# Do I need parents' permission to fly with a child? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511 "2011-01-05T18:05:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/21 "2011-01-06T18:13:00Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Who “needed” the note? The boyfriend’s family? It wasn’t the airlines as most major carrriers will let kids 12 and older fly by themselves without any type of accompaniment. I was called my boyfriends father who works at the airline. He said he need a note that said she had permission to travel with him, my contact info/phone number and a couple other things I forget. Now, he could have been mistaken or, more likely, he might have been told it was a ‘good idea’ but not required. I will ask my daughter tonight if he had to show it to anyone. Edit…whynot had it right…location from to location to as well as dates was what I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/22 "2011-01-06T18:14:38Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > Yeah, pretty much what she thought but she won’t be back. I’m not sure we want visitors from Loonyland. We have enough of our own. Or is she not live in the same country as you? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/23 "2011-01-06T18:26:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Personally, I would err on the side of discretion and have such a document with me. I would also have them include something that says you can take him for medical treatment, if necessary. A limited power of attorney is good for this purpose. Fairly simple to have one drawn up, and it can include a variety of things, including an expiration date. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/24 "2011-01-06T18:59:22Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > A limited power of attorney is good for this purpose. Fairly simple to have one drawn up, and it can include a variety of things, including an expiration date. Want to be careful with the expiration date though, in case something happens to the plane, or the kid, and she’s gone longer than expected. Again, probably more of a pitfall in theory than in reality. Give yourself an extra day or two and you should be fine. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/25 "2011-01-06T19:20:17Z")
You don’t need the paper to fly with the kid. You need the paper to stay out of jail. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511/26 "2011-01-06T20:47:09Z")
> [@Myglaren](#): > > My daughter was refused entry to the US as she didn’t have a letter from the father of her son authorising her to travel out of the UK with him. > > She has been all over the world with him and it was her second time in the US. She has never been challenged before, always passed straight through immigration/customs. > > The immigration authorities were very abusive and separated her from her son (who was four years old) leaving him alone, frightened and crying while they shouted at her in an office behind closed doors. > > She has yet to receive an apology and the US is on her blacklist now, not that they would care. My parents are both Canadian, with the majority of our family in Canada. We lived in the states and my dad took my sister and I on a trip to Canada to see my grandparents one summer. At the border, they pulled my father over and made us get out of the car at the border station. My father was separated from my sister and I and we were questioned regarding the trip. This was the early to mid 80’s. At the time I had no clue what was going on. They asked for my address, phone number and name of my mom. They called her and asked if she knew that her children were being taken into Canada by a man claiming to be their father and if she had allowed the trip. She had to verify the info and they eventually let us go, but we stayed in the border hut for about 4 hours. He had our green cards, so it wasn’t like he was trying to be sneaky about it. This was way before you really even needed ID to cross that border. I think there was a high profile case recent to the events that occurred that made the border guards more suspicious to men taking their children into a foreign country. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-parents-permission-to-fly-with-a-child/566511.md?page=1)