Hi choccieface

Did you not get a print out from Thos Cook regarding passport and holiday information ? It should be amongst your paperwork. Although I think it only covers passport/visa requirements and nothing about names.

I took my grandson at the age of four to Spain a few years ago and had to carry a letter from his parents to say thatI could take him on holiday and out of the country. Why not check with the Portugese embassy to see what they say.

Thos Cook will have it printed in the 'small print' that it your responsibility to check the requirements.

I would still complain to their Customer Services Department though.

Kath x

I can't find anything on the TC website - http://www.thomascook.com/travel-info/before-you-go/

In fact I can't find anything about it on the internet that relates to the UK. Maybe it's the lateness of the hour ...........

However, staff in the Thomas Cook shop should know, it's their job to surely. That's why we go to travel agents instead of going direct to the travel company by telephone or the internet.

I pick up from this forum an increasing tendency for travel agents to be concerned only with clinching a sale, and to hell with customer care, and it's not on.

In these modern times it is not unusual for children to have a variety of surnames in one family. Agents are simply there to take a booking and not to enquire into the personal circumstances applying to people making a booking. No doubt the whole thing is covered somewhere in T&Cs which unfortunately people do fail to read.

fwh

No doubt the whole thing is covered somewhere in T&Cs which unfortunately people do fail to read.

Have looked and I can't see any reference. (but it is late!)

Apart from which, it's something one ought to be told before the holiday is bought, if lack of the required permission can result in not being allowed to board. There could be genuine problems in getting the permission.

I,v heard of this- if the children are not travelling with their parents- but if one of the parents are travelling- what's the problem? Do you think the girl at the shop got confused as the childrens names were different to yours and the wifes?

Myself, partner, and my son- all have different surnames- and have never been asked for this extra information. I really wouldnt worry about it.

Belly

hi all.

many thanks for your quick replies. Yes in the t&c's in the back of the thomas cook brouchure i read after booking the holiday that "quote"
a minor under the age of 18 travellng to portugal must either be accompanied by a parent or guardian or carry a letter of authorisation to travel from a parent or guardian. The letter should name the adult responsible for the minor during his/her stay. For latest advice contact the foreign office or portuguese embassy.

I rang the embassy and explained my situation and the person i spoke to told me that i altho the children were traveling with a birth parent i still needed permission from the other parent. she advised me to go to a local solicitor to get a document. Its more annoying that i wasnt told before so that i could enquire how much the document would cost-its £100 plus vat for an affidavit so i could factor that into the cost of our holiday. I still maintain that i should have been made aware of additional requirements by the travel agent and if they were appropriate to my circumstances then i could act upon them.

Kath-yes i did have the info on visas which i signed to say that non were needed.

peter of york. I fully agree with yourself about going to a travel agent to book our holidays- i always book in the shop so i can be advised of all info on the destination i am going to holiday in.

Bellybally. It would just me my luck to be stopped at immigration and not be let in or out so im probably over cautious!!!!



may thanks once again for taking the time to reply.

choccieface

Im glad this seems to have been resolved but Im confused now.

We travelled to Majorca last week and took my sons friend with us (14 years old).......no one asked why he was with us under a different surname. Is this just Tour Operator policy or would it extend to airlines also?

Next year I think I will get a signed letter from his mother just to be on the safe side perhaps?

Thank you for posting this thread, Im sure there are lots of members who knew nothing about this issue.

Some form of authorisation makes sense for two reasons.

1 - Is someone taking a child out of the country/care of one or both of his/her parents without permission. Custody cases are an example.

2 - What do you do if something goes wrong? That is more important in my personal experience, although not abroad. I and some of my close friends have all been in the situation where kids have required medical treatment and without documentation you really are in trouble.

Should an agent or TO make more of it? Perhaps they should but I would have thought anyone taking a child not their own out of the country would have considered that. Although I did once have an instance where a child needed treatment and the parents could not be contacted. They had decided to go away for the weekend without actually telling anyone. That was when the problems started.

fwh

Next year I think I will get a signed letter from his mother just to be on the safe side perhaps?

I think that anybody in this sort of situation is well advised to do just as you propose. Families are a lot more complicated than they ever used to be and more and more of us are marrying non-UK nationals. If the marriage breaks down and both parents decide to live in their country of birth this can cause all sorts of problems with access etc. It is still pretty rare but 'parental abduction' by the parent who is not domiciled in the country that the kids spend most of their time in (ie they take the kids back home to live with them without the agreement of either the other parent or the courts here in the UK) is on the increase. So I think that both airlines and immigration officials are becoming very twitchy about these sort of things. There's every chance that you won't be asked for such confirmation but if you are and you can't produce it than that's the holiday potentially ruined for everybody.

And as fwh points out - kids will be kids and can have accidents that require hospital treatment and the medical staff will need confirmation that you are in 'loco parentis' and can authorise treatment. In my many years as a youth worker, the one thing I never let out of my sight, even on day trips, was the file of parental consent forms 'just in case'. In cases of really serious injury they will act to save a life first before worrying about consent for treatment but this means that a child with a non-life threatening injury eg a broken limb, could be left in pain until a parent or guardian can be contacted to authorise treatment unless you can prove that you have their permission to authorise this in their absence. To that end it might be worth asking his Mum to include a note of any allergies or pre-existing medical conditions and if he does, a list of any regular medication that he takes, in said letter too.

SM

a minor under the age of 18 travellng to portugal must either be accompanied by a parent or guardian or carry a letter of authorisation to travel from a parent or guardian.

Could it be that only Portugal require this letter?

My son has a different surname to my husband and I and when he was under 18 we took him all over the place without question, including America (who I'd have thought would be more strict than Portugal)

Immigration in a lot of countries are hit or miss with regards to the letter. My own son has travelled with his grandparents before and we have always done a basic letter with lots of information including my name, husbands name, our address, our phone numbers, work and home and mobile and permission for them to take him. One time they were asked for the letter but none of the other times. In-laws said they just did a basic glance over the letter. No problems.

I do agree Frank now in retrospect that it does make sense, especially if something had happened while away to require treatment.

Thank goodness we werent barred from travelling this year though - this thread is a great pointer to those of us who hadnt considered this before - I can just imagine us trying to tell two 14 year old boys we werent going to be able to go on holiday

Taking kids into Portugal without parents was discussed on the Portugal forum a few weeks ago, but since the thread title was a bit vague I'll let you off! But if you read http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=137347 there are links to the Portugueuse rules.

But choccieface probably sums up TC accurately - they've got your booking and they don't care. However, they are under some obligation to tell you - it's called the Supply of Goods and Services Act and it requires them to act with reasonable care and skill, an issue so obvious with such a mainstream destination should have been flagged up.

Could it be that only Portugal require this letter?

The Dominican Republic used to require a letter if the child wasn't travelling with both parents but that changed a while back, now its only if they are travelling without any parents that you need a letter.

I've often wondered what would happen if the other parent was deceased.

Do you think that carrying an original of the death certificate (and the child's 'long' birth certificate if both parents were named on it) might help to solve the problem in this case SP?

Steve

I have changed the title in that topic in the Portugal forum. Let me know if you think it's OK or suggest an alternative.

luci

what happens if you are totally estranged from the other parent? have no contact with or even know where they are? - What happens even if the estranged parent/spouse has died and you have no way or entitlement to the death certificate...this seems a ridiculous situation which i can not see is enforced at all - 100,000s of british people travel to portugal each year and a great percentage of them must be in this position....

having read the link above to the discussion in the Portugal forum - it appears you only need a letter from the second parent if your child is a Portuguese resident travelling out of portugal not a british child living in britain...thats my understanind of it from that info provided there

Lots of views but you need to consider what the law says, never mind the TO and immigration. Any child subject to a court order, think joint custody, cannot leave the country without permission of the non caring parent. They cannot go to Scotland either.

Surely it is a simple matter to get a letter from the child's parent/guardian than risk problems? What do you do when you get to the airport all excited and someone asks for your letter of permission? What do you do when the child needs medical treatment whilst abroad - you did remember to organise insurance cover for them? What do you do when things go wrong and the parent blames you?

Personally I think those who ignore it because it has not been a problem in the past are acting irresponsibly - it is not a difficult thing to do. When I ran outdoor pursuits I would never ever have put myself in the situation - not because the rule book said so, but because I wanted peace of mind.

fwh