12-year-old runs away to Bali with parents’ credit card
Ever feel like just running away from everything and going on holiday instead, but don’t have the funds to do it?
This kid has come up with a solution: steal your parent’s credit card and sneak out of the country.
Ok, so it may not be ideal, and it’s probably a quick way to also make enemies of your parents, but it’s one way of doing things, we guess.
The 12-year-old boy from Sydney tricked his grandmother into revealing the hidden location of his passport so he could make his getaway.
Yep, his passport was hidden.
And yes, this is because he’s tried to do it before.
His mum, Emma, told A Current Affair her son, who was given the pseudonym Drew, had tried to get to Bali two other times, previously not making it past Sydney Airport.
But after a heated argument between the two, Drew did his research and discovered Jetstar allowed children over 12 to fly by themselves.
According to 9 News, after telling his parents he was going to school, Drew headed to the airport, breezed through the self-serve checkout, made his connecting flight in Perth and wasn’t asked if he was accompanied by adults until he got to his hotel in Denpasar.
Meanwhile, his parents spent four days with no idea of where their son was until he posted a video of himself in a pool in Bali and revealed his location to a friend,
“When the first attempt happened we were told his passport was going to be flagged,” Emma told A Current Affair.
“We were told it just wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t get past any airport personnel.”
They notified the AFP and Indonesian police who found Drew at his hotel.
The 12-year-old locked himself in and officers were forced to unscrew a window to get him out and take him to the police station.
Jetstar told A Current Affair they would be putting new measures in place to make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the future but admitted its policy that allowed 12-15 year-olds to travel without a guardian would stay practical for customers.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
a current affair bali children travelling Denpasar jetstarLatest News
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