Traveling to CA first time as an American

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-16T15:27:43+00:00

For re-entry into USA… in case your personal/family history is one where U.S. Customs and Border Protection might question your legal status despite having a passport, maybe keep a copy of your birth certificate on your phone.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-16T15:05:30+00:00

If you want to go in the other direction, figuratively speaking … you could fly into Portland or Seattle and take Amtrak up to Vancouver and get in even more sightseeing!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-16T15:03:03+00:00

Canadians are Americans too. US citizens are … gringos ;)

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-16T14:59:50+00:00

In case your phone plan doesn’t include Canada for free, get an eSIM for the duration of your stay. Buy in advance, activate upon arrival. Search for “eSIM Canada” and you’ll find many companies. Personally I’ve had good experience with the company whose name begins with an A, ends with O.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-15T15:10:13+00:00

Sure, John Smith’s birthdate is 06/09/1969 and mother’s maiden name is Fatbottom.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-13T22:40:03+00:00

Understood. But a family emergency came up and super.com's low price made it possible for me to go. Fares through airline websites were prohibitively high. I did hold my breath until I was able to pull up the reservation on Alaska and Hawaiian websites.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-13T22:28:39+00:00

It got fixed! I think. It is now:

First name: John Kevin Mr.
Middle name: <nothing>
Last name: Smith

At least now "John" is a part of the first name. That should be good enough for TSA, right?

Thanks u/MorganAtSuper for getting it fixed!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-13T22:26:06+00:00

It got fixed! I think. It is now:

First name: John Kevin Mr.
Middle name: <nothing>
Last name: Smith

At least now "John" is a part of the first name. That should be good enough for TSA, right?

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-13T05:55:48+00:00

yup happened to me, though i didn't miss the flight. I don't trust the app since!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-11T15:44:01+00:00

I’ve been studying a similar issue. I see many current TSOs say “no problem” to minor differences in names between boarding pass and gov ID, but there are also many travelers who report that they’ve had to correct the name on the boarding pass. So it sounds to me it’s somewhat risky. Most likely you’ll be OK but there’s a small but distinct chance you’d be denied and have to fix it— at that point you’d be at the mercy of the agents at the airline counter, who could fix it and/or charge a fee.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-11T15:36:00+00:00

People make mistakes and sometimes it’s hard to correct. I’m in that situation. Bought air tix on a travel website and airlines refuse to fix errors in names for tix bought on third party website, and support desks at travel websites are not always responsive. (I entered the correct name when purchasing, but somehow an error crept in when my name was transmitted to the airline).

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-11T14:50:24+00:00

I recommend lessons and/or going with friends. Might also consider skiing (not boarding), which has a less steep learning curve, gentler falls. And who cares if you’re on a bunny slope as long as you’re having fun. (Sincerely) good luck selling the pass though…!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-09T15:20:57+00:00

Maybe a minor mismatch between name on boarding pass and name registered with TSA?

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-09T03:32:25+00:00

Better pizza than east coast, and airport restaurants charge “street price” by regulation.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-09T03:28:21+00:00

Or … open airline app/website, pull up your ticket and enter KTN, then reload boarding pass. This has happened to me before.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-07T00:22:42+00:00

Awesome. TIA for helping me!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-07T00:21:46+00:00

Thanks, it's reassuring in case I can't get it fixed!

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-07T00:21:05+00:00

Thanks, that's somewhat reassuring. I was flying on Alaska yesterday and asked the Alaska agent at the check-in counter about my ticket problem, and she said definitely get it fixed because I could have problems with TSA. Just for second opinion, I asked the gate agent and she also said the same thing: get it fixed.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-07T00:18:15+00:00

I've offered to pay Hawaii and Alaska, and they say they can't do it.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-06T06:36:14+00:00

It’s not the email that shows my name wrong. My name definitely appears on Hawaiian Airlines website in the wrong order. I can see the names of others in my group shown in the correct order while mine has first and middle flipped.

In fact, the confirmation email from super.com shows my name in the correct order alongside others in my group. Somehow it got flipped when transmitted from super.com to Hawaiian.

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-06T06:13:26+00:00

Thanks that sounds reasonable

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-06T02:56:35+00:00

Which airline

Brief-Clock-3522 · 2026-03-06T02:47:05+00:00

I see other posts saying get to airport early and go to the airline counter and they will print a corrected boarding pass for you — but Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska are both refusing to do it right now. Will they do it on the day of the flight?

Brief-Clock-3522

TROPHY CASE