Three Florida children bought tickets with money saved from baby-sitting jobs and flew to Nashville, Tennessee on Southwest Airlines – with their parents none the wiser.
As CBN reports, Fifteen-year-old Bridget Brown had saved $700. She reportedly was planning to keep saving for a car, but developed an urge to travel to Dollywood, the Dolly Parton-based Tennessee theme park.
Brown took along a 13-year-old friend and her 11-year-old brother. The children took a taxi to Jacksonville International Airport and bought three tickets at the counter. They say no one asked them for identification.
On arrival in Nashville the children found out that Dollywood was not in Nashville, but over 300 kilometres away in Pigeon Forge. Growing scared, the children then called their parents and immediately caught the next flight home.
Southwest Airlines says the company's minor policy covers children ages five through 11 travelling alone, and that the 11-year-old in this case was accompanied by two older companions. As a gesture of goodwill, the airline says it will refund the money spent on the tickets.
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that "kids under 18 don't need to show an ID."
