If I buy a plane ticket for my son in another state, will he have any trouble boarding the plane?

As long as he is named pasanger it shouldn’t matter who actually paid for.

I’d just add that the name needs to match whatever ID he’ll be using exactly.

The only place it might make any difference is at check in, where some airlines will let you use the credit card you paid with to check in via a kiosk. There’s always another method available as well (usually a confirmation number), or the agents at the desk to help out.

I usually technically buy the tickets when I travel with my wife, she gets searched far less frequently than I do, so there doesn’t seem to be a security flag or anything that will give him any trouble.

I think anyone can buy tickets for anyone, otherwise, how would corporate travel departments work? You just need to have accurate information for the passenger so their ID matches the name on the ticket in all particulars.

As long as the name on the ticket is EXACTLY the same as the one on his drivers license or state issued I.D. it should’nt matter who purchased it.

I buy tickets for my inlaws and I am in TN and they live in FL. Just make sure, as people said above, the name on the ticket is exactly the same, including middle name, as his ID. They retrieve the ticket at the airport.

Don’t forget to add his frequent flyer number to the ticket when you buy it if he has one.

Remind him he might need to pay at the airport to check his bag if he is checking.

He can pull up his boarding pass at the airport with the confirmation number or ID.

I have never had any problem buying tickets for out of state offspring. Everything is electronic now. All they have to do, after you make the arrangements, is show up on time with proper I.D.

Thanks very much, everyone. One of many ways I’m still in the twentieth century.

Extra thanks, @JLeslie, for the reminder about logging miles.

you might also have to go to your local airport to verify with your ID that you authorized the charge.

Have you had to do that, @Judi? That seems outrageous to me. What if your local airport is 2 hours away? And what if the intended passenger can show a credit card with the same number as the one you used to purchase the tickets?

I have had to. They have wanted to see the credit card used and my ID before they would let my kids board. It was a few years ago, they might be more reasonable now.

The trend (in so many things and not just this) seems to be away from reasonableness and not toward.

@Judi I have never heard of such a thing. Not that I doubt you. Had you booked the ticket last minute? Was it a one way ticket?

It wasn’t last minuet, but they wanted to be sure the charge was authorized.

@Judi And, your kids were adults?

Yes College age.

@Jeruba I guess the best way to be sure what happened to @Judi doesn’t happen to you is to use your child’s credit card if he has one, and just make a payment to the credit card for him covering it.

@Judi When I worked in Bloomingdale’s we used to have the problem of kids shopping with their parent’s card, and they would need a note or we would call the parent, but they were teens, easily below the age of 18. Since @Jeruba is the one calling to make the ticket it shouldn’t happen. If he prints the boarding pass either before getting to the airport or at a kiosk, no one will even have looked at how it was paid.

@Jeruba Which reminds me, most airlines allow you to check in online the day before flying and print your boarding pass at home. Depending on the airline it might work differently. You could book his ticket online if you have a log-on for the airline. Or, another option is logging on as him and doing it under his information. Not sure which is better. I book most tickets as the person who has logged on, and then just make a ticket for whomever I am purchasing the ticket for.

I think possibly even if you call to make the reservation he can still check in early and print at home. Have his email address handy so he gets a notification, and then all he will need is his confirmation number to log on and print most likely.