Flying from Boston to DC...what do I need to bring?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 12:48am

I want to fly to and from Boston-DC on the same day to catch Ragtime in May. What do I need to bring with me to fly? Photo ID/Passport? What do I need? Thanks

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 12:50am

Just a Bible, apparently.

[etoile]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 1:01am

Parental permission?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:14pm

How old do you think I am? Dosen't the airlines count adults begining at Age 14?

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:18pm

For domestic- is always JUST a photo ID (you know like State Driver's License or State ID) so when did you last fly? just wonderin...

J*
Updated On: 1/9/09 at 03:18 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:29pm

Check the airline you plan to use. They each have rules on solo flights for younger kids and teens. For instance, in 2006 Northwest restricts kids 14 and under from flying solo on connecting flights. (At least they started that in 2006) You may have to have your parents sign a form or escort you to security.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:48pm

Is the OT really 14 yrs old? wow. I did not know about that.

I remember when you used to board planes without any ID...so how do kids fly now? I mean domestic...

J*

Updated On: 1/10/09 at 03:48 PM

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 4:35pm

Maybe I'm overprotective, but I don't think I would let my 14 year old fly to a strange city alone, see a play and then come back.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/10/09 at 11:57pm

If you have ID (an actual state ID, not like a school ID), then take it.

If not, you're gonna have to take a passport. Besides that I would suggest something small to entertain yourself w/ (in your case, homework maybe?), a sweater or something (it's kind of chilly) and maybe a small bookbag or something. Something with just enough room for all your things, but discreet enough to take into the theatre.

Don't take anything in a bottle, it won't make it past security. Being that this is a day-trip, I wouldn't take any money in excess of $50.00 and try to avoid taking anything you would miss if it was lost.

Have a nice trip!

PS: does anyone remember the days when flying was fun, and not the mess/pain/zoo it is today?

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:18am

Jay...
I haven't flown (is that a word) since I was 15.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:30am

I usually don't go anywhere, on a day trip or otherwise, car or plane, without at least a few hundred dollars in case of an emergency, plus a credit card, an ATM card and a cell phone. I always travel with my passport and a photocopy of it kept in a different place. You are travelling within your own country, so registering with a consulate or embassy is unnecessary (and kinda weird) though it helps when you travel in foreign countries, especially distressed and troubled areas.

If you are worried about personal assault, pack pepper spray (if legal) and a .38 (if legal).

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:38am

I don't think those items would get past security checkpoints....

You know yourself the best, so you decide how much money you take. But I would NEVER travel with my passport within the country unless necessary. I would travel with a copy of my passport, but not the passport itself. Doing so domestically is pointless (unless you don't have an ID). And even if you wanted to, you couldn't register with an embassy or consulate...because you're within the boundaries of the country...Embassies and Consulates are national representation abroad which provide services to their citizens. Being that you're in the country, no need for that. If there's an emergency or anything, you just call the police or send smoke signals.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:41am

You're right Manny2, I'm a dual-national so this subject gets confusing. I always feel like I'm travelling in a foreign country no matter where I am.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:44am

you didn't know "flown" is a word???

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:47am

Ohh me too, but I never really register with an Embassy or Consulate, unless I'm going somewhere desolate.

I usually stay by an embassy, or just keep their phone number handy in case of anything.

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:49am

I've gone to a lot of weird and troubled places. Habit, I guess, but yeah, I never register in Western Europe, Canada or the US.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:57am

In Canada, no.

I'd maybe consider doing so in Western Europe, just because of all the protests and bombings and such which have occured in the past five years. Things can get pretty crazy over there.

Ironically enough, I never even bother looking up the number when going to South America. I just feel so safe, dunno why (probably shouldn't either).

I'm going to Cuba in a couple of months. That's going to be exciting, but I'm going with my other nationality. I can't wait.

What crazy places have you gone Krissy?

[KrissySim]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 2:05am

Cuba should be interesting.

I've traveled a bit in Eastern Europe (I register there or not depending on the country) some former Soviet Republics, the Mid-east (in the past, but not any more) China, India, Uzbekistan, Armenia (former Soviet, but so different I list them separately from the others).

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 2:11am

Is "flown" a word, you ask?

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 2:11am

Damn, those are some pretty hardcore places, haha.

I'd love to go to Western Africa one day. It's a lot of shots and paperwork though, but one day I'll do it. I'd love to visit Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Rwanda. Ahh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 12:09pm

"But I would NEVER travel with my passport within the country unless necessary."

I totally disagree....it is the only ID I use when traveling ANYWHERE. Of course I always have a copy with me, but I travel so often, that's it's much easier just to show my passport anywhere than to try to dig my drivers license out of my wallet.


"PS: does anyone remember the days when flying was fun, and not the mess/pain/zoo it is today?"

I'll take that mess, pain, and zoo any day over another 9-11.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 12:38pm

I'll show my passport internationally (because you get all sorts of discounts and stuff by showing a passport), but within the US it's easier (for me) to just show my drivers license. Plus, I like my license picture more than my passport photo. In my passport I look like a depressed orphan.

And I wasn't talking so much about security. I was refering more to how the airlines now treat people like cattle, and how some people become very pompous and rude the second they enter an airport.

I honestly feel very sorry for the crews who have to work the counters and personnel who are supposed to help these people. Some of them are so incredibely rude. I just went to Boston, and I was in line waiting to check in my bags. They had to open a new station because the lady in front of me spent a half hour screaming at the airline employee because she didn't know she had to pay to have her bags checked....that's her problem. She should have done the research and known, but instead of just admitting she messed up, she took it out on the poor employee.
What a pain.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 1:01pm

I look like an old Russian woman in my passport picture. I was on my way to the gym, so I had no make up on. And I had just started my invisalign treatments so my teeth looked icky (compared to now that they are fixed, anyway)

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 2:19pm

yeah Manny, I agree....some of these people act like they never heard of the new rules....like the woman going to Seattle early this month who was incensed that she had to leave her watwr with the TSA people, as if she'd been on another planet for 8 years.

I will say through, that some airport and airline people are just as rude. I witnessed someone being treated extremely bad by an FA, and when I said something I was told I could leave the plane if it bothered me so much. Seventeen people around me asked for the gate agent and they complained too as they had witnessed it. We all wrote just stood there, and they backed down, and we all wrote letter and got some ridiculous $200 towards a future flight, and it turns out 15 of us sent it back saying "no thanks."

Long ago I was an FA for National Airlines when they were still around, so I've seen it from both sides.

[Manny2]

Posted: 1/11/09 at 2:25pm

I could never be an FA.

It's actually become a very dangerous job (being that now we're, unfortunately) living in a time when anything can happen in the air. On top of that, FA's have to take constant crap from passengers, work long hours, and sometimes have to take over in the case of an emergency. It's a tough job, I have a lot of respect for them.