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I'm am a non US citizen flying back to my home country using a one way ticket.

Due to character limits to Kayak, I made the flight booking using initials for my first name (i.e. J D in lieu of John Doe). Will this be an issue for the TSA?

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  • Some countries like Singapore, there are a sign in the check in desk, advising you to certificate the spelling of your name. Because without match the name and the board card they not allow you to board.
    – Afetter
    Dec 2 '15 at 6:26
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Kayak (and other web sites) state you should fill in the data as it appears on your passport or other government ID. Having said that, I often see people next to me in line with long non-English names that have obviously been truncated on their boarding passes for want of space. I would expect a small amount of extra hassle, but nothing serious. That's what happened to my colleague who comes from a region where people have only one name.

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    I agree--it will be possible to fly, just with some potential bit of extra hassle. I recently flew on a series of commercial flights booked by someone else who omitted my entire last name, used only my first and middle names, and it worked fine.
    – John Zwinck
    Dec 2 '15 at 7:24
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The TSA agent checking your boarding pass against your ID is human, and should be able to recognize the situation. To be extra super safe, if you have anything else that uses your initials, such as a credit card, library card, etc., you could bring it as well, just in case the TSA ID-checker has any hesitation.

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  • Not sure how bringing other documents using the initials will help. It should be pretty obvious from your passport alone whether the initials match or not.
    – drat
    Dec 4 '15 at 2:23
  • It can potentially be helpful by showing the TSA ID-checker that you are also known by your initials. The TSA has said that in cases where passengers don't have an acceptable government-issued photo ID, the checker may use alternate documents that show your name, such as credit cards, to help substantiate your identity. By that reasoning, in the event the TSA checker has any hesitation about accepting your BP with initials against your passport with your full name, having other documents with your initials can help. I think the odds of actually needing such extra ID are quite low.
    – jetset
    Dec 5 '15 at 20:45

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