Kids Flying Alone?

[huskies90]

I have a conference at DLR in November and was considering having my 10 year old daughter fly out to meet me at the end of the conference to take advantage of a few days in the park then we would fly back together. This is something I did as a kid 30 years ago flying to FL by myself to meet my grandparents but I am guessing times are just a wee bit different today. I am pretty clueless about rules and regulations doing something like this so right now it is just a "what if" scenario. Does anyone have any advice, experience or something to refer me to (websites, other threads, etc.)?

 

[jrc-elpaso]

I would check the different airlines websites for info - rules may differ slightly. One of my friends 5 year old nephew has flown from California to Texas twice to visit. Before the first trip his grandmother asked him if he was going to be scared and he said, "No. I've been waiting to do this my whole life". She said the flight attendants took very good care of him.

 

[Hannathy]

My DD has flown by herself a lot starting at 5 and my nephew has flown by himself. When they were younger we used the service that you pay for by the airlines but as my DD got older we never even used that because she was such an experienced flier!

Every airline has slightly different ways of doing it and different fees but in a nutshell One person on this end takes the child to the airport and fills in paperwork designating who will meet and pick up on the other end and gives info about child and then hands over the child to an airline employee who makes sure the child gets on the plane. If there is a change of planes an employee takes the child to the next gate and turns them over to someone there that then puts the child on the plane. at the destination they will hold the child until the designated person comes and shows ID to claim the child.

They will not book a child for a trip if the connecting flight is the last one out that night so keep this in mind when scheduling, they don't want a child stranded over night. We have had no problems with the kids flying alone.

 

[2binak]

We were on a West Coast to East Coast flight a few years ago and there were 6 young kids on the flight who were flying alone, they were all unrelated. This was on Continental. They were allowed to board first and the flight attendants got them settled into their seats. We were sat next to and behind two of the kids. Throughout the flight, the attendants continually checked on the children. The little girl next to us got a nasty nose bleed on take off but DH and I took care of her (thank goodness I always have extra napkins with me!) until the flight attendants were able to get out of their seats and help her to the restroom to clean up. Toward the end of the flight, the attendants had a talk with each child about what the next step in the process would be once we landed. I would say it went really well and I was impressed at how attentive the attendants were.

 

[Sandi]

Here is a helpful site:

http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=203&category=21

 

[Jestocost]

Good advice so far. One thing I didn't see mentioned is that there generally is an unaccompanied minor surchage added to the ticket price as well. In many cases, it is not optional even for a child that is an experienced flyer. Each airline is a little bit different, so it is helpful to check the likely suspects Web sites to see what their specific procedures and costs are.

 

[duffy]

My 13-year old flew alone a few weeks ago, and was NOT considered an unaccompanied minor. She flew from Boston to Baltimore. She would have been absolutely MORTIFIED if she'd gotten any special treatment from the flight attendants.

My oldest daughter, who's 26, went with her to the Boston airport and they allowed her to accompany her little sister through security and to the gate! Once she was on the plane, we had no worries, and her dad picked her up in Baltimore.

She flew Airtran-I think-and had discussed the situation with them beforehand. They said that she could accompany the 13-year old to the gate POSSIBLY, and would not be able to say that it was a sure thing until the day of the flight. If the terrorist threat level had been raised, she would not have been able to go through security.

Both daughters texted me every step of the way!