Passport vs. birth certificate for minors

Is there any reason why it would be advantageous for a child to travel with a passport vs. a birth certificate? We will be in the Caribbean.

Miss the boat they will need one to fly home.

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Miss the boat they will need one to fly home.

 

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A passport? No. They fly internationally with their birth certificates.

A passport? No. They fly internationally with their birth certificates.

Depending on circumstances the child may also need a parental consent document.

Taken from the State Department website

International Air Travel

International travel regulations treat adults and children the same way where identification is concerned. All international air travelers, including minors and infants, must have their own passports. You can obtain a passport for your child at any regional passport agency or passport acceptance agency, but one or both parents must be with the child when the application is submitted. Passports issued to under-15s are valid for five years.

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I got passports last year after deciding to do a land vacation in Mexico with the kids. I'm glad I have them. Checking in was much easier and I like knowing that if we had to fly internationally or wanted to book a cruise that wasn't a closed loop that I wouldn't have to worry about getting passports. When we used birth certificates they always asked for parental consent forms (my kids have a different last name than me.) With passports they didn't ask (I still had them though.) It just seems that everything goes smoother with passports for some reason.

Checking in was much easier

How so?

We just hand them the birth certificate, they look at the info, and handed it back. Not sure how a passport would be easier than that.

Just trying to figure out why people would spend the extra money on passports for children. :confused:

We've flown to Mexico without passports. Just birth certificates. Easy, peasy.

All last names are the same and both parents will be with the kids.

Passport is needed to internationally fly for all ages. We spent the money because it's required.

How so?

We just hand them the birth certificate, they look at the info, and handed it back. Not sure how a passport would be easier than that.

Yup....BC in one hand ID in the other....pass them back in less than 10 seconds.

You can't fly internationally without a passport. You can't even get to international terminals anymore without a passport. That is the reason people pay for passports.

I find it strange that the State Department clearly states you can't fly internationally without a passport.

Once again you ask a question that people answer for you and you don't want to listen.

If you are willing to risk it do whatever but line is much easier to travel with a passport.

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Yup....BC in one hand ID in the other....pass them back in less than 10 seconds.

I'm speaking for my own experiences. The birth certificates got scrutinized more because of the last names being different and my last name being different on their BC. I had to pull out my BC and my marriage certificate to show all the names and links. With passports no one asked me to do that. I don't know why but it has definitely been easier for me. My experience. Maybe different others, just sharing my observations.

Just trying to figure out why people would spend the extra money on passports for children. :confused:

 

We've flown to Mexico without passports. Just birth certificates. Easy, peasy.

 

All last names are the same and both parents will be with the kids.

We "spent the extra money" because our children occasionally fly internationally with us. Like texasgirl73, we spent the money because it is required.

My children have passports, so of course we use them on our cruises. Even if they weren't required for our other travel, I would get them for cruising. I wouldn't want to carry their BCs around with us. And a BC does not "do" all that a passport can "do" in an emergency or unforeseen situation.

A passport? No. They fly internationally with their birth certificates.

No, to fly internationally, everyone needs a passport (US citizens). To fly domestically, maybe only a birth certificate is required.

Just stating my experience. We've flown to Mexico with the kids and they've never, ever had passport. That is a fact. :)

I'm asking why somebody would pay the extra money to have a passport to CRUISE.

If you are willing to risk it do whatever but line is much easier to travel with a passport.

"risk it"? Just trying to figure out what this big risk is. :confused:

I AM listening! :D All ears. That's why I started the thread. Trying to figure out why somebody would spend that much more money when having a birth certificate for a minor is the same thing.

The family whose last names are different had a special situation. So I can see why it would be easier for them. That doesn't apply to us.

Once upon a time US citizens could use birth certificates to fly to certain areas in the Western Hemisphere, I flew to Mexico without a passport in 1999. The law changed in late 2007 I believe. The risk involved is that for a cruise your birth certificate will only work leaving and returning from the same US port. If anything at all were to happen and you were unable to complete the cruise then a passport would be needed to travel. I suppose for emergencies a citizen could go to a US Embassy and make an emergency application but who would want to go through that nightmare when dealing with an emergency. That's why many would just rather pay and get the passports. I did cruise with only birth certificates a few times but I always knew I was taking a risk and made sure to get passports as soon as practical.

"risk it"? Just trying to figure out what this big risk is. :confused:

 

I AM listening! :D All ears. That's why I started the thread. Trying to figure out why somebody would spend that much more money when having a birth certificate for a minor is the same thing.

 

The family whose last names are different had a special situation. So I can see why it would be easier for them. That doesn't apply to us.

My children and I have different last names, and we still have never received any extra scrutiny or needed to show any other documents when they cruised with birth certificates.

Some people advocate for passports because of the small chance that something will happen requiring you to fly home from a foreign port (illness, injury, missed boat). Having passports for everyone would smooth out that process and eliminate the delays and hassles of obtaining a waiver. However, even adults without passports won't be stuck forever, and it's likely the necessary waivers would be quicker to obtain for children traveling with parents who have passports. In my mind, there may be a risk that a child could be sick/hurt and need to spend longer in a non-U.S. hospital because of lack of passport, but that's a very unlikely scenario and not that terrible regardless. It's no different than the other "risks" we take with our kids -- traveling, driving to the store, not racing to the doctor at the first cough, etc.

^^^^truth you cannot fly internationally without a passport. Like I said when I fly internationally even with minors I can't get to the gates without showing my passport. Once at the gates again with minors we can't board without a passport.

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Just stating my experience. We've flown to Mexico with the kids and they've never, ever had passport. That is a fact. :)

 

I'm asking why somebody would pay the extra money to have a passport to CRUISE.

When did you fly with them to Mexico? Since the DHS regulations regarding the WHTI went into effect all international air need a passport. Those under 16 may cross the land border with their birth certificates, but need the passport to fly. We always used birth certificates when cruising with the kids, we were comfortable with the small risk of something happening requiring us to fly home. (And some upscale cruise lines require all of their passengers to have passports also.)

Is there any reason why it would be advantageous for a child to travel with a passport vs. a birth certificate? We will be in the Caribbean.

You've read all the replies so far. There is really no need for a passport for a closed loop Caribbean cruise. If for some reason you have to fly back it might be more difficult without passports, but it can be done with a trip to the US consulate. If you don't want to spend the money don't. The vast majority of mass market cruisers do not have passports.

It cost about $700 for my entire family to get passports so I certainly understand why someone would rather not get them, especially if they aren't frequent travelers. It's all a matter of how much you are willing to pay for that extra peace of mind. I will admit that I didn't spend the money to get the peace of mind or to make things easier when checking in, I got them because I had to in order to fly internationally for a land vacation in another country. But I am very glad I have them now because I am no longer limited in choosing where to go for vacation. Cruise starting and ending at different ports, no problem. All inclusive in Mexico or Jamaica, no problem either. But it's easy for me to say that since I already have them. For those who are satisfied with closed loop Caribbean cruises, I get why they would prefer not to bite the bullet and spend hundreds of dollars on passports.

Thank you for the replies! :D I appreciate it.

It cost about $700 for my entire family to get passports so I certainly understand why someone would rather not get them, especially if they aren't frequent travelers. It's all a matter of how much you are willing to pay for that extra peace of mind. I will admit that I didn't spend the money to get the peace of mind or to make things easier when checking in, I got them because I had to in order to fly internationally for a land vacation in another country. But I am very glad I have them now because I am no longer limited in choosing where to go for vacation. Cruise starting and ending at different ports, no problem. All inclusive in Mexico or Jamaica, no problem either. But it's easy for me to say that since I already have them. For those who are satisfied with closed loop Caribbean cruises, I get why they would prefer not to bite the bullet and spend hundreds of dollars on passports.

When we were cruising with the kids there were other things limiting where we could choose to go for vacation, flying anywhere with the kids would have been cost prohibitive.

Just stating my experience. We've flown to Mexico with the kids and they've never, ever had passport. That is a fact. :)

 

I'm asking why somebody would pay the extra money to have a passport to CRUISE.

When did you fly to Mexico?

The State Department says:

"All travelers including citizens of the United States, Canada, and Bermuda are now required to present a valid passport when entering the United States at any airport as of January 23, 2007. This includes children of any age."

Do you need a passport for cruising in the Caribbean? No.

Now why exactly are you asking questions about the advantages of a passport when you are not interested in any of the answers?

If you need to fly home they need passports. Believe it or not.