Do Infants need ID?
 

Hi-

This is a first post to this forum...My family with my most recent addition (4 month old girl) are planning on taking our first trip (I was 5 for my first plane ride!). The seats from EWR-FLL were so cheap ($109. RT on CO) That I decided to purchase a seat for our infant. My question is does she need ID as she has a ticket and a seat assignment? If so, what is considered accpetable. She doesnt have a passport yet, and the only thing that I have is her birth certificate.

Any advise would be really helpful...and I'm sorry if this was in another thread...I couldnt find it.

AB

We flew with our daughter at Christmas on AA (she was 6 months old at the time). She had her own purchased seat. We were never asked for any ID for her by the airline or at the TSA security checkpoints, although we did bring her birth certificate and passport just in case they asked for it. We were even able to check-in online to print her boarding pass without any problems. If CO is anything like AA with respect to infants in a seat, then it is not likely that you will need any ID. Bring her birth certificate just in case though.

Hope this helps!

You do not need to show any ID or birth certificate to TSA officials. Sometimes if your child is traveling as a lap child, the airline agent may want to see a birth certificate to prove the child is under two. In my experience, Southwest always asks for this and no other airline ever does, but it can't hurt to make a copy and have it in your bag just in case.

I recommend you get a passort for your child. It is one of the only if not the only form of Legal identification with a photo a minor has. Always good to have. I recommend to all of my clients that in the minimum they take a certified copy of their birth certificate anytime they travel with their children. In this age of heightened security it is alway best for everyone to have some form of legal ID with them.

Actually, no one "needs" an ID to travel, you just have to go through secondary screening with the TSA if you don't have it, and I've never seen it done on a baby or toddler, although I wouldn't put it past the TSA in some locations.

A passport, good only for five years is probably not a good investment, unless you plan on traveling out of the country anyway. We did get my son an Ohio ID card at one time, which was much less expensive. No one ever asked to look at it. I think most states offer them.