xasyh

My wife and I had a flight today to BZE. We are travelling with our children ages 6-12. Their last names are different than ours (theirs are all the same name, an amalgamation of my wife's name and mine).

We check in at the reservations, get boarding passes, check luggage, go through security. But while boarding, our passes trigger a flag. We talk to a supervisor who tells us that because the names are different, we need birth certificates, which we don't have with us and there was no time to get them before the flight left.

Nowhere in the process of booking flights or checking in had this come up until we're actually boarding.

They pull our bags and re-book us for the following day. A pretty lousy experience.

3Cforme

It's not Southwest's responsibility to remind travelers of international requirements which can vary rather significantly by destination country. Look to the State Department for that.

https://travel.state.gov/content/pas...checklist.html

nineworldseries

This has nothing to do with Southwest. I'm assuming this is the first time you've traveled internationally with children?

dmbolp

What ID/Documentation did you bring with you for the kids?

xasyh

All of us had valid US Passports. We flew to Europe 9 years ago on a different carrier and drove to Mexico 2 years ago with only passports.

My post was intended as a warning to travellers, primarily because in our pre-travel planning we saw nothing about this requirement. Yes, some websites warn to bring birth certs if you're a single parent travelling with a child, but not if two parents are travelling with their children.


Funny, after reading these posts, I'm feeling like it was more SW's fault than I felt at first. Now it seems some people like to blame without evidence.

SW staff is obviously responsible for telling us what the requirements are.

If it really was *not* SW responsibility, then they could let us board and let us deal with US or Belizean immigration, right? Plus there's like 500 warnings on the SW site and even on their customer service hold music about what passengers can and cannot do and bring...ID, passports for international travel, aerosol cans, blah blah blah. There's reminders everywhere about everything. Except this. It's not like SW serves 168 countries. It's like 7.

No one said anything until we were boarding. We checked in at T24 and had to enter our passport information, ensuring we had passports. No flags. We checked in at the departure counter with bags 100 minutes before our flight. The rep didn't say anything when she issued boarding passes. (At that point, we could have still gone home and grabbed the birth certificates.) It was only as we're boarding, 20 minutes before departure that they pull us aside. And by then it was too late.

Also, there is no evidence that what the SW rep said was true. The link you posted above does not reflect a need for parents to have birth certificates when travelling either on the US site nor the Belizean embassy site linked there.

If you have actual information from the US or Belizean authorities that reflect this requirement, please share. I haven't found anything before or after this morning. I suspect this is as much an airline policy than anything.

DHS says this:
"All children, including infants, must have their own passport or Trusted Traveler Program document for U.S. entry.

"If you are escorting a minor child without the parents, have a letter from both parents indicating that you have permission to travel with the minor.

If the child is accompanied by only one parent, the parent should have a note from the child's other parent. For example, "I acknowledge that my wife/ husband is traveling out of the country with my son/ daughter. He/She/ has my permission to do so."

If a single parent has sole custody, a copy of the court custody document can replace a letter from the other parent."

Nothing about parents requiring a birth certificate.

justhere

I can't remember without looking but is there anything in a child's passport that shows who the parents are? How would WN know they are your kids?

I realize that even with the same last name that isn't 100% proof however you kind of hit on the issue. You said WN should just let immigration deal with it. The problem is that if immigration refuses entry, WN is on the hook to fly you home and can be fined. So adults with the same last name as the kids are most likely the parents and the risk to WN is small. Adults with different last name to kids most likely increases the odds of an immigration issue substantially.

Agreed that it would have been nice at check-in to know but keep in mind that all the warnings etc are very generic and don't necessarily cover every situation. Maybe I'm wrong but how many married couples have kids that don't have the same last name as at least one of the parents?

pt flyer

I realize that this was terribly inconvenient for you and I appreciate your kindness in posting this experience so that others do not have the same problem in the future. I doubt that very few of us would have anticipated this difficulty.

However, if you can take a step back and look at it a little more objectively, I say good for Southwest Airlines. If someone there has to make a mistake, let the mistake be that extra precautions are taken that minor children aren't taken out of the country by unauthorized individuals. You would want this type of scrutiny if you hadn't been with them.

azepine00

not directly related but WN was the only airline that demanded to see birth certs to confirm kids age when they flew as lap children.. luckily i have them scanned on my phone so it went without further complications

Back to OP case - they absolutely have to make the requirement for birth cert spelled out somewhere. I'd send a complaint to CS...

beachmouse

It is their responsibility in the sense the operating carrier faces a significant fine if one of their passengers is rejected by immigration at their international destination. So many airlines tend to be overly cautious when it comes to that kind of documentation.

Though it seems like the only commonly known hard liner about child birth certificates at immigration is South Africa.

KCK

Southwest's guidance for children traveling to Belize.

xasyh

Thank you for that text. I don't know how to find it myself. Can you post a link?

A follow up.

Our layover was in Houston. I asked the gate agent about the situation. She said all they do is ask "Are both biological parents present?" and if the answer is yes, the pax are let on the plane.

Often1

The quoted language above is not WN's "guidance", it is the Belize government's requirements which WN is required to enforce or face stiff penalties. The exact text is located on TIMATIC, an IATA-maintained database which is created for air carrier use, but which is available without fee through several portals, including UA.

The advice above that one ought to check the US State Dept's website is terrible advice. Decisions are made by the Belize, not US authorities and the State Dept. can run out of date.

It is 100% the passenger's duty to know the entry requirements for the destination country. The carrier only checks these things for its own protection, including fines and being required to return the passenger to the US immediately.

Every country is different, so the fact that one country could care less has nothing to do with another country's requirements. That said, while it is entirely your choice to name your children as you please in the US, this may strike other places as odd and lead them to question whether you are the children's parents. Not only for border issues, but medical treatment and anything else involving local government, traveling with a birth certificate for minor children makes general sense.

Sorry this happened to you, but don't blame WN (this from someone who blames WN for plenty).

Finally, this really doesn't belong in the WN forum or the Belize forum, but really "Travelling with Children." There are numerous threads on this point or close to it. All come down to the same thing. Disappointment and sometimes a lot of money on the table when passengers do not do thorough research.

Belize - Destination Passport

The following regulations apply to children/minors:

Minors younger than 17 years traveling to Belize:
a. unaccompanied, must have a proof of purpose of travel (address, contact person in Belize, etc.) or must be met on arrival by the parent/guardian with supporting documents to prove they are the parents/legal guardians.
b. with one parent/legal guardian, must have a notarized authorization (original or copy) signed by the absent parent/legal guardian. This does not apply to nationals of Belize residing in Belize.
c. with an adult other than a parent/legal guardian, must have a notarized authorization (original or copy) signed by both parents/legal guardians. This does not apply to nationals of Belize residing in Belize.
d. accompanied by parents with a different surname or legal guardians, must have supporting documents to prove they are the parents/legal guardians.

Minors younger than 17 years do not need a separate passport if they are registered in the passport of the parent/legal guardian.

KCK

Go to https://www.southwest.com/html/air/i...documents.html and enter Belize.

NextTrip

OP - You may not be aware that these precautions are in place to protect your children from being the subjects of human trafficking. It is a very serious global problem.

ucfjoe

As someone who went this year with my two kids and wife internationally to two European countries with just passports this is BS. I guess it is a nice heads up but US immigration can easily check and see who the parents are from passports so the trafficking argument is bunk. It's much easier to fake a birth certificate than a US passport. This appears to be a WN gate agent taking descretionary caution...probably judging a progressive family that creates a hybrid last name for their kids...maybe they were worried you were going to take them rafting down the Amazon.