According to the TSA, a title or suffix is not required when booking a reservation (such as “Mr.”, “Dr.”, “Ms.”, “Jr.”, “Sr.”, “III”, “IV”). Secure Flight Passenger Data: The first, last, and middle name, along with the gender and date of birth is required in the passenger's secured flight data field (DOCS/SFPD) .

In 2026, whether you need to include "Jr." (Junior) on your plane ticket depends entirely on whether it appears on your official government-issued identification, such as your passport or Real ID. The Secure Flight program, managed by the TSA and international aviation authorities, requires that the name on your boarding pass matches the name on your ID exactly. If your passport says "John Smith Jr," it is "best practice" to include the suffix in the "Last Name" field or the designated suffix field during booking to avoid any discrepancies at the security checkpoint. While many automated systems in 2026 are sophisticated enough to recognize that "John Smith" and "John Smith Jr" are likely the same person, a strict gate agent or a facial recognition scanner might flag the difference as a mismatch. If you have already booked without it, you generally do not need to pay for a name change unless your middle name is also missing or the name is substantially different, but for future travel, consistency is the key to a frictionless airport experience.