A 12-Year-Old Boy Got Into A Fight With His Mom – Then Stole Her Credit Card And Flew To Bali

A 12-year-old Australian boy, apparently unwilling to take “no” for an answer, stole his mother’s credit card, got himself onto two flights, flew to another country, and checked himself into a nice hotel, all without any adults asking any questions, The Guardian is reporting.

In what may be the most adorable crime you read about this week (although his mom certainly doesn’t find it adorable at all, but more on that in a few paragraphs), the lad, already nicknamed “Bali Boy” by the Australian press, apparently got into a “row,” as they say, with his “mum” about his desire to go to Bali. Long story short, mom said no, and Bali Boy wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

So instead, the boy convinced his grandmother to give him his passport. The Sydney boy then rode his razor scooter to the airport, where he booked a flight to Perth, then to Denpasar, Indonesia. Once in Bali, he used the stolen credit card to check into the All Seasons Hotel, according to Australia’s 9 News.

Fortunately for “Bali Boy,” he had been there several times – with his family – so he had a general idea of where he was and what he needed to do, and so it was that he needed to use the local transportation, in this case, a Go Jet bike, to get around.

If you’re wondering how a pre-pubescent child managed to book a train ticket, a domestic flight, an international flight, and a hotel room then fly 10,000 miles to a foreign land without anyone asking any questions – well, his mom would like to know that as well.

This is insanely funny https://t.co/16kCQO2WY5

— dan nolan (@dannolan) April 22, 2018

As it turns out, “Bali Boy” had a few tricks up his sleeve. He used self check-in terminals whenever possible, minimizing his contact with adults. What’s more, he didn’t have any baggage, allowing him to skip one more point of contact with adults. At least one adult did ask for ID – a worker at the Perth airport wanted to see that he was over 12, and thus old enough to fly unaccompanied. He was easily able to produce a student ID.

“They just asked for my student ID and passport to prove that I’m over 12 and that I’m in secondary school.”

Alas, “Bali Boy” was undone by every kid’s worst enemy, the school principal. Once school officials realized he wasn’t there, mom was called. It was then that the police were brought into the conversation.

Fortunately for Bali Boy’s parents, the young lad failed to think things through fully. See, when he was on the plane, he took some video and posted it on social media. Thanks to some digital detective work, they figured out where he was and where he was going.

For reasons that aren’t clear, it took Bali Boy’s mom four days to get to Indonesia. In that time, according to a companion 9 News report, Bali Boy partied it up – at least, as much as a 12-year-old can. He rented a motorcycle, even though he doesn’t have a license. Indonesian motorcycle rental shops are apparently willing to look the other way when a Western tourist is throwing money around. He was able to buy beer for the same reason, although perhaps surprisingly for an Australian “man,” he didn’t dig it.

Now Bali Boy is at home, and despite the fact that he caused his mother untold grief and about $8,000 Australian (about $6,100 USD) in credit card fees, 9 News writer Brady Halls describes him as a good lad. Mannered to a fault, as well as polite and friendly, the boy justified his crime spree as bluntly as possible.

“I wanted to go on an adventure.”

Meanwhile, Jetstar, the Australian airline that flew a 12-year-old boy to Indonesia no questions asked, is putting changes into place that will prevent minor children from making international flights without parental approval.