Why do airlines require an address when booking?
Whenever I book tickets for a flight, I have to provide my address details, contact numbers and an email address. A contact number I understand and they'll email me confirmation to the email address. But what use do they have for my physical address? It seems pointless data gathering.
Best Answer
There's one major reason other answers here seem to have missed out: whichever airline or online travel agent is processing your booking, if you pay by credit card or debit card online then they need your address as registered with your bank to authorise your transaction.
Well, technically any payment processor is supposed to use address in addition to card details such as CVV code to authorise the payment but some skip this step. Yes, you can authorise transactions with a bank without doing address verification, but in that case, in case of fraudulent transactions the chargeback rates are much higher. Since total value of each transaction airlines typically process can be high, higher chargeback rates will eat significantly into their costs - as well as if a particular airline is sending a higher percentage of fraudulent transactions by not doing address checking, then they may even get blocked by their payment processor.
Having your address for forwarding lost baggage, marketing purposes, et al is an added bonus that airlines / online travel agents get, but it may not be the biggest reason why they use it.
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Do you need address for flight?
Input each traveler's personal information, including full name, date of birth, email address and phone number when booking a flight. You'll need to indicate whether any traveler is under 18 years of age or is a newborn or infant being held in a lap.Do airlines check addresses?
Airlines and passenger-carrying operators are required to collect each passenger's full name, address while in the United States, primary contact phone number, secondary or emergency contact phone number, and email address, to the extent this information exists, within 72 hours before the flight's departure.What details do you need to book a flight?
Flight and passenger details- Trip details.
- Personal information \u2013 Full names (to be spelled exactly as it is in your ID or passport), date of birth, country of residence.
- ID number.
- Ideal departure times and length of flights (do you prefer a direct flight or are you happy with connections?)
- Preferred cabin class.
When booking a flight do you have to put middle name?
Even though your boarding pass may not match your government-issued ID (i.e. your middle name is not on it), if your passenger information is correct, there will not be a problem. Bottom Line: Even if you forget to put your middle name in when booking your ticket, chances are there will be no issues when flying.HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS - My Best Tips After Booking 500+ Flights
More answers regarding why do airlines require an address when booking?
Answer 2
I might add another small reason, that is finance law. For example here in Czech Republic, all payments over CZK 10'000 (approx. EUR 400) should be done with a proper identification of both seller and buyer on the invoice.
Answer 3
Well, they just don't want anyone booking a ticket and not knowing who they are and as someone said an address is required in order to authorize your credit card. There is a lot of fraud in the airline business sadly.
And also, the computer system requires one. It does not require an address to create the booking, but an address is required to pay for the booking.
To create the booking, just a name and phone number is required plus the itinerary as basic information.
Also, the airlines used to do what's called TBM, Ticket By Mail. So they used to mail you a physical paper ticket. They are still using the old backend systems with fancy interfaces, but the information is still required to complete the transaction.
Actually Mark, that information you enter at the time of booking is not usually linked to your lost baggage data as they are usually two separate systems. So they will ask you for the information again if your bag is lost. Only as sometimes the bag is lost at the other end of your trip.
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