What will happen if I will purchase a plane tickets being under 18?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 11 Aug, 2023
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I basically agree with Sheik Paul of Osawatomie‘s answer, but I would tailor the response more closely to the question. Therefore:
I could send my money to my parents bank and let them purchase it for me but in my opinion it doesn’t really matter. Either way they cannot see my age when I purchase something
As others have mentioned, the point of the age restriction has to do with the legalities of the financial transaction and, probably, the contract created between the purchaser and the seller. It does not mean that people under 18 are restricted from traveling, only that they are restricted from buying tickets.
and even if my parents buy it I still could get in trouble in airport since I’m 16.
If your parents buy the ticket, you can’t get in trouble for buying the ticket. It is not forbidden to purchase a ticket for someone else, and if your parents have bought the ticket there’s no trouble for anyone to get into.
The age restriction does not apply to travelers; it applies to purchasers.
So I think there’s no point in sending money to parents since it will do nothing. So the whole 18 years requirement seems useless to me.
As outlined above, having your parents buy the tickets is precisely what you should do. The fact that those under 18 have a limited ability to enter into legal agreements may be useless, but the line must be drawn somewhere, and that’s where it has been drawn at the moment.
If you are in the USA, you can have your parents buy you a ticket as an unaccompanied minor.
Although each airline is likely to have their own policy regarding how old you have to be, if there is a surcharge or not, special accommodations, etc.
This is likely the only technically legal way to fly to London (assuming from the USA) without a parent or other adult.
In reality I am not sure if the airlines would care about your age, but there is always the possibility of an ID check when you check bags or go through security which could raise questions.
What will happen if I will purchase a plane tickets being under 18?
If you mislead the airline and purchase the ticket yourself by claiming you’re an adult, most likely nothing will happen. The airline may cancel the ticket though if they find out. See these somewhat similar examples for a 17 year old who opened accounts with Paypal, eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress.com that require you to be 18 and over.
So I think there’s no point in sending money to parents since it will
do nothing. So the whole 18 years requirement seems useless to me.
That’s not correct. Letting your parents purchase it removes that small probability of the airline voiding a contract they entered into with a minor, had you done the purchasing directly.
The issue is one about a financial transaction with a minor. A contract with a minor is voidable, basically you the minor can cancel it any time before execution.
A voidable contract is a valid contract and can
be enforced. Usually only one party is bound to the contract terms in
a voidable contract. The unbound party is allowed to cancel the
contract, which makes the contract void.
Basically up until any time the plane takes off, you (because you are the unbound party) can just tell the airline, I don’t want to fly any more, give me my money back. And because you were a minor, you would be entitled to getting your money back. The airline doesn’t want that kind of uncertainty.
So coming to it, the issue is not one about you flying as an unaccompanied minor. Many airlines allow children over 12 to fly as unaccompanied minors. In fact I just purchased a ticket last week for my 13 year old nephew to fly unaccompanied all the way to Africa.
Thus sending the money to your parents for them to purchase is materially and legally different from you doing the purchasing. If your parents purchase the ticket, the contract is binding and no longer voidable just because you’re a minor.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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