Air India Blocks Passenger From Booking Ticket With Real Last Name

There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t learn something about some aspect of the travel industry. Today’s lesson is niche, but quite interesting, if you ask me.

However, there are people out there with that last name, so it’s kind of wild that the system fully blocks that name, with seemingly no good way to override it.

One wonders, is this issue exclusive to Air India, is this an issue across Amadeus, and/or do other airlines have a similar issue? I’d assume based on the fact that a reader with the last name Sample specifically called out Air India suggests this is the exception rather than the norm.

Bottom line

Apparently Air India won’t accept bookings from passengers with the last name “Sample.” I suppose the airline is concerned that people accidentally use that last name, for whatever reason. However, that also prevents those with that last name from booking tickets on the airline.

I’m curious if this is a specific Air India restriction, or if there’s a bigger reservations system block in place for this.

What do you make of Air India not wanting “Sample” passengers?