**UPDATE** Opinions/adivce on bringing my niece...airplane...

[beattyfamily]

***UPDATE***

Well, it took my DH awhile to figure this out but this morning on his way to work, he realized that through his business credit card he had enough frequent flyer miles to buy a round trip ticket to Orlando! He called this morning and the only requirement was that it included a Saturday night stay which, of course, it does. He booked the exact same flights as us and since the airfare is SO high right now, we had to pay $20 because their max they will pay is $350. So our DN is all set. I already checked with Song and she's confirmed. I can't believe this!

Now is there anything special I need to know or do when traveling with a minor who is not mine?

Thanks for all the advice!

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Here's the story. I already have my tickets for me and my family ($181 round trip) and we've only now decided to invite my 14 year old niece to come along. So now we have to get her a ticket.

The airfare for that same flight is now $380 round trip!!!!!!!!! But if we got the same flight down with us but an early flight home (still non-stop) for her (alone) it's only $200 round trip total. BUT she's only 14. Would be a pain to have her fly home alone?

What would you do? Pay the extra $180 to have her fly with us BOTH ways, or have her fly home earlier than us on the flight home?

What are my options and what would you do? I'm so confused!

Also, can I buy her a ticket with my CC and put it in her name on the Internet or do I have to call?

I know, I'll end up having to call them and get the scoop on the non-adult flying alone policy but I thought I'd get a head start asking here!

Thanks!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Who are you flying? If it is Delta, they do not allow third party payments, which is what you would be doing via the net for your neice. I know you can do it for SWA, the other airlines, I don't know their rules. BUT...they can be found on their respective sites.
I have no problems with a 14 year old flying alone. They are not even considered an "unaccompanied minor" on SWA. My son used to fly alone from about the age of 6 onward.

This is from the Delta site;
http://www.delta.com/travel/trav_serv/minors/index.jsp

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

Has she flown before? If not, it might be a little scary to be by herself. If she's familiar with flying, I don't see that it is a big deal.
I went to Vegas last month, and flew back in the middle of the storms, and 13 tornados that hit the midwest. My niece, and her friend were with us, but her friend's seat was by herself, and the trip was her first air trip. She's 21, and was scared to death by the time we got home. It was a VERY bumpy trip, and you could see the lightening. I'm wasn't too freaked, but I'm an adult. In hindsight, she should not have been by herself. Onr of us should have been with her. I'm sure we weren't in danger or anything, but got me to thinking.

Also, how much earlier is the flight, and how will she get to the airport? Will you lose part of your day, getting her there and on board.

What I wonderful aunt you are, taking your niece, and paying too.

Have fun

 

[beattyfamily]

Yes, we're flying Delta.

She has flown before.

Her flight would be at 7:30a and ours is at 11:30a. We would, of course, drive her and her mother would pick her up. We would not loose any of the day really as that is our going home day with nothing planned but going home.

Thank you! We feel bad for her as they don't have any money and she'd never get to go otherwise and she's always saying how she wants to go when she sees our home movies so we thought of this Saturday (I wish we thought of it sooner!).

We're still debating paying the extra $180 for the convenience of having her on the same flights.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[hercamore]

This is great that you are taking your neice along!

When are you going? Any chance airfare will come down? I know, long shot, but it may happen!

If it were me, I'd pay the extgr $$ to have her on the same plane as the rest of us. Just cuz I'm a worrier and I'm responsible for her while on vacation.

herc.

 

[beattyfamily]

Yes, I'm leaning towards just paying the outragous airfare for her and be done with it.

I don't want to wait too long, though, because that flight home is almost full!

 

[Kimickey]

IMO,

I would feel a lot more comfortable with her on the same flight as my family. I know it's $180 more but it's $180 dollars of comfort that I would not regret. I think your niece would also like to fly with you and your family to and from WDW to get the full family experience that she has missed out before. Pay the extra $180 and have a great time, your mind will be at ease and so will her mothers

 

[Lewisc]

Pay the $$$. You're going to drive her to the airport for a 7:30a flight then wait at the airport 4 hours for your flight? Drive back to the resort then drive back to the airport for your flight? Neither sounds like much fun.

If you're a gambler try to get her on a LATER flight and see if she can standby for your flight or if your'e not going for a while and there is a schedule change you may be able to switch to the same flight.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by Kimickey
IMO,

I would feel a lot more comfortable with her on the same flight as my family. I know it's $180 more but it's $180 dollars of comfort that I would not regret. I think your niece would also like to fly with you and your family to and from WDW to get the full family experience that she has missed out before. Pay the extra $180 and have a great time, your mind will be at ease and so will her mothers

Yes, this is what we've decided to do! It's definitely worth it. It's just too bad that the same flight I got for $181 is now $380! It's the flight home at 11:30a that's been jacked way up for some reason. I guess it's a more popular time to head home than the 7:30a flight!

Thanks for all the replies. When we're ready to get her ticket (soon since the seat are almost gone), I still need to ask her and her mother, we'll probably call because it doesn't appear very easy to get a 14 year old a ticket with my CC online...

Thanks again!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I get the feeling that this young lady would walk to Disney just to be there.
Why not try seeing if there is a flight at the same time as yours on SWA, assuming your home airport has their service. They have some pretty great fares and there is that discount floating around.
I guess I am in the "camp" of she should not have a problem flying alone, assuming she is not afraid to fly.

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by GAIL HAYDEN
I get the feeling that this young lady would walk to Disney just to be there.
Why not try seeing if there is a flight at the same time as yours on SWA, assuming your home airport has their service. They have some pretty great fares and there is that discount floating around.
I guess I am in the "camp" of she should not have a problem flying alone, assuming she is not afraid to fly.

You are right about that! My DH's family has always been very poor and don't have much and never go anywhere and she will be very excited when she finds out! Our niece lives only with her DM and she works at a gas station so you can imagine how things are...

We are flying out of Logan so SWA for her is not an option because then she'd be down and back alone and at a different airport!

Thanks!

 

[SueM in MN]

IMHO, I would have her on the same airplane as the rest of the family.
If everything goes well, she could certainly travel alone, but everything doesn't always go well and if it doesn't, there would be a 14 year old alone having to cope with whatever occurred.
I recently got back from a trip to San Antonio where my returning flight was delayed leaving for over 2 hours because of weather in northern Texas. It didn't really matter to me; I had a cell phone to call my DH and let him know I'd be late and if worse came to worse and I had to stay overnight, I had credit cards to stay at a hotel. On a trip to WDW a few years ago, DH and I had to stay overnight in the Orlando airport hotel because our flight was delayed and then cancelled from weather. On our last trip, we were told that we had no seat assignments and would probably be bumped to the next flight; it ended up OK.
I would not want to worry about a 14 year old running into those types of problems if I could avaoid it.

 

[Cameo]

I vote for paying the extra money and having her fly with you. I would just feel better, especially since she would be my responsibility, but not my own child.

On another note, we took my niece with us when she was 14 also. She came along to help with our 22-month-old DD, but mostly just to go to Disney. Well, it was not a great trip. She had never been away from home that long before and became quite homesick. To top it off, she got her monthly "blessing" for the very first time ever on our trip. Well, you can imagine, the hormones were raging. She also lost her fanny pack by leaving it in a bathroom (someone took it and kept it), losing $80 (which I told her to take to the park that day) and her mother's camera.

I also set the schedule so we could try to "see everything" of importance to a 13-y-o. Well, it was too much for her. She had never been there, even though we had, and she was overwhelmed. I think a slower pace would have been better for her, even if we didn't see quite as much.

Just some things to keep in mind. Maybe you can learn from our mistakes.

Have fun!

 

[beattyfamily]

Originally posted by Cameo
I vote for paying the extra money and having her fly with you. I would just feel better, especially since she would be my responsibility, but not my own child.

On another note, we took my niece with us when she was 14 also. She came along to help with our 22-month-old DD, but mostly just to go to Disney. Well, it was not a great trip. She had never been away from home that long before and became quite homesick. To top it off, she got her monthly "blessing" for the very first time ever on our trip. Well, you can imagine, the hormones were raging. She also lost her fanny pack by leaving it in a bathroom (someone took it and kept it), losing $80 (which I told her to take to the park that day) and her mother's camera.

I also set the schedule so we could try to "see everything" of importance to a 13-y-o. Well, it was too much for her. She had never been there, even though we had, and she was overwhelmed. I think a slower pace would have been better for her, even if we didn't see quite as much.

Just some things to keep in mind. Maybe you can learn from our mistakes.

Have fun!

Thanks for the warning! I'm hoping to take it slower with the added guests this year anyway. I believe she's going to be so excited and grateful that being 'homesick' won't be too big of an issue. I will also keep a very close eye on her personal belongings as she's always leaving stuff at our house after a party! I doubt very much she'll have much money or a camera though so I won't have to worry about big expensive things getting lost. I think I may buy her a couple of disposible cameras if she comes with no camera so she can take some of her own pictures...thanks for the story!