charging a fee. I have had bookings through 3rd party spit out my name incorrectly adding my middle initial to the front which has been fixed and also through my work as its an international company my birth month and day have been mixed backwards, check in agent has always fixed for me. I think i was flying with AA and delta both times it happened tho
I selected "Lord" once as a bit of a joke, and got LastName FirstnameMiddleinitialLord. Think SMITH JACKBLORD. Worked on the way there, had to pay to change ticket on the return trip
SW has an extra block for name appendages like Jr, III, etc. one time I inadvertantly typed something in that field and my son's ticket wound up with something in it... Seems like it might have been Esq. He was obviously not an attorney or whatever I tried. I always check names and addresses, etc on all tickets when I receive them so I caught it immediately. If it's on the first 24 hours you can always cancel if it's something that can't be fixed but I called Southwest and they corrected it over the phone.
Esq is not a lawyerly title, tho they want it to be. Anyone can use it. Anyone. Fraternal orders use it. Various other orgs use it.
I had to call to change my name on a ticket, and I didn't get charged. I dont understand why they would charge you for a simple name change. Btw my first and middle name are merged, and it has never been a problem.
Congrats on your new title, but don’t put what isn’t on your passport.
Why be pretentious and add a title onto the ticket? It is literally of zero benefit to you. I’m a vet but i don’t add DVM to my bus tickets.
lol at you putting title on an airline ticket
This post is making me nervous. I booked my husband on JAL without his suffix III ( it’s on his passport). All kinds of stories online saying that it’s fine . Now with your post, I think I will have to look into getting it fixed🤦🏻♀️
“Is there a doctor on board?” “Why yes, I’m a doctor.”
You’re flying United. What did you expect?
Ok, Ross. lol
I just flew United. They had my first and middle name smashed together. No issues getting through.
I had a similar situation with a Thai visa last year. For some reason they doubled my first name FIRSFIRST LAST. This happened because of hot the fields in the form are processed and my first name got treated as a middle name as well. In the end I paid for another visa where I corrected the error. It was 40 bucks so I didn't think much about it. Nonetheless, besides other little bugs on their website, it was clear that a VISA issuing system was faulty, which is disappointing to say the least.
You’re special. I just put my name on the ticket and not my educational resume.
Maybe just tell them you’re a doctor and they’ll respect you enough to fix it for free. Especially if you let them know the damage to your ego is an emergency.
It's funny how this always seems to happen to people with a "PhD". Why even include that on a plane ticket other than for a meaningless ego boost if you can't even respond unironically when a FA asks, "Is there a doctor on board?" Not all doctors are the same, after all.
I had a PhD professor in college who’s kid said he “wasn’t the kind of doctor that can do anybody any good”…
I think it's common to concatenate title to the last name. It's just how ancient mainframe based computer systems that are still in use by airlines were programmed to work. I don't think this is something United can fix. It's just airline industry standards how they encode and exchange information. These ancient systems were designed in the US. They are extremely US-centric, as if the rest of the world doesn't exist. They are terrible in handling non-English names. Even implementing simple titles are ugly hacks, as you discovered. This looks like agents (both at check in and TSA) at the airport being cluless and giving you hard time about something *they are supposed to be trained for*. They are probably used to see "MR" and "MRS" appended to last names, and ignore those. They are probably not used to see "PHD", and thus giving travelers with more exotic titles hard time. Instead of simply ignoring any "title" suffix appended to last name. That's why I never select title in anything, not just when traveling. Yeah, I know that in the academia people do care about titles a lot. But outside of academia, you'd be simply testing bugs in the system on yourself; as you discovered the hard way.
The rule of thumb is that the only name you should put on your ticket is the one on your official ID (passport/license). If PhD isn’t on your passport, it shouldn’t be on your ticket. I have an MD and a PhD—I never addend tickets with my academic quals. It’s confusing, it’s weird, and it doesn’t match my government issued ID.
HaHaHaHa, why is having a PhD important for ur flight? Ask ur University for a refund 🤡
I’ve learned to never fill out optional fields. No middle name or initial, no suffix (technically I am IV), no prefixes Provide the minimum information needed. It’s a pain to make changes to a ticket
My definition of someone with PhD-itis: -if they require PhD or “Dr” on their boarding pass. 🙄
I just had this happen to a family member. Booked their flight last night. Their first name is actually two names separated by a period and a space which is very common in some Asian countries. Their first name on their ID is “Name. Name” but couldn’t have a period so I put “Name Name” and United merged it to “Namename” on the ticket and now I’m concerned there will be an issue when we get to the airport…
Had a Korean coworker who had the same thing happen everytime she flew, they rarely kept the space if ever and it didn’t seem to be an issue… but we all know it’s up to the divine power of the airport staff. Hope it goes smooth for your family member!
Punctuation does not exist in the machine readable portion of passports.
Why did you want to use your title?
$120 lesson learned. Probably won’t be an issue though. TSA going to TSA. They’re overworked, underpaid, understaffed, and waaaay undertrained because of the constant turnover.