Child Fares


Age 0-2 years
Fare type: Infant

Rules

  • Must always travel with an 18+ guardian (one infant per adult)
  • Travels free if held on adult/guardian's lap
  • If occupying a seat, a child fare must be purchased


Age 3-6 years
Fare type: Child

Rules

  • Must always travel with an 18+ guardian


Age 7-12 years
Fare type: Child

Rules

  • Can travel alone as an unaccompanied minor on selected direct services
  • Can't travel alone on overnight services or routes with a transfer
  • Must travel with an 18+ guardian if unaccompanied minor procedure hasn't been followed, or if on an overnight service


Age 13-15 years
Fare type: Student

Rules

  • Can travel alone, except on overnight services where they must travel with an 18+ guardian
  • Doesn't need to show student ID if travelling on a student fare, but driver might ask for proof of age


Age 16-17 years
Fare type: Student/Adult

Rules

  • Can travel alone on any service
  • Can't act as a guardian for travellers under 16
  • Needs to show student ID if travelling on a student fare


Age 18+
Fare type: Adult/Student

  • Can travel alone on any service
  • Can act as a guardian for travellers under 16
  • Needs to show student ID if travelling on a student fare


Preparing Your Child for Travel

Is your child ready to travel alone? Check out our handy checklist.

We've put together an info sheet to help prepare children (and parents) who are travelling with us. It includes some great tips and useful information about what to bring, what to do on the bus and at rest stops. There are also some fun activities to get stuck into on the back!

If your child is travelling alone we recommend reading the sheet together and giving them a copy to take on the bus.

Download info sheet


Travelling with Babies

  • Use the ‘Infant’ fare type for babies and children aged 0-2 years.
  • Infants must travel with an adult parent or guardian aged 18+.
  • For safety reasons, each infant must travel with their own 18+ guardian (one infant per adult). 
  • Infants can travel free of charge if they are carried on an adult's lap (we don’t allocate seats for infant fares).
  • If you are travelling with an infant and want them to travel in a car seat or capsule, you’ll need to book a seat for them using the child fare type.
  • Please be aware that we don’t provide car seats and can’t guarantee buses will be equipped with seatbelts.


Child Fares and Minors

  • Use the ‘Child’ fare type for children aged between 3-12 years. Child fares are discounted on selected services.
  • Children under 7 years old must travel with an adult on all InterCity Group operated services.
  • We call children aged between 7 and 12 years of age ‘minors’.
  • We call children aged between 7 and 12, who are not travelling with a guardian aged 18+, ‘unaccompanied minors’.
  • Children aged 14 or under cannot travel on any InterCity Group tour service without a guardian aged 18+.
  • People under 16 years can’t travel on our overnight services between Auckland and Wellington unless they are travelling with a guardian aged 18+.


Unaccompanied Minors 

Children aged 7-12 can travel without a parent or guardian aged 18+ on selected direct services only. We call this travelling as an Unaccompanied Minor.

If you’re booking travel for an unaccompanied minor, we need to know who is dropping them off and picking them up, and how to contact them. We collect this information from you in the Unaccompanied Minor Form. We also ask you to read our Unaccompanied Minor Policy and sign to say you understand it.

Booking online?

  • If you’re booking a child fare online, fill out the online Unaccompanied Minor form on the passenger details page. This will give us all the information we need and you won’t have to fill out any other forms.
  • If you book a child fare together with another fare type but there is no 18+ guardian, you’ll need to fill out an Unaccompanied Minor form. Please return a copy to us before travel, and print another copy for the child to carry with them on the day of travel.

Booking over the phone or at an agent?

  • If you book over the phone we will either email you a copy of the form, or tell you where to find it on our website.
  • Your agent will either give you a physical copy of the form to fill out, or tell you where to find it on our website.

Find out more about booking travel for unaccompanied minors and read tips for preparing your child for travel.


InterCity Group Unaccompanied Minor Policy

InterCity cannot be held responsible for unaccompanied minors before, during or after bus journeys which means that:

  • The child will be dropped off at their destination when the bus arrives. It is the responsibility of the legal guardian to ensure that somebody is there to meet them.
  • The person collecting the unaccompanied minor needs to be at the bus stop at least 15 minutes before it is scheduled to arrive.
  • The bus will not wait and will leave as scheduled.
  • The driver will follow the stated ‘Unaccompanied Minor’ policy.
  • Drivers cannot supervise unaccompanied minors during rest stops. It is the unaccompanied minor’s responsibility to ensure that they get back on the bus on time.
  • Children can only travel as unaccompanied minors on direct services. Children travelling on routes requiring a transfer must travel with a guardian aged 18 or over.
  • Unaccompanied minors can travel on the following services:
    - InterCity (IC) and InterCity Link (IL) services, except overnight services 6503 and 6504
    - GreatSights services 7627, 7629 and 7230 only
  • Unaccompanied minors cannot travel on any other GreatSights service or any services run by an operator not listed above.
  • We will not accept any changes to unaccompanied minor bookings unless they are confirmed by the parent/guardian.

If you have any questions about child fares or unaccompanied minors, please contact us.