air travel and birth certificates

[Anonymous]

My partner and I are hoping to travel with our baby to Puerto Rico in two weeks for a wedding. The baby will be 6 weeks old. We haven't yet gotten his birth certificate from DC, and I hear they can take up to 8 weeks. What kind of ID, if any, will we be required to show for the baby to board the plane?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I am in a similar situation. I sent away for the birth certificate by mail and got it in less than a week- I was surprised that it was so quick.

[Anonymous]

if you don't have the birth certificate you could take the proof f birth letter and SS card if you have that. I would call the airline and check with them..

[Anonymous]

My son is 11 months old. I have made 5 round-trip trips with him, and I have never been asked for his I.D. (which is good because I did not get his birth certificate until this week!). All of my trips have been entirely domestic. I realize that Puerto Rico is also domestic but I could see why the vetting might be different. Prior to my son's arrival, I went to Puerto Rico with a friend and her then 9 month old son. She also did not have a birth certificate at that time, but she had a letter from her adoption agency. She was never asked for I.D. for him and never had to try and use the letter.

[Anonymous]

Here is the information from DHS: http://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/crossingborders/

Puerto Rico is part of the U.S., so it does not fall under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and your child will not need a birth certificate or passport.

[Anonymous]

Some airlines do ask for the birth certificate for infants traveling as a lap baby. I think they do this more to make parents prove that the child is 2yrs old or younger. Even though I know it is very evident that a newborn is under age 2, some airlines (particularly SouthWest) are fairly strict about this rule. So it is probably best to check with your airline.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with the previous poster. I've flown a lot with my 6 month old and one time on one leg they insisted on proof of age. Ridiculous, but they still wanted it. Do you have any sort of shot record? The ticket agent said that that would suffice. When I said we didn't have proof of age, she said okay, fine, but have it next time. So all of that said, if you want to be extra safe, bring a short record or hospital record or something....

[Anonymous]

OP here. The idea of proof of age is funny as he's only four weeks old currently, but that'd be very easy to obtain. I think it's on his health insurance paperwork.

[Anonymous]

When I haven't had the birth certificate, I just bring the babies health record book. It's not official but it's at least got some info in there. We've been to PR and have not been asked for id.