What difference would a couple of 17 year olds make to any holiday destination ? the answer is no difference at all, most young people are no problem at all so Pandora's age is not the only thing most of us are worried about.It is whether or not either of them has the maturity to cope if there is a problem, if they had an argument what would happen,in a larger group there would be somebody else to turn to and hopefully neither would be left alone.
I would let my son and his girlfriend go away together,as they are both 18 I wouldn't have a choice anyway but I would encourage them to go with friends if possible and I would make sure that they had enough money in case of an emergency,knowing that I could transfer funds by internet banking which is available within hours if not minutes if they needed more.

I would make sure that they had enough money in case of an emergency,knowing that I could transfer funds by internet banking which is available within hours if not minutes if they needed more.

Just to be on the safe side it would be best to check that is the case in relation to the two accounts involved - it's my understanding that not all internet or telephone banking takes place in 'real' time. I discovered that when transferring money between two of my accounts - held with separate banks - that even though the amount shows up almost instantaneously in the receiving account's overall balance, it doesn't show up in the 'balance available' figure until after the usual 2/3 working days. In other words it seems to be in my account but it's not actually accessible and it still takes time to 'clear' before I can draw on the tranferred deposit.

My mother and I have also experienced the same thing now that I no longer bank with the same one as she does. Transferring money between us can now take longer than it did years ago when I was a student and all she needed to do was pop to the bank in her lunch hour to pay some bail-out money into my account if I hadn't budgetted that well towrds the end of term. I hasten to add that the transactions are usually now in the other direction because these days I do most of the family holiday booking when we all go away together as it happens

I know that it seems really daft in this day and age but the only time it seemed to happen within a day for me is when it involved two accounts held with the same bank. The reason I was given when I asked my own branch about this was that despite the apparent quickness in the record of transactions on both accounts, the banks still only reconcile their accounts once a day. So the transaction is not 'real' until Bank A officially sends it to Bank B as part of their reconciliation at the end of business on Day 1 and then it doesn't get formally recorded as being in the account held with Bank B until they reconcile their accounts at the end of business on Day 2 and you then can't can't access it until the opening of business on Day 3. And that assumes that the transaction takes place before around 3pm on Day 1 - if it happens after that then your own bank doesn't really transfer it until their reconciliation on Day 2 and it could be the opening of business on Day 4 before you can access it - hence the '3 working days' guidance. It will be interesting to check and see if this is still the case - I've got into the habit of making sure that I do any transfers in plenty of time in order to still allow time for clearing. It will make things easier if, as you say Internet banking does now take place in real time, and I will go and ask my bank again about this.

With my current employer I often find that my is showing up in the 'available balance' the day before it's officially paid into my account I had assumed that this was because the account I have it paid into is with the same bank as my employer uses. Asking around colleagues it seems that those who bank elsewhere can't ever access their's until the day it's due to be paid. I had presumed that this was because mine really does hit my account on the day after the reconciliation at the end of business on Day 1 and there is no other bank's reconcilation time needed whereas in their case there is.

Sorry to go a bit but who knows when it might become really important in a travel crisis to know exactly how long a transfer will take? I'll definitely be re-checking this with my bank - especially now that my nieces are branching out on their own much more and the ditsier one is off to University this year and may well be in need of being able to call on the Bank of Auntie S in an emergency.

SM

I'm sure the new young person has been completely put off of this forum by now with all the judgemental comments.

This is two 17 year old who want to go away together, 'sun sea and suspicious parents' is just a sensationalist TV programme, showing extreme behaviour, like most rubbish reality TV a friend told me about it I watched half an hour and then wouldn't give it house room. The quote tells me what I suspected that people on here are judging this young couple without an iota of knowledge about them.

I'm not sure what magic happens between the day someone is 17 and the night they are 18, they dont suddenly morph into either a responsible individual or an irresponsible individual, that will already have been determined.

If they go on a package holiday the parents will not have to 'transfer a few thousand pounds' to them in the event of an ash cloud as I suspect most people on here know.

If Pandora decides to go I hope she has a great holiday, at least she had the sense to come on and ask a few questions about it, and we wonder why we dont get many new members.

Doe

My youngest son and I have accounts at the same bank so it hasn't been a problem,Yet!! If he was going away I would transfer some extra anyway as I trust him to only use it in an emergency.When I left my 17 year old daughter at home with her boyfriend whilst we went away I gave her my bank card to use and hubby and I used his.
I'm not sure anybody mentioned transferring a few thousand pounds,I did say that I would transfer some emergency money if needed.
My youngest son went on an Outward Bound trip with the college a couple of weeks ago and any students under 18 had to have their parents consent,regardless of who paid for the holiday,when my son's girlfriends parents took him to Orlando when he was 16 ,I was advised to give a letter transferring guardianship to them whilst they were away,they are not legally classed as adults until they are 18.
Nobody wants to stop these youngsters going away ,we just want to make them aware of the problems that could occur when they are both under 18.

If Pandora decides to go I hope she has a great holiday, at least she had the sense to come on and ask a few questions about it, and we wonder why we dont get many new members.

Just so we don't offend him any further let's be clear that Pandora is a young man wanting to go on holiday with his girlfriend. I'm sorry if my attempt to lighten the tone by making reference to his username confused matters.

I'm not sure anybody mentioned transferring a few thousand pounds,I did say that I would transfer some emergency money if needed.

It was me that mentioned a few thousand pounds, Oscarben, and that's because one of my 'comfort blankets' is knowing that I have the security of being able to flash the plastic to make sure that I or my travelling companions, for example, do get taken to the ER rather than being left on the pavement by the paramedics and that we are treated whilst the insurance situation is sorted etc because I can re-assure the clinic/hospital that I have the wherewithal to pay. Thankfully, I've never yet had to do that but it lets me rest easier knowing that I can. And I'd certainly rest easier knowing that my nieces could to if it ever became necessary.

I don't think that there have been lots of judgemental comments - I do think that some very good advice and tips to think about have been passed on. We're all capable of doing stupid things in our lives at any age and of course turning 18 doesn't suddenly turn you from an immature child into a responsible adult but a lot of laws are based on the assumption that it does and that can have implications for travellers under 18 as Oscarben and others have pointed out. There are things that youc an do once you turn 18 that you can't do if you are still only 17 regardless of how sensible you are. Even in the UK, the law is filled with anomalies over at what age you can and can't legally do things - it could be just as big a minefield for under 17s travelling on their own to UK.

For example, the general guiding principle in the UK is that over 16s can give consent in relation to their own medical treatment and that parental consent is needed for under 16s. But this isn't hard and fast - under 16s can withhold their consent for medical treatment if the clinicians are sure that they fully understand the implications of doing so, in which case their decision is respected and parents cannot automatically insist that they are treated unless they go to court to have the clinicians decision overturned. And this is far from guaranteed - the courts have upheld the right of some under 16s to decide, for examle, that they would prefer to die than undergo yet more treatment for incurable cancers.

Likewise if the clinicians aren't convinced that an over 16 is competent to make the decision and provide informed consent for both treament and non-treatment they can insist that a parent/guardian or the courts consent (or withhold it) on their behalf. It only happens rarely but in the end whether a 17 yr old could or couldn't consent to treatment on their own behalf will in the first instance depend on the clinicians assessment of their ability/capacity to provide informed consent. More information can be found at the link below but to avoid potential delay in receiving anything more than palliative care until consent is obtained, anybody who 16/17 yrs old travelling to the UK on their own would still be well advised to bring a letter with them confirming that their parents/guardians are willing for them to agree to provide their own consent for treatment. And anybody over 18 but responsible for an under 16 yr old certainly needs to bring with them evidence that the parents have given their permission for them to consent on the parents' behalf if necessary.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Consent-to-treatment/Pages/How-does-it-work.aspx

SM

I enjoy often reading the discussions here on HT but perhaps we need to consider if the discussion within a particular topic serves its purpose. Pandora posted a question and received some answers. The question has been raised about possibly putting the OP off with some of our answers/discussions and I think that is a very valid point. In this particular case the OP has not visited the site since Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:09 pm so has not been party to all the discussions. Whilst some very valid points have been made we should consider (in my opinion) if it would not be better raising our various viewpoints as a separate topic and and simply answer the question and so avoid confusing them.

fwh

I suppose we all have tips we can pass on through experience , and pandora is wanting to go on holiday with his girlfriend , well here's mine , when I was younger I used to go on holiday with friends, but the first time I went on holiday with a girlfriend I came back home a married man so always prepare yourself that the worst could happen !! it's not always bad things though , have a good time and enjoy