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The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) has announced plans to move
forward with their Secure Flight program throughout 2009.
Secure Flight conducts uniform prescreening of passenger information against
federal government watch lists for domestic and international flights.
Under the Secure Flight program, we will be required to collect the following
data from all airline passengers at the time the reservation is made;
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Full Name
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Date of Birth
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Gender
If available, passport data, redress number and known traveler
number must also be transmitted to the TSA.
Secure Flight requires that domestic aircraft operators request and
collect full name as of May 15, and date of birth and gender as of Aug. 15 for
their domestic flights. For international flights, full name, date of birth,
and gender must be requested and collected as of Oct. 31.
The information you provide must match exactly the information
printed on the government-issued photo identification that you will use at the
TSA screening location at the airport. We know that many of our travelers use
various versions of their complete, legal name when traveling, including
nicknames, middle names, etc. However, it is critical that the legal name that
appears on your airline ticket exactly match the name on your ID. For example,
if you have a middle name listed on your ID, your middle name MUST appear on
your airline ticket. If the name on your ticket does not match the name on your
identification, you will be denied boarding.
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This program may impact your airline, car and hotel loyalty programs. We
encourage you to take this opportunity to review the name you used to register
for airline, car and hotel loyalty programs. Many of these programs perform a
name match before crediting your account. If your name on your ticket no longer
matches your name on your account, this may impact your ability to earn credit
in these programs. For example, if your frequent flyer account was created
under the name Bob Smith, but your legal name is Robert Smith, you will need to
update your frequent flyer account to match your legal identification so that
there is no discrepancy that may prevent you from earning mileage credit when
you travel.
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The Secure Flight Program is scheduled to go
into effect this summer.
Airlines, reservation system providers, and the travel industry at large are
working to update the systems used to collect and record this data. The TSA is
working to introduce this program in phases throughout this summer. We urge you
to begin the process of updating personal information with Tower Travel
Management and your industry loyalty programs now so that we will all be ready
when the program is implemented.
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has compiled a document which
gives more information on the Secure Flight Program that you can access here.
As always, our travel consultants are ready to answer any questions you may
have. They can be reached at 800.542.9700.
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