Permission needed for DSs friend to fly with us?

[MrsJigsaw]

We're going on holiday in the summer and our son's friend is coming with us (they are both 16).

Do we need a letter from his parents saying that they have given permission for him to fly with us? Might we get questioned at the airport?

I hate flying so am always anxious at airports anyway, so would like to be prepared!

Yes we took a very simple letter just saying they give us permission and signing it at the bottom.

Yes. Bring a letter stating the 16 yo travel with you with parents' permission.

We have been questioned (ironically coming back into the UK at Calais) so since then have always had a letter. There are templates online, the other parent also includes that we can make health related decisions in an emergency, just in case.

I think 16 year olds can travel with their own passport independently. If a letter from his parents will give you some peace of mind, get one. But I do wonder how airport security can tell if these letters are genuine, as in written and signed by the parents, or forged without the parent’s knowledge.

Check the requirements for the country you’re going to. I’d definitely take a signed letter wherever you’re going but some countries might also want it notarised.

Thanks everyone. I'll get in touch with his parents and get a letter sorted.

16 year olds can fly alone so not sure how this would be a problem?

It depends where you’re going. Portugal requires the consent letter to be notarised at the Embassy.

Flying alone is different from going through with adults though; they want to make sure you haven abducted them or anything. They don’t always ask, but they can.

But he could just go through on his own.

A 16 year old in the UK can legally fly alone, but the minimum age imposed by individual airlines can be higher. No airline is obliged to carry an unaccompanied 16 or 27 year old.

As stated above do check on the requirements for the country you are visiting. It is advisable for any letter to include a passport number and contact phone number.

When DD went overseas with a friend (aged 15 and 16) I gave the mum a letter giving permission for her to be in loco parentis so obviously covering travel and also if any decisions had to be made in case of an accident etc. I also made sure DD had her own travel insurance and again gave the mum a copy. Do make sure the friend has travel insurance.

If it would ease your mind ask for a letter. But I would ask for it in a self-deprecating it’s a me thing kind of way!

Check the country you’re going to for specifics outside a signed letter for the airline and make sure to have his insurance info and ideally something notarised so you can make medical decisions.

"Airport security" don't care. Immigration officers might do. That's why the letter should contain the phone number of the parents.

Of course, it could be some huge spy-movie-style plot, with the child being drugged so that they say "Yes, the Mr and Mrs Smith listed in that letter are indeed my parents", when the "parents" are in fact stooges of the kidnappers. But this is monumentally unlikely, and the immigration officers have 200 more people from the same plane to stamp through. At European holiday airports they don't treat every happy-looking minor with a different name to the adults like a potential trafficking victim. In practice the chances that anyone will ask anything with a 16yo are close to zero.

Make sure they have insurance too. If they’re on a family policy they may not be covered when travelling independently.

I've taken a ten year old away before his dad was there at check in, then when we arrived in Spain they asked him a few questions about where he was going and he answered happily so all good.

Funnily enough this happened to us last year.

Flying into Portugal with daughter and her 15 year old friend who was 16 the next day.

I'm normally on top of letters at airports because my kids don't have the same surname me as me and I've been stopped several times. Always had letters though.

Anyway got to Lisbon, got stopped and they wouldn't let daughter's friend in.

However they let daughter's friend phoned her mum who sent an email to passport control.

Took about half an hour to get sorted. There was lots of teenage crying!

So no consulate involved.

However as a PP pointed out, there was no way they could have known if the email was genuine, unless they asked for the mum's passport number? I can't remember.