Skymiles/Unaccompanied minors question

[rluey29]

I'm hoping someone has some experience with this. I have a 10yr old son who will be flying from FL to AR by himself about 4 times a year mostly on holidays. Delta requires any child under the age of 14 to be enrolled in the unaccompanied minors program which charges $100 extra each way which is a total of $200 on top of the ticket price!! He flew for Thanksgiving...the price was $650. He's flying for Xmas...the price will be $480. I've looked at Spring Break already and the ticket prices alone are $400 and up so that should be $600. I think you get the picture.

I should also mention that he's flying nonstop because he's so young. I decided to sign him up for Skymiles to try and save some money on a future flight. Well, it doesn't look like the miles is racking up very quickly considering that a free flight is 40,000 miles and up. I read today that the miles expire after 2 years. He can't rent a hotel or car in his name so I can't use those means to get miles so...am I missing something??? Is it pointless to have Skymiles?

Anyone else have a child that travels alone????

 

[Marionnette]

I'm hoping someone has some experience with this. I have a 10yr old son who will be flying from FL to AR by himself about 4 times a year mostly on holidays. Delta requires any child under the age of 14 to be enrolled in the unaccompanied minors program which charges $100 extra each way which is a total of $200 on top of the ticket price!! He flew for Thanksgiving...the price was $650. He's flying for Xmas...the price will be $480. I've looked at Spring Break already and the ticket prices alone are $400 and up so that should be $600. I think you get the picture.

I should also mention that he's flying nonstop because he's so young. I decided to sign him up for Skymiles to try and save some money on a future flight. Well, it doesn't look like the miles is racking up very quickly considering that a free flight is 40,000 miles and up. I read today that the miles expire after 2 years. He can't rent a hotel or car in his name so I can't use those means to get miles so...am I missing something??? Is it pointless to have Skymiles?

Anyone else have a child that travels alone????

Can you get a skymiles credit card with his account getting the points? Or get a credit card that has points that can be converted to sky miles (diners club for example)? How about shopping thru the sky miles portal online for extra miles? You might be able to boost his miles that way. Sorry that you have to put someone so young on a plane by himself. Your little guy must be a pretty brave kid to do it so often. My youngest would have been a nervous wreck at that age.

 

[mjkacmom]

Does he have to fly Delta? Ds14 has been flying airtran without a fee for a few years.

 

[rluey29]

I thought he would be nervous too but he likes it. I will check out Air Tran. I think I've checked others before but there was an issue with the Memphis airport where only Delta was available for nonstop or something. I'll look again though.

I'm not sure a minor can get a credit card in their name can they? And the reservation on things has to match the one on the Skymiles card. Very frustrating...

 

[lastminutemom]

As long as there is activity, the skymiles don't' expire. So as long as he keeps flying you are ok -- one flight every 23 months does it.

You can get the credit card if your name and you can purchase with miles a ticket for him on your frequent flier ticket. For a small fee, you can move miles from one account to another. FF tickets are often notoriously hard to get and this all might not be worth the effort if you don't have some flexibility in dates.

Is his destination in Arkansas close enough to Memphis that someone could/would pick him up there? You might find cheaper tickets that way. If Airtran works for you and Memphis works for you, the Airtran rewards program is pretty good. The credit card is as well.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Did Delta change their skymiles policy? It used to be that it was 2'years of inactivity before they expired. So you could still accumulate the miles and then spend them when you have enough.

Have you looked into southwest? You earn credits per trip, not miles. My husband accrues free airfare much more quickly.

 

[rluey29]

I looked back into Air Tran. They have no nonstop flight into Memphis but they are definitely cheaper. And they are considered unaccompanied minors until they are 12, not 14 as with Delta. They also charge fees now as well but are cheaper. I copied the following from that Air Tran website:

Fees
For travel on or after June 3, that is booked on or after April 29, 2010:

Unaccompanied minors will be charged a fee of $49 one-way on nonstop and direct flights or $98 roundtrip.
If two (2) or more children are traveling together, only one (1) charge is applicable.
When an unaccompanied minor's itinerary involves a connecting flight, a fee of $69 one-way or $138 roundtrip will be charged. If two (2) or more children are traveling together, only one (1) charge is applicable.

 

[rluey29]

As long as there is activity, the skymiles don't' expire. So as long as he keeps flying you are ok -- one flight every 23 months does it.

Is his destination in Arkansas close enough to Memphis that someone could/would pick him up there? You might find cheaper tickets that way. If Airtran works for you and Memphis works for you, the Airtran rewards program is pretty good. The credit card is as well.

Oh, I guess I misinterpreted the expiration policy. That's good!!

He flies nonstop from Florida to Memphis so I'm not sure what you're saying on the second part. His dad picks him up in Memphis.

 

[rluey29]

Southwest only flies out of Tampa which is fine and only flies into Little Rock which would be a longer trip for them but still fine. The problem is that they require unaccompanied minors to travel on nonstop or direct flights only and offer NONE on that route. It's crazy...

 

[Marionnette]

I thought he would be nervous too but he likes it. I will check out Air Tran. I think I've checked others before but there was an issue with the Memphis airport where only Delta was available for nonstop or something. I'll look again though.

I'm not sure a minor can get a credit card in their name can they? And the reservation on things has to match the one on the Skymiles card. Very frustrating...

No need for the diners club credit card to be in his name. The cardholder can designate that the points can be converted to miles for any ff account. We do it all of the time to round up ff accounts when we are short on miles.

 

[CTrumble]

I gotta tell you---that extra fee is worth every penny for your peace of mind to know that your child is going to be watched.

My child was on a non-stop flight that got diverted because of weather to another airport.

Stuff happens.