Those of us with slightly unusual surnames will know the pain of having to spell it out for people every time you try to fly anywhere, but spare a thought for a passenger trying to travel with Thai Airways recently, who was slugged extra at check-in for the apparent error of having a rather long surname.
Thai Airways officials have been forced to apologise to the passenger, after check-in staff slapped an extra charge on the passenger whose surname exceeded the character limit of the airline’s booking system.
The story goes that the passenger presented the Thai staff at an airport check-in, who pointed out the fact that the passenger’s info on their ticket did not fully match the ID on his passport.
The passenger explained that he was not able to fully input his surname on the Thai Airways website, due to being restricted by the character limit. Airline staff charged him extra on the spot to correct the error before sending him on his way.
Thai Airways acting executive VP Wiwat Piyawiroj confirmed that the passenger has since been reimbursed for the incident, and issued an unreserved apology, assuring passengers with lengthy monikers that it was implementing steps to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
We apologise for the inconvenience since the internet booking system allows up to 25 characters each for the first name and family name when booking a ticket.
So there you go. 25 character limits on surnames for all Thai Airways flights, as it turns out. That’s gotta be bad news for famed typesetter Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff I tell you what!
Whatever, it’s Monday morning. You write the damned jokes.
