Jetstar do they check birth certificates for infants?

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inpd

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Hi,

Traveling with an infant 23 months old so does not need a ticket.
Jetstar's website state they may ask for a birth certificate, but do they?
Do they want the original or a copy?

I do not want to take out (from a safety deposit box) and carry around a birth certificate if they do not even ask for it. What are the repercussions if we can not produce the certificate?

Fresh in my mind is when AirNZ said they required a sign affidavit and my wife to be accessible by phone so I could travel with my kids alone out of the country, but the gate agent did not even ask for it or know what I was talking about.

Regards.
 
Travelling with an infant does require a ticket for the infant, just at $0. On international trips there will not be a need for a cert, all the details are on the passport.
 
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They cannot reasonably require the original since since in some countries at least, the original is never given to the parents , only a certifed copy of the extract from the register of births and deaths

If they want a copy and it cannot be provided then the infant would be refused travel without purchase of a seat. If the flight is full, then this will be an issue beyond the cost of purchase

Dave
 
Travelling with an infant does require a ticket for the infant, just at $0. On international trips there will not be a need for a cert, all the details are on the passport.

Sorry should have mentioned it is a domestic flight so no passport required. the infant was born in US so losing, damaging certificate is a big problem since they cannot easily be replaced.

If you can get a certified copy made, I would expect that would do the trick
 
Sorry should have mentioned it is a domestic flight so no passport required. the infant was born in US so losing, damaging certificate is a big problem since they cannot easily be replaced.

If you can get a certified copy made, I would expect that would do the trick

A passport will be just as good as a Birth Certificate in this case though, just as authoritative.
 
A passport will be just as good as a Birth Certificate in this case though, just as authoritative.

Indeedy. I just thought that making a copy and getting it certified would be a cheaper n easier option if travelling domestically
 
Sorry should have mentioned it is a domestic flight so no passport required. the infant was born in US so losing, damaging certificate is a big problem since they cannot easily be replaced.
Given the fact that the infant was born in the USA and is to be taking an Australian domestic flight, the infant must already have a passport. The infant's passport will be sufficient evidence of age to satisfy JetStar check-in agents of the ability to travel on an infant ticket.
 
Given the fact that the infant was born in the USA and is to be taking an Australian domestic flight, the infant must already have a passport. The infant's passport will be sufficient evidence of age to satisfy JetStar check-in agents of the ability to travel on an infant ticket.

As I said at the beginning, I have the birth certificate (and also the passport), I just do not want to carry them on me unless it is absolutely required. These things are expensive to replace when in Australia.

Anyway, I flew with said infant, jetstar did ask for the birth certificate, but I just
explained the situation and we found another way of proving the child was mine.

Thanks for your help.
 
Anyway, I flew with said infant, jetstar did ask for the birth certificate, but I just
explained the situation and we found another way of proving the child was mine.

Thanks for your help.

I'm confused did you have to prove the child was yours or did you have to prove their age?

Umm probably a bit late for my confusion. I'm glad it worked out.
 
I'm confused did you have to prove the child was yours or did you have to prove their age?

Umm probably a bit late for my confusion. I'm glad it worked out.

I think the gate agent was also confused. She asked me for either the
"Australian version" or the U.S. version of the birth certificate!

I think they are more worried about people taking children when they should
not be (i.e. custody disputes) rather than verifying ages.
 
I think the gate agent was also confused. She asked me for either the
"Australian version" or the U.S. version of the birth certificate!

I think they are more worried about people taking children when they should
not be (i.e. custody disputes) rather than verifying ages.

For a domestic flight taking the child is not so much of an issue, as the same legal system still applies. I would have the thought "proof of age" is required to make sure you are not getting a free flight on an infant ticket, when you should be paying.
For international flights then yes proof of legal custody and agreement to the trip by the other parent is important.
 
I think the gate agent was also confused. She asked me for either the
"Australian version" or the U.S. version of the birth certificate!

I think they are more worried about people taking children when they should
not be (i.e. custody disputes) rather than verifying ages.

Customs or Jetstar have no concerns with custody, immigration can prevent a no fly/ no departure if there are orders as such, but its no business of your airline to police such things, in fact privacy laws prevent them. The airline is only concerned about revenue, that is having a child fly as an infant.
 
Given you didn't use the birth certificate, how did you end up achieving it?
 
Given you didn't use the birth certificate, how did you end up achieving it?

Medicare card to show I was the parent. It was a short flight to tassie. Sounds like I got a good agent. What could have happened if I could not produce the birth certificate?
 
Medicare card to show I was the parent. It was a short flight to tassie. Sounds like I got a good agent. What could have happened if I could not produce the birth certificate?

Jetstar would have made you pay for a fare. As has been mentioned a couple of times for an Australian domestic flight there is no requirement to prove you are the parent. Especially not to jetstar. The birth certificate is to show that the child is eligible for an infant fare.
 
As has been mentioned a couple of times for an Australian domestic flight there is no requirement to prove you are the parent. Especially not to jetstar.

So I flew again with said infant and asked the gate agent to clarify this issue.
Turns out the checkin agent at JetStar Melbourne (Tullamarine) was a supervisor ...

She said it was their duty to make sure that children are flying with their parents
or that the adult has an affidavit from the parent. They can (and do) deny boarding
to adults who cannot show the children they are traveling with are their own or
they have the permission to supervise them.
They typically ask for medicare cards since both the parents and children's names are on the medi-care card. She even went as far as to ask my five year old her full
name (on the card) and if the infant was her sister!

Personally, I'm glad they do this sort of stuff.

I agree they want to also make people buy a ticket when needed.
 
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