The common perception of booking online is that it’s easy & convenient, but this accessibility to travel is becoming a fast-growing concern for parents who’s young children are using websites to book unapproved holidays.
In less than five months, three children barely old enough to choose their own clothes have managed to research and book their own travel using credit cards stolen from their parents.
The first trip was processed by a nine-year-old girl in the UK who used her dad’s card last November to secure flights, accommodation and tickets to Disneyland Paris. Click here to read her story.
Then there was the seven-year-old girl who slipped through security and flew from Geneva Airport to Corsica in the Mediterranean alone.
And the latest, a rebellious Aussie tween who decided the best way to check out of a fight with his mum was to steal her credit card, book a holiday Bali and take it.
As you can imagine, parents of all three children were horrified to discover what their children were capable of doing simply by logging onto the internet.
These three incidents put the safety of using online travel websites into question and what they’re doing to prevent any incidents with minors in the future.
KARRYON has contacted few websites and is awaiting their responses.
In the meantime, the incident does reiterate the importance of Travel Agents because there’s simply no way a real-life travel professional would have booked an unaccompanied minor on a trip.
READ: Tour operators are being told Agents are the answer
READ: 11 photos that capture what it’s actually like to be an Agent
