Make sure your ready for the new TSA requirements prior to any November 1, 2010 or later Flights.
As you may know, the TSA mandate requiring full Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) is quickly approaching. The mandate applies to all airlines for flights to/from/within/over the U.S., as well as 100 percent of U.S. carriers' operations regardless of geography. If you are aware of any travel plans during the first couple of weeks of November, it may be a good idea to get this booked in advance as there could be some issues matching up all the records on the implementation date.
Secure Flight is a behind the scenes program designed to enhance the security of US domestic and international commercial air travel through the use of improved watch list matching. By collecting additional passenger data, the goal is to improve the travel experience for all airline passengers, including those who have been misidentified in the past.
When passengers travel, they will be required to provide the following Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) to their airline when making a reservation:
- Name as it appears on government-issued I.D. when traveling
- Date of Birth
- Gender
- Redress Number (if available)
- Each airline will transmit this information to Secure Flight, who uses it to perform watch list matching. The hope is to prevent individuals on the No Fly List from boarding an aircraft and to identify individuals on the Select List for enhanced screening. After matching passenger information against government watch lists, Secure Flight transmits the matching results back to airlines.
- The SFPD program hopes to allow the TSA to prescreen additional passenger data prior to departure to ensure a consistent customer experience and better manage the tracking of passenger watch lists. Full SFPD must be submitted by the airlines to the TSA 72 hours in advance of flight departures for all travel on or after November 1, 2010. There is some confusion on what happens if you have last minute travel.
Some important tips to keep in mind:
- TravelPlex American Express does uses its own customer profiles in building reservations, and has been working diligently behind the scenes for the past 10 months to ensure we have updated your profile to conform to the Secure Flight guidelines.
- Both of our corporate booking tools, RESX and Cliqbook, are able to transmit employee data as required by the TSA.
- To avoid TSA imposed fines under the Secure Flight mandate, all flight segments without complete SFPD may be subject to cancellation prior to the 72 hour TSA deadline for providing this information.
- In the coming weeks, the TSA will provide additional details on inhibiting ticketing when complete SFPD is not provided in conjunction with travel beginning November 1, 2010 and beyond.
As always, if you have any questions about the new TSA Secure Flight Information, please feel free to contact me or anyone of the TravelPlex American Express management team!
John Heimburger
President
TravelPlex American Express
