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Family Nightmare at the Airport

For months now, my family and I have been planning a trip to Belize. In the past, we’ve tried beach vacations, but they’re just not our cup of tea. We love ADVENTURE on our holidays! With two daughters, age 8 and 10, they’re all for it!

Just like many travelling Canadians, we decided to fly from Seattle            to take advantage of cheaper flights. As we learned, that may have been a mistake!

My husband, two daughters and I arrived as the SEA-TAC airport to fly from Seattle to Belize. After entering our information into their system, an airline representative came over to talk to us. He asked if we had permission from the children’s mother to fly. I replied that while I did not change my name when we got married, I am indeed the children’s mother. He then directed us to a different counter.

The next representative asked for the children’s paperwork; we provided them with their passports we had ensured we packed. She then asked the same question, whether we had permission from the children’s mother to fly. I explained again. My last name is Scully, but I am the biological mother of the two children and the wife of the man I am travelling with. After asking me if I had read the travel instructions of the Continental Airlines website, which I had, she informed me that Belize had very strict regulations, and they would not allow us to board the plane.

In the past, I have travelled with the girls to the US, Mexico, and Costa Rica without issue.

Now, since we were taking the first flight out, this is all happening virtually in the middle of the night. It’s 4:00 am and the girls are so upset that our vacation is over before it even started. We’re frustrated and are very ready to come to a resolution on this. With all the commotion, security had actually approached us to be sure that everything was ok.

At this time, the representative we were dealing with was on the phone, talking with another representative in Houston, where we had a stop-over. They were both trying to find the policy we had allegedly missed in our research. When we tried to talk to her, she kept putting her had up to stop us from talking. For 45 minutes we stood there – not being helped, but so that they could prove why we couldn’t get on the plane.

Finally, she tells us that we have to get someone to find the girls’ birth certificates in our home in BC. It’s not even 5:00am, seriously? So my husband calls is 70 year old mother to retrieve the documents. Of course, she can’t figure out the fax machine, so we have to call our neighbour to help her out. The fax came through, as requested, and it wasn’t good enough.

By now, the representatives have figured out that it actually doesn’t say anywhere of this policy they are talking about - the policy that informs travellers that if the mother has a different name than the children, she must have a notarized letter from a lawyer confirming that she is indeed the mother. I argued that we had no way of preparing for this; therefore we should be allowed to board the plane. We’re still told “NO”.

With a short 25 minutes left before departure time, the supervisor appears. She makes a call and somehow, the documentation we have provided is enough and we can get on the plane. We’re all tired, exhausted, and in tears as we board the plane. So our long-awaited vacation begins.

We entered Belize with no difficulty. It was all because I didn’t change my name when I got married and the girls have my husband’s last name. If you are a Canadian, your name isn’t on you child’s birth certificate or their passport.

Lesson – If you are a Canadian flying from the US to anywhere, and have a different last name than your children, bring a notarized letter with you!

Posted by Joni @ 10:13:22 AM

• 5 comments

Comments

The Airline Staff are right. It is the travel regulation and they did not want you to loose your tickets by going to Belize and you will end up being deported back. The person that made a mistake by not informing you the rules and regulations is the Agent, whom you bought the tickets from. It all depends on who you met at the travelling counter. There are some Agents that allows their passegers to take a risk (which is not advicable)while some Agents do not allow that because it is always an embarrassing situation.

Posted by Evangelyn Chiiwe Njaka@ 7:39:48 PM

Believe it or not, this is one of the reasons that I opted to legally change my last name when my son was born. We travel as a family to the US and internationally at least 4 times a year. I was aware of the complications associated with travelling internationally with my children with a last name that differs from theirs, and I just didn't want the hassle. My husband is a lawyer so documentation and notorization is no problem for us, I just didn't want to deal with the problems that having a different surname from my children could potentially cause. I understand and agree with the intention behind the regulations - our children's safety should be our first priority. We don't want our children at risk of being smuggled out of the country by an abductor. But for an airline to demand a fee of $100 for following the rules, SHAME ON THEM! Sad, and infuriating, isn't it? Another point to note... if only one parent is planning to leave Canada with their child, that parent is required to have a notarized letter stating that they have permission to do so.

Posted by Connie Bonneville@ 1:44:52 AM

Although in this day and age..a lot of people do their own travel bookings on the internet in order to save a few bucks..we all need to save a few bucks :) ... This is a prime example of why we should all still be using travel agents. I have been a travel agent for 23 yrs...and cannot tell you how many times I have booked a family on vacation where the mom has kept her maiden name...the kids go by the dads last name. When I tell them they will need to have a notarized letter made up with proof that they are both the biological parents of these kids in case they are asked for proof at the airport...as without this they can be denied boarding..they are awestruck. All it takes is once and you realize the extra few dollars you would have paid to a travel agent would have saved you a lot of heartache..not to mention time and money in case you dont have the proper documentation to travel...if you miss your flight because you dont have the proper documentation, they do not have to put you on another flight once you do have everything...

Posted by Sherry@ 12:28:49 PM

While your experience is very unfortunate it is not terribly surprising. Personally I would never go to the US unless I really, really had to for whatever reason. And cheap air fare is not a reason I would personally consider. You can pay me now, or pay me later, as they say. Whenever any of my friends goes there I flippantly say to them either "here's hoping you avoid the rubber glove", or "here's hoping you don't end up getting tortured in Syria". They think I'm joking, but I am not. The US is a pretty messed up place which on the surface has the appearance of being as civil as Canada, but it is not even close.

Posted by Alan McKay@ 6:35:54 AM

Interesting-I had a eerily similar experience with Continental Airlines travelling with my children from Newark to Toronto. They were not going to let me board the plane to return home due to a name issue(even though their airline had accepted all the documents on the initial Toronto to Newark flight, which were totally in order according their rules) unless I paid $100 fee. When I protested, they stopped serving me. Eventually security showed up, realized I had done everything right and escorted me and my kids onto the plane. I think Continental is messed up!!

Posted by Travel mom@ 9:59:32 PM

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