Summer Holiday Abroad for 17 yr olds

lalabear01

My daughter and her boyfriend 17 yrs old (both 18 in November) want to travel abroad this summer but all sites we check say they need to travel with an adult - anyone aware of which travel companies may take 17 year olds without an accompanying adult?

zagfles

lalabear01 wrote: »

My daughter and her boyfriend 17 yrs old (both 18 in November) want to travel abroad this summer but all sites we check say they need to travel with an adult - anyone aware of which travel companies may take 17 year olds without an accompanying adult?

Are you just looking at packages? Some of them are fussy about age, but they'll have no problem doing it independantly - practically every airline, train and ferry company would take them. Most scheduled airlines take unaccompanied 12 year olds! Budget ones are more fussy and it's usually 14 or 16. But 17 should be no problem on any of them.

Hotels might be a problem if they want credit cards, but there are lots of smaller ones/hostels that don't.

thegirlintheattic

A lot of hotels will not take them, and you have to be careful as in some countries if the police find out they are under 18 and unaccompanied they will detain them for their own safety. Edit: This from the FCO on Spain: "Spanish law defines anyone under 18 to be a minor, subject to parental control or adult supervision. Any unaccompanied minors that come to the attention of the Spanish authorities (for whatever reason, but particularly in connection with criminal incidents or when in hospital) are judged to be vulnerable and may face being taken into a Minors’ Centre for their protection until their situation is resolved and a parent or suitable guardian can be found."

Is a holiday in the UK off the cards completely?

zagfles

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

A lot of hotels will not take them, and you have to be careful as in some countries if the police find out they are under 18 and unaccompanied they will detain them for their own safety. Edit: This from the FCO on Spain: "Spanish law defines anyone under 18 to be a minor, subject to parental control or adult supervision. Any unaccompanied minors that come to the attention of the Spanish authorities (for whatever reason, but particularly in connection with criminal incidents or when in hospital) are judged to be vulnerable and may face being taken into a Minors’ Centre for their protection until their situation is resolved and a parent or suitable guardian can be found."

Is a holiday in the UK off the cards completely?

Hmm..not really sure what that's trying to say, the same applies in the UK and most countries, ie under 18's are minors and subject to parental control. But that doesn't mean they aren't allowed out anywhere unaccompanied! It seems to be just saying if they get into trouble they'll be looked after "until their situation is resolved", which should come as a comfort to any parent. I really can't believe they'd have a problem with anyone over 16 travelling independantly - youth hostels are full of them, I knew more about travelling in Europe at 17 than many adults, as I'd been doing it since the age of 15. Also Spanish hostels appear to accept 16-17 year olds, eg http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Mediterranean-Youth-Hostel/Barcelona/6053 , would they really accept them if there was a problem with them travelling independantly?

OP see this article which has lots of advice, though it repeats the above FCO advice without much explanation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/jun/12/independent-teenage-holidays

Tojo_Ralph

Around these here parts, going on an "end of school" two week package holiday deal with one of the major tour operators to party central in the Balaerics or Ibiza is a given for all 17 year olds and from my own experiences in recent years, I believe it is as simple as this.

At the discretion of the travel agent/tour operator, as long as the booking/contract is made/signed by someone 18 years of age or over and each individual 17 year old provides written consent to travel from their parent or legal guardian, the travel agent/tour operator will accept the booking.

Edit: I found a link to one of the majors, Club 18-30, Thomas Cook .....
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Nu3Eut-YV5oJ:www.club18-30.com/legal-notices/+club+18-30+17&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

Enterprise_1701C

Our son went on holiday with mates at the age of 17. We had to sign a letter giving him permission to do so.

He learned a hell of a lesson on holiday - not to leave your bag on the beach and risk getting all your money and passport stolen!!!! And he learned how to get a passport replaced in a foreign country and precisely why I take copies of documents on holiday as well as the documents (and why I made hiim take a copy of his passport and keep it in the room!!!)