Flying with baby without a birth certificate

ahen · May 2011

Hello,

We won't finalize the adoption of our son until late fall but we need to book plane tickets for a family trips soon. Since we haven't finalized we don't have a birth certificate and only have a letter of guardianship. Does any of this matter? Do the airlines ask for a baby's birth certificate when flying?

Thanks.

Angela

lrrb · May 2011

We took our then 8 week old adopted DD on a flight and didn't have a birth certificate. I don't know why you would need it? You don't need to buy them a ticket if they are lap babies. The only problem you would have and need to show any type of ID would be if you flew out of the country and in that case you just can't until you have the passport (which can't happen until after you finalize and get a new birth certificate etc). I wouldn't worry a thing about it honestly. My kids have flown a number of times now and we NEVER have to show ID for them. GL!

sbhWImom · May 2011

I would think certificate of guardianship would be fine if you didn't have the birth certificate. Generally, they only ask for the birth certificate as proof they are under two... (although there are certainly exceptions to this!)

PrincessShay80 · May 2011

We flew several times without DD's birth cert- I had a travel letter from our case worker and her shot record in case they had to verify that she was under 2, she was a lap child.

Even now that DD"s adoption I won't bring her birth cert, just her shot records and/or her passport if necessary.

Dr.Loretta · May 2011

They typically only ask if it's a lap child and they look to be close to the 2yo age limit. I would bring a copy of the guardianship letter just in case you get a clueless airport employee, but other than that you should be fine.

WillisReincarnated · May 2011

We brought C's shot records as proof of age. He was only 2.5 months but they still asked for it.

sourapplemartini · May 2011

Dr.Loretta:
They typically only ask if it's a lap child and they look to be close to the 2yo age limit. I would bring a copy of the guardianship letter just in case you get a clueless airport employee, but other than that you should be fine.

::lurking::

We just flew with our 2 kids and they didn't ask for ID for either of them, and they had seats.

MamaB2009 · May 2011

Southwest will always ask and they will always ask for a birth certificate. Other airlines you can call and see what they will accept in lieu of a birth certificate if you need one (most of them won't ask).

Dr.Loretta · May 2011

sourapplemartini:

Dr.Loretta:
They typically only ask if it's a lap child and they look to be close to the 2yo age limit. I would bring a copy of the guardianship letter just in case you get a clueless airport employee, but other than that you should be fine.

::lurking::

We just flew with our 2 kids and they didn't ask for ID for either of them, and they had seats.

Yes, they had seats, so there was no reason to ask. The cutoff for a lap child (not paying for a seat for them) is 2 years of age, so if the child is close to that age someone may ask to be sure you're not cheating the system.

DD had her own seat on a SWA flight and no one asked for any ID.

LittleYellowBirds · May 2011

I am flying with my 6 month old on Friday (southwest) and am bringing my proof of guardianship letter (its all we have). I can let you know how it goes!

MamaB2009 · May 2011

Oh yeah, it only applies with Southwest if they're traveling as a lap child. If you buy a ticket, they could care less. Otherwise, they require you to verify age (it's supposedly good after the initial time you verify and it goes in their system, but they've asked us for proof every time we've flown them).

ahen · June 2011

Thanks ladies. He's flying on our laps so we'll just bring the letter & shots record.

Flying with baby without a birth certificate

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