MEL & JOHN

Hi

Putting this on the Ayamonte/CE thread as I recall this subject being discussed by a few of us before. Next year I am going to CE with my friend, her 16 year old daughter and her daughters 16 year friend - I must be BONKERS !! However I am sure Tony and Shirley and possibly Sharon had to look into the problem of taking unrelated minors into Faro airport. Did you do this ? If so please may I ask how you got on ? Did you take any letters ..........counter-signed by a solicitor ?

I am not going to investigate too far as I feel the parents of the teenager must investigate and make sure all is acceptable for their daughter to travel with me. Also, if I do it all and then there is a problem I am responsible so I am dipping out BUT if I can help by pointing them in the right direction re who to contact and what to do to ensure entry into Faro then I would like to pass the info on.

Thanks

Mel

EsuriJohn

Been out on Spanish site and Portugal site quite a few times do a search.

MEL & JOHN

Thanks John. I have done a search......found my own questions on this from way back ! However I don't think there was ever a definitive answer. I know that 2 or more people were taking youngsters, who were not related but travelling with the family group, and I wondered what they had done, had they taken the teenagers and did they get through without problems.

Cheers for the reply

Mel

scottandsel

i know its prob not much help but my 12 year old flew from us in crete to rhodes where he was being picked up by his grandad (my day) then ferried off to turkey, as a precaution i did write a letter of permission to travel for him to give to my dad as soon as he got off the plane, just to be on the safe side ... my dad said need'nt have bothered though no one batted an eye lid!

shirley and anthony hide

Hi Mel
Look at this web page
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-...d/.../portugal
Its gives advice on what you need to have.

Hope it helps

Tony

MEL & JOHN

Many thanks - as children my brother and I were put on planes by ourselves to be met in the UK by family (and sent back asap !!) and there was never a problem. My children used to travel to the Canaries on their own to be met by my parents but it is different now and, from what I can gather, Portugal is quite strict about it.

Appreciate your feedback

Cheers

Mel

EsuriJohn

I think the definative answere may have been given on the Portugal site also the is an "eye on Spain" where this has been discussed and the answere given there also.

MEL & JOHN

Hi Tony and John

Thank you for your help, have got info together from your sources and from the Easyjet and Monarch sites and am posting to the parents - ball in their court now.

Cheers

Mel

Jon-Bxl

Hi Mel I realise that youve closed this discussion down and your friends will be responsible... but last year our friends went to England with their daughter and the daughters best friend (teenagers <16yrs old). As they werent the parents of the friend - they had a REAL hassle and it took 3 hours of frustrating discussions - phone calls etc before they let her in. A bad experience.

No idea if you will have this in Faro - BUT after the Maddie experience I would expect all non-Shengen travel to have serious checks, especially at Faro! Coming from England I suppose you have to go through passport control, as our friends did when going to the UK.

Apparentely (as they were told at the control) there is a way where the parents go to the town hall and get a special form signed confirming the travel and the people who are travelling with them.

So be careful - you may be left 'holding the baby' (errr pun intended )

Im sure you will sort it out though....

Good luck

Jon

PS TWO teenagers - take vallium!! And alcohol helps you forget, so you'll regurlarly found at the shop, golf club terrace or Jags Even so I envy you!

MEL & JOHN

THAT Jon is exactly the type of scenario I can envisage. I am always keen to dash through the airport, pick up the car and be gone. To be there with a 16 year old I don't know (a friend of a friends friend arrrgh!) trying to convince a Portuguese official that all is above board is not an experience I want to go through. IF that all goes well I still have shared responsibility of a teenager I have never met before. WHY, OH WHY do I get myself into these scrapes. I must be loopy ! Pass me that vodka, valium and monkey gland please before I go to my therapy session !

Mel

jdr

If they are 16 then they are adults, so should be able to travel on their own or in a party of non family anyway.

olivia

When this came up last time we had taken our grandchild to Lapland. She doesn't have our surname and we didn't have a letter of authority from her parents. We had no problem at Stanstead or Lapland but I think being unaware we did take a risk. I think on the booking form for the trip we might have had to declare our relationship to the child but can't actually remember.
Most airlines give an age of 15 to fly alone. British Airways say 12. Easyjet 14.
A young adult is still under parental control in the UK until the age of 18?
Play safe. Get the authority from the parents.

Jon-Bxl

Still, always best to check though.... after Maddie lots of rules changed (for good reasons)...

PS 'Monkey Gland' Mel what on earth is that??

olivia

Disappearance of Maddie? What has that changed?
Maddie was on holiday with her parents like thousands of others. Her disappearance was and still is a mystery.
Any new rules, [if there are any] are more about estranged parents of mixed nationalities taking their children on holiday and not returning them.

MEL & JOHN

Goodness knows - don't know why I said it....some sort of Voodoo mixture ?
See, I really should not take on any responsibility of a teenager.