Just curious...why are you sending a 17 year old girl to Mexico city on her own? Will she be taking a taxi or connecting flight somewhere? If a flight, the other airline might have someone come meet her, if a taxi the person (school?) could a driver.

I've travelled all over on my own, but found Mexico City to be one of the most intimidating & scary cities of all, and I had a husband with me. I would not feel comfortable being a single woman there on my own. The rest of Mexico is fine, but not the city unless she is very experienced.

Make sure she has all the right paperwork. For ID a passport will clearly be the best. Also the notarized letter in English and Spanish from both parents allowing her to travel alone in Mexico. At immigration make sure she gets the tourist visa filled out for the number of days, and a little more, she will be staying in Mexico. If staying in Mexico City she will need lots of information and to be really carefull, if changing planes it is a little confusing, but no big deal. Advise and I can give you some more information.

Thank you for the info, NO she is NOT staying in mexcio city but will be catching a bus to cuernavaca. The school she will be attending can pick up but not sure if they can actually meet her at customs and I do have to identify the person in our notarized statement so if the person changes she is sol.

The people meeting her can't meet her in immigration or customs, as it is a secured area. Anyway, when her flight lands you just follow the signs to immigration. She should have already filled out a tourist card and customs declaration which are usually given out on the plane. As you get in the line for immigration there are usually people who come around and check your forms. If you did not get them yet they hand them out and help you with them. The immigration agents will stamp the passport and tourist card. As I said before, make sure they give enough days for the stay the visa. After immigration you go down the stairs, claim your luggage and go through customs. Sometimes everyone gets serached, sometimes searches are random by pushing a button. If the light turns red your stuff gets searched. Once leaving customs people meeting someone are standing around with signs. I assume this is where they will meet your daughter.

Just in case, I believe buses run from the airport to Cuernavaca. If not take an authorized Taxi (buy the ticket at the far end of the National terminal) take it to Tasquena bus terminal (Southern Mexico City Terminal) then take a bus to the La Selva bus terminal in Cuernavaca. I am sure, however, the school wll show up. She will be in a secure area until she walks out to meet them, should be no big deal at all.

Make sure she has a local contact PHONE NUMBER with her.

If you are concerned about logistics when she arrives in Mexico, I would recommend:

As a US citizen, you need proof of citizenship to arrive in Mexico. A passport works best and it causes the least questions.

If she has never been outside the US, then make sure that she is aware of the differences. Even if Mexico City can be an overwhelming place for some people, getting out of the airport is not that difficult. When she gets out of the plane, she needs to follow the signs directing her to immigration. She must have filled the forms beforehand. Just after immigration, she will be directed to luggage claim, still in the secured area of the airport. After getting her luggage, she needs to go through customs, a simple matter of handing in a form and pressing a button. She gets green, she may leave; she gets red, her luggage will be inspected, thoroughly.

After that, she will leave the secured area of the airport, and this is where someone may meet her. If you told the airline that someone was meeting her, an airline employee will be with her until this point.

If no one is meeting your daughter, and you want to make things A LOT easier for her, and are willing to spend a few $$, I can suggest a couple of things:

1. When she gets out, tell her to go to the OFFICIAL taxi ticket booth. She should be able to purchase a ticket for a cab to Cuernavaca for less than US$ 70.

2. We use a private taxi service in Mexico city. We use this service because it is a lot safer than taking cabs on the street. It is not cheap. A one-way trip to Cuernavaca should be around US$120. If you prefer this, let me know to give you the phone number.

I would be slightly worried if she has never travelled before. There are all kinds of very pushy (illegal and legal) taxi drivers at the airport in Mexico. You don't want to get into the wrong sort of taxi when you have just arrived with all your luggage and money etc.

Jean Valjean's description is very accurate as far as my own experience attests. Once outside the secured area, your daughter might be subjected to people urging her to hire them, etc. How good is her Spanish? Being conversant in Spanish will help her feel in control. I've paid $75 to $150 US for the drive to Cuernavaca, and this would make things a LOT easier than taking a bus. I think if your daughter is used to traveling, Mexico City will be no harder for her than any large airport. I personally would also choose Mexicana as her carrier if you can arrange to have her met--the last time I flew American to Mexico City, the flight crew didn't hand out the immigration cards in time to fill them out!

I forgot to mention that there is a Taxi ticket booth inside the secured area of the airport, just after luggage claim.

Please tell her that SHE MUST NOT take any other cab. As John said, there are quite a few very pushy people peddling taxi services. At best, they charge more than the authorized cabs; at worst, they may turn your trip into a nightmare.

Buying a taxi ticket to Cuernavaca AT THE BOOTH seems like the most efficient, easiest, and safest choice.

Don't worry. She'll be okay. I did the same trip from San Francisco to Guadalajara , a graduation from high school gift, and I did ok. It's not bad at all.

Thank you all so very much for your helpful suggestions, your descriptions about going through immigration etc are reassuring. Yes, she has traveled a lot. I am an information hound so perhaps this helps me more than her!! Thanks again.

Jeri, I'm sure the previous posters have given you a lot of good advice and I'm glad you've been reassured, but I traveled alone to Mexico (Cancun) when I was 32 and single, and I feel I must mention something that no one else has.

The locals in that country will tend to draw certain unwelcome conclusions about a woman they see traveling alone, and they feel perfectly comfortable acting on their assumptions. I was a member of a tour group, but there were plenty of times I just wanted to go shopping or sightseeing on my own, and that's when the problems would occur. I wasn't assaulted or anything, but some men made real pests of themselves--and this was 20 years ago. As uncomfortable as it was, I was 32 and knew how to make myself clear that I wasn't interested. I don't think I would have done so well at 17.

I really think you should give this some thought; I'm sorry but I just don't think it's wise for you to send your daughter so far on her own under those circumstances.

Sending a 17 year old girl alone to Mexico City to catch a bus to Cuernavaca has bad idea written all over it.

May be a bad idea if you are talking about someone who hasn't traveled at all.

About getting unwanted attention, just keep in mind that, while the 'problem' still exists, it is usually no more than wolf whistles. Ignoring the guys is the smart thing to do. Also keep in mind that generally Mexicans are more conservative on how they dress. A woman dressed provocatively WILL get unwanted attention.

If you want to be completely worry -free, just give $70 to your daughter to pay for a private cab to Cuernavaca. Considering the distance and time it involes, this should be very cheap by US standards.

I beg your pardon, Jean Valjean, but I was in no way dressed "provocatively" when I was pestered in Cancun, and I've never considered myself particularly spectacular-looking, either. I was wearing a teeshirt and a pair of not-too-short shorts, and nothing that was tight or revealing. It was the idea that I was tooling around on my own, unaccompanied, that seemed to send signals that I never intended to send.

The world is a more dangerous place now than it was 20 years ago, and I'm sorry but there's no way I'd expect a 17-year-old girl to deal with these issues on her own, and I don't care how much she's traveled in the past--that has nothing to do with anything. As Tim said, this is a bad idea and I'm just voicing my opinion that Jeri should rethink the situation.

Beth,

I understand your point. Building on that, I have to say that circumstances 20 years ago are quite a bit different than now, and I am sure that this will be even more evident in Mexico City than in Cancun.

Cancun 20 years ago was a bit more than a little coastal town, not the mega resort that it is now. I am sure that you could do exactly the same thing today and you'll not be bothered in any way.

Now, Mexico City is no Cancun. A woman travelling alone is not as unusual in Mexico City today as in Cancun 20 years ago, UNLESS she is working at getting someone else's attention. I am not saying that I agree with that.

What I certainly don't agree with is with comments like "this has bad idea written all over it" and "Jeri should rethink the situation". Tim doesn't explain his point, just a cryptic comment that will probably make Jeri nervous without reason. And, with all due respect, your comment is based on an experience from Cancun 20 years ago!!

Mexico City is not the safest place on earth. AAMOF, it can be quite dangerous if you do not follow certain precautions. Jeri's daughter is going to Cuernavaca, which is much safer than Mexico City; she just needs to know how to get from the airport to Cuernavaca safely and easily. I don't think she needs to be concerned unnecessarily with unappropiate comments.

BTW, I do live in Mexico, and travel to Mexico City quite often. I have went to Cuernavaca from the airport a few times as well.

I am sure this girl has made the trip, is in school at her final destination.