Skip-gen travel: grandparents and grandkids, no parents
Grandparents are increasingly central to family travel — including trips where the grandchild’s parents stay home. The numbers behind it, and the one piece of paperwork that actually matters if the trip crosses a border.
“Skip-gen” travel is a specific thing, distinct from the family reunion trip where three generations all go together: a grandparent takes a grandchild somewhere, and the child’s parents stay home. It has a name now because it has gotten common enough to have one.
| How common it is | In the Family Travel Association’s annual US Family Travel Survey, 71% of grandparents say they have taken a multigenerational trip recently, and 57% say they are planning one. |
|---|---|
| Skip-gen is grandparent-led | On skip-gen trips specifically — grandchild, no parents — grandparents plan about 75% of them and pay for about 84%. |
| Who pays on the wider category | Across multigenerational trips broadly, roughly half of grandparents pay for the entire trip themselves; most of the rest split costs with their adult children. |
| Not the same trip | A multigenerational trip (everyone travels together) and a skip-gen trip (grandparent and grandchild only) are reported as two distinct categories in the same survey data, not one blended trend. About 11% of parents surveyed say they plan a skip-gen trip in the next 12 months — a steady share, not a sudden spike. |
The figures above come from the Family Travel Association’s 2025 US Family Travel Survey, of 1,596 US parents and grandparents surveyed in summer 2025 — self-reported survey responses, not a government dataset.
The one piece of paperwork that actually matters
The United States does not require a written permission letter for a minor to travel internationally with a grandparent rather than a parent. Individual destination countries often do, or airlines may ask for one at check-in even where the destination itself does not strictly require it. The State Department’s own guidance is to check with the embassy or consulate of wherever the trip is headed, since the requirement is set by the destination, not by the US.
Where a letter is expected, the standard version is simple: both parents sign a statement naming the grandparent and acknowledging the child is traveling with that person, with their permission, and it is preferably in English and notarized. The State Department’s own guidance also says to always bring a copy of the child’s birth certificate, or other evidence of the legal relationship, regardless of what a specific destination requires.
Also on The Second Half Guide Your beneficiary form may outrank your will A will is the document everyone has heard of. For a lot of households, it isn’t the one that decides where the largest accounts go. Read it →Nobody plans a skip-gen trip around the paperwork. It is the one part of the trip that can actually stop it, and it is also the cheapest and easiest part to get right in advance.
What to actually do before booking
- If the trip crosses a border, contact the destination country’s embassy or consulate directly to ask about consent-letter requirements — the State Department says this varies by country and the US does not set the rule.
- Where a letter is expected, both parents should sign it. A notarized letter in English is the commonly recommended form, even in places that do not explicitly require notarization.
- Always carry the grandchild’s own passport and a copy of their birth certificate or other evidence of the family relationship — official guidance recommends this regardless of destination.
- A signed note authorizing emergency medical treatment is commonly recommended for a minor traveling without a parent, domestic trips included; state rules on who can authorize treatment vary, so check what applies where you live and where you are headed.
The trend itself is the easy part — grandparents already know whether they want to take a grandchild somewhere. The paperwork is the part that decides whether the plan survives contact with an actual border.
This is general information, not personal advice. We report the rules, the numbers and the deadlines as clearly as we can. We don't know your income, your state, your health or your family — and all four can change the answer. Treat this as a good place to find the right questions, not a substitute for someone looking at your actual situation.
Where these facts come from
Checked on 29 August 2026 against the sources listed below. Dollar limits and program rules change — if you're reading this well after that date, verify the numbers at the links below.
- Family Travel Association — 2025 US Family Travel Survey — https://www.familytravel.org/assets/pdf/FTA-Survey2025-Report/
- U.S. Department of State — Minors traveling abroad — https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel/planning/personal-needs/minors.html
- USAGov — International travel documents for children — https://www.usa.gov/travel-documents-children
Edward Silva
Edward spent more than forty years as a computer professional — long enough to pick up one useful occupational habit: when somebody hands you a summary, go and read the actual documentation. He started The Second Half Guide after noticing that most writing aimed at people his age was either talking down to him or quietly selling him something, and that the plain facts — the dates, the thresholds, the dollar figures — were somehow the hardest part to find.
He's married, with two grown sons, both married themselves. He is not a financial adviser, an attorney or an insurance agent, and this site doesn't tell you what to do with your money. It tells you what the rules actually say, and links to where he checked.