Can I get away with this?

[alba216]

We are flying to San Juan for a cruise, which is like flying to any other state I think. SO if thats the case, could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two and have her sit in my lap & save the money on her ticket? BTW my daughter will be 26 months when we fly

[yvqchick]

you cannot.

[MOMtoTwins]

when I flew with my daughters we were told we had to provide birth certificates for proof of age.

[wrp96]

No. They usually do require a birth certificate for lap children, proving they are under the age of 2.

 

Even if it were possible, consider the fact for your child's safety and comfort (also your comfort), Denver to SJU is a much longer flight than a trip to Florida for example. It takes a minimum of 7.5 hours to get from DEN to SJU versus the around 4-5 hours it takes to get to Miami.

[pms4104]

No, you cannot get away with it, nor should you try.

 

Your thread title indicates clearly that you know what you want to do is wrong! Just do the right thing here.

[6rugrats]

We are flying to San Juan for a cruise, which is like flying to any other state I think. SO if thats the case, could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two and have her sit in my lap & save the money on her ticket? BTW my daughter will be 26 months when we fly

 

No, cheating and lying are clearly wrong, no matter where you travel. Do you think you are the only dishonest person in this world to have this "bright idea"? You will be required to show her birth certificate.

[alba216]

No, cheating and lying are clearly wrong, no matter where you travel. Do you think you are the only dishonest person in this world to have this "bright idea"? You will be required to show her birth certificate.

 

Well heres the deal I know, its wrong, on all different kinds of levels...but, we have went to Vegas and Florida twice in the past year, and haven't been asked yet for ID for her, granted she was still a baby. I just thought I might be able to save $500 this trip

[Kerry's Girls]

Well heres the deal I know, its wrong, on all different kinds of levels...but, we have went to Vegas and Florida twice in the past year, and haven't been asked yet for ID for her, granted she was still a baby. I just thought I might be able to save $500 this trip

 

If you were checked on the outbound portion, I'm sure they'd have no sympathy and charge the highest last minute fare for your child. If the flight was full (which seems to be the norm these days), you'd have to go standby and you'd be in danger of missing your cruise while you wait for a flight with room for all of you - and I'm sure trying to scam the airline isn't a covered issue in travel insurance. ;) It could be a very expensive and inconvenient gamble.

 

Best,

Mia

[6rugrats]

Well heres the deal I know, its wrong, on all different kinds of levels...but, we have went to Vegas and Florida twice in the past year, and haven't been asked yet for ID for her, granted she was still a baby. I just thought I might be able to save $500 this trip

 

No, it's just wrong on one level; it's stealing and you know it. When you stole/steal this money from the airline, who do you think pays for it? The rest of us with higher prices.

[thunderbird1]

As others have said, you will likely need to provide proof of her age, especially as she gets closer to 2. If you do not have a copy of her birth certificate with you, the airline can require you to purchase a ticket (at full fare), then submit proof that she's under 2 in order to obtain a refund (which you obviously wouldn't be able to do, since she'll be over 2).

[thunderbird1]

More thoughts--even if got lucky and could get away with it, would you want to spend the months leading up to your cruise (and the cruise itself--there's still the flight home) worrying about whether you'd get "caught?" I would, and the anxiety would not be worth it to me, even if I was willing to chance it.

 

Other (legit) ways to save money: cruise 3 months earlier than planned (if that's possible, but your dd being under 2 might keep you out of the kids' clubs); consider cruising out of a US homeport, because flights within the lower 48 will almost certainly be cheaper than flights to San Juan (doesn't Southwest fly out of Denver now?); work hard to get the best possible discount on your chosen cruise (early saver discounts? various TA "discounts"? less-expensive cabin choice? credit cards with rewards, either cruise or airline?).

 

Just my $.02.