Travelling to Iran & my last name

Not my agency just my opinion :)

Cyrus Travel in California usually has the best prices (but we're not talking by 100's of dollars, the prices are fairly close :) and quite reliable.

I'm the same anon who posted that I travelled to Iran 8 times :).

As far as best airline, depends on whether you are travelling first, business, or economy. For first and business I prefer Lufthansa, hands down, but for economy I like KLM better.

Actually the best in all catagories would be Virgin, but they don't fly to Iran so you have to take Iran Air from London (did that once 8 years ago, survived it won't repeat it) :).

Take care.

more more thing!!!

I forgot to ask about Iranian Travel Agencies in the U.S. 

If anyone has dealt with a good Iranian travel agency in the U.S, would you kindly email/post their phone number and/website?

 Worse comes to worse, I will buy my ticket online.

Dobareh mamnoonam az komaketoon.

S.J

Travelling to Iran & my last name -- THANK YOU!!!!

Thank you everyone.  I was very worried but now more relaxed.   I won't hide my passports because I will need to show proof that I am leaving the country legally (my cousin is a Canadian citizen) and she just returned from Iran.  She showed her Canadian passport and they (the agents at Tehran's airport) wished her a safe trip to Canada!!!!  She had no problems going there or coming back. But she does not have the same last name problem as me. 

But anyway!  Thank you very much.  One more question though...which airline is better to fly with?  Is Iran air any different? 

Az hamatoon mamnoonam!

S.J

Sahar

I was in your shoes exactly when I trvelled HOME !

I can give you some info, but your best bet would be contacting (more than one) travel agents and seek advice from them, they deal with this situation on a daily basis.

Good luck my friend.

P.S. If you click on my name, you can send me an e-mail and I'll tell you what you can do 

Iran travel

On the same token,My new Iranian passport which was issued at the iranian cousolate in D.C, does'nt have the exit visa in it.I was concerned.So when i contacted the iranian counsolate they said that it is a new ruling for the resident or citizens of iran living in the US.Is this true ? Also has anyone traveled to Iran and back recently under the new ruling? Any info. will be greatly appreciated.

I don't think airline cares,

I don't think airline cares, as long as some part of you name matches. I have the same exact issue and never had problem going there and coming out (4-5 times). The name on ticket does not have to exactly match your name on your travel documents (passport). Good luck.

No need for separate tickets or any of that. . .

God some of the responses to your inquiry are plain paranoid.

I have travelled to iran 8 times in the last 5 years and have been a us citizen for 18 years. Like you I have different names in my different passports. In fact in my American passport my first name is completely different. When I buy tickets I have all three names on the ticket. . ie: if my American name is John Jaffari, and my Iranian name is Mohammad Jaffari I buy the ticket as John Mohammad Jaffari. . .I have never run into a problem and I have flown using Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways, Virgin and Air France :).

And to the people stating you should hide your American passport here's an interesting story: in my iranian passport picture I didn't have a goatee so the iranian passport check guy didn't think it was me. . . I ended up showing my American Passport which had a more recent pic to prove my identity. . .in fact you have to give your American passport when checking in at the Tehran airport when leaving the country if you don't have a visa for the country you are flying to. . .they expect this and it is standard procedure so Mother is just being paranoid.

Safe passage and best wishes for your father.

No worries!

Sahar Khanoom

There's a very large number of Iranians that travel to Iran each year who happen to have other citizenships and or residencies, sometimes several ones. The Iranian government and authorities are well aware of this and nobody that I know of has ever had any issues with it. What really matters, is that once you touch Tehran's soil, you show your 'Iranian' documents to the airport agents or police who'll stamp it. Once you're leaving Iran, however; the 'Air line agent' (not the police) will ask for your proof of legal residency in the country you're travelling to (if you're an American citizen, you'll show them your American ID card or Passport) Please note that the Airline you're travelling with, needs to know if you're allowed to travel legally and go through Europe as well as the US.  Four years ago I travelled to Iran after 18 years and had some concerns regarding my non-Iranian documentation. Nothing happened. My only advice to you is that once you're in Iran, protect and keep all your documentation (American and Iranian) in a safe place, because loosing it would mean a lot of trouble and time to get it back.  I wouldn't worry much about your last name issue. I'm pretty sure that after such a long time you'll enjoy your trip back home. No matter what, Iran booye madar ra midahad.

All the best

No need to hide!

You don't have to do much. many peopleI knwo travel with different names (but similar) in their U.S. and Iranian passports. Everyone understands this. You will to show your American pssport nly to the airline ticket agents. They are very famliar with these issues. Virtually 9 out of 10 people who come to U.S. are American citizens. S, do not hide it. It raises suspision. To be on the safe side, carry the documentation with you as to why (or how) you chnaged your name. But generally that will not be needed.

Sahar Khanom...

I know someone close to me with the same issue, a long iranian name and a shortened american document name. With a ticket based on the shorter american name he has traveled to iran many times with no problem.

You needn't purchase two

You needn't purchase two separate tickets. I, too, have a hyphenated last name and use the latter part on my US documents. I traveled to Iran after 29 years without any problems. My Iranian passport has my full last name and my American passport has my "Americanized" Iranian last name. You only need one ticket. Make sure your ticket and your American passport match because they are more careful here in the States than they are in Iran. If you have more questions, let me know and I'll give you my email address.

Your tickets

Dear Sahar,

You need to buy separate tickets from Europe to Tehran with your Jafari name. There won't be any problem if you don't show your American passport. In fact, you'll be better off hiding it. Bon voyage!