Can i lie about my kid's age for an unaccompanied minor flight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rule breakers usually get away with it, so I'm sure s/he'll be fine.

But I would ask myself if it's worth teaching your child they can pick and choose which rules apply.

My kid would have no idea what I paid for the ticket or what fees were or were not involved.

So you'd send your kid in to a lie-based situation w/o even giving them a heads up?

I wouldn't, because I can afford not to. But yes, if i was OP and could not swing it financially, I would.

So rules don't matter if you can't afford it. Got it.

This is why our country sucks. Everyone has an excuse as to why rules don't apply to them.

I guess. I guess I dont see the airlines as a victim of a crime here, but if you think that thinking a 7 day window on age should not cost $300, and that that sort of thinking is ruining America, I probably can't change your mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rule breakers usually get away with it, so I'm sure s/he'll be fine.

But I would ask myself if it's worth teaching your child they can pick and choose which rules apply.

My kid would have no idea what I paid for the ticket or what fees were or were not involved.

But they ask the child's age at TSA. So, the child would need to be told to lie.

My children have taken no less than 14 UM flights. They have never been asked their age. Ever. When in the process do you envision this happening? The TSA agent has no idea if a fee was paid on the ticket or not. The TSA agent is not charged with enforcing (and knowing!) each airlines age policy.

Interesting. I fly a lot with high schoolers. Not my own high schoolers, other people's. They ask the age every time a kid doesn't provide ID. It hadn't really occurred to me that they didn't do so for younger kids. Maybe they are doing so to confirm that the kid is under 18. Maybe it's only if you're flying in that 15 - 17 range where it's neither UM nor ID required? I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter needs to fly solo--one hour each way, direct fights.
The major carriers won't let her fly unaccompanied until age 15. There is a $300 fee for flying her as an unaccompanied minor (age 14 and under).

She'll be a week shy of her 15th birthday at the time of the flights.

Is there any way to lie about her age?
We could check her in and then she'd just have to present the boarding pass at the gate. Would they require an ID at the gate to get on the plane if she looks like a teenager?
She could have a passport to make it through security.

Any idea how this could work?
Is it a really bad idea?

She is an independent kid who takes the bus and Metro around town and has flown dozens of times. She could totally find her way through the process and would be allowed to a week later.

I'm just curious what the chances are that we would be caught if we just lied about her age. I.e. what the check-in process would be like



No, do not lie. Your kid will be embarrassed. And you will get fined

Fined by whom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rule breakers usually get away with it, so I'm sure s/he'll be fine.

But I would ask myself if it's worth teaching your child they can pick and choose which rules apply.

My kid would have no idea what I paid for the ticket or what fees were or were not involved.

But they ask the child's age at TSA. So, the child would need to be told to lie.

My children have taken no less than 14 UM flights. They have never been asked their age. Ever. When in the process do you envision this happening? The TSA agent has no idea if a fee was paid on the ticket or not. The TSA agent is not charged with enforcing (and knowing!) each airlines age policy.

Interesting. I fly a lot with high schoolers. Not my own high schoolers, other people's. They ask the age every time a kid doesn't provide ID. It hadn't really occurred to me that they didn't do so for younger kids. Maybe they are doing so to confirm that the kid is under 18. Maybe it's only if you're flying in that 15 - 17 range where it's neither UM nor ID required? I don't know.

Maybe. Mine have been in the 10-14 range when doing this, and theyre all pre-puberty so on the smaller side. They ask "who is *kim* and that child raises their hand and walks through (I have several kids). They have not been asked their age.

[Anonymous]

Please don’t do this. Just drive your child to the funeral. You cannot go past security anyway to help her to her gate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t do this. Just drive your child to the funeral. You cannot go past security anyway to help her to her gate.

I am amazed at how weird people on this forum are, just making up stuff. Yes you can. I get a gate pass whether my kids are flying UM or not (like on SW). Ive gotten gate passes to assist elderly relatives, and my spouse when they had a broken leg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rule breakers usually get away with it, so I'm sure s/he'll be fine.

But I would ask myself if it's worth teaching your child they can pick and choose which rules apply.

My kid would have no idea what I paid for the ticket or what fees were or were not involved.

But they ask the child's age at TSA. So, the child would need to be told to lie.

My children have taken no less than 14 UM flights. They have never been asked their age. Ever. When in the process do you envision this happening? The TSA agent has no idea if a fee was paid on the ticket or not. The TSA agent is not charged with enforcing (and knowing!) each airlines age policy.

No, but TSA will know the DOB information in the database, and the DOB information on her booking do not match, which will flag her boarding pass when she goes through security.

[Anonymous]

I mean, it's fraud, but sure, why not?

[Anonymous]

The conclusion, OP, is that people have had different personal experiences with UM being asked their age, or not, and with their parent being allowed to accompany them all the way to gate, or not.

In my opinion, if you want to risk it, you have to do so with your child's full approval, because it's going to be on them to decide to lie or not if they are asked and you are not there. They have to be comfortable with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t do this. Just drive your child to the funeral. You cannot go past security anyway to help her to her gate.

I am amazed at how weird people on this forum are, just making up stuff. Yes you can. I get a gate pass whether my kids are flying UM or not (like on SW). Ive gotten gate passes to assist elderly relatives, and my spouse when they had a broken leg.

It really depends and seems wholly arbitrary based on the person at the counter. I've gotten them and other times I haven't. If you are really counting on it, it could be dicey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The conclusion, OP, is that people have had different personal experiences with UM being asked their age, or not, and with their parent being allowed to accompany them all the way to gate, or not.

In my opinion, if you want to risk it, you have to do so with your child's full approval, because it's going to be on them to decide to lie or not if they are asked and you are not there. They have to be comfortable with that.

Have people here been turned down when they ask to take a minor to the gate? I have never been turned down, so I'm curious. I feel like I see a lot of posts from people who haven't done it, and assume they'd be turned down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
It's not going to work because she has to fly American (it's the only airline with direct flights to this destination) and she's flown with them in the past. I can't imagine I can book a new ticket for the same name and same billing address but change the birth date without raising some sort of flag.

If it wasn't for this I would just have her change her birth date by a month for the booking.

This is the unavoidable logistics problem, I think. Unless she can fly a different airline. (Ethics aside ... and I am a rule-follower, as is my child, but given the airlines' attachment to outrageous fees I can understand the temptation). United, for example, definitely has my kid's birthdate in their system if we log into my account and/or use her frequent flyer number. I might be tempted to try purchasing as a "guest" without using her frequent flyer number and see if you can buy a ticket without the system automatically applying the fee.

OP here. I wouldn't use her frequent flier number but even so her name and our home (billing) address are in their system with her correct age because we have purchased tickets for her before on this airline. They would identify her real age fairly easily in this way. If it was an airline we never used before I could get away with fudging the birth date but as it is, I don't think I can.

Sounds like you have the answer.

[Anonymous]

OP, so the message you want to give your daughter is that it is okay to lie to save money. Am I getting this right? You really want your daughter to instill from you that it is okay to lie to save $300? Wow. Whatever you do, whatever choice you make, I feel a great deal of pity for your daughter that you are her role model.

[Anonymous]

Send her on Amtrak.

[Anonymous]

The problem is when you buy her ticket. They ask for DOB and you really shouldn’t lie about that. When the computer calculates that she’s under 15, it won’t let you complete the purchase without paying the extra fee.

Can she fly Southwest? They don’t require a fee for kids over 12.