Travel with Children - Parents getting teen through security

Hi All:

I'm flying my 13 year old niece first class on a very short 1hr flight from Reno NV to San Francisco. I'm meeting her flight in San Fran so we can fly together to Maui. United wants to charge me $99 each way to fly her as an official 'unaccompanied minor' but all I need is for her mother to be able to clear security with her and get her to the gate.

Any experience with this, as I'm already using a ton of United Miles to fly her 1st class and I don't want to give United more money for what ends being 2 total hours of flight time.

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,1052,00.html

United's website says that their unaccompanied minor service is "mandatory for unaccompanied children 5 to 11 years old and optional for those 12 to 17 years old."

You should be able to get out of paying this.

Good call. It shouldn't be required at this age. I think you may have just got a revs agent who didn't know what they were talking about.

Also, I was going to suggest is that the mom ask for a "gate pass" to get your niece to the aircraft.

At age 11, I was connecting flights so just having her get to the gate by herself shouldn't be unreasonable. She probably has a cell phone and Reno airport is small.

I would though suggest a medical waiver while she's in your care, as she is still a minor, while you're in Hawaii.

While the mom may be able to get a guest pass through security, better to plan for the contingency that she doesn't (I'm sure if paying for unaccompanied minor service, it's automatic, but otherwise up to the agent).

Has the 13 year old flown before? The Reno airport isn't that big -- a 13 year old should be able to get through security (with some prep on what to expect, and Mom can be watching to see that she gets through okay), find a gate number, and get on board the plane. If she has a cell phone she can contact Mom or you at any time in the terminal if she has any questions. This can be a very empowering, yet safe, experience.

Just tell her to stay away from the "Gaming Area" shown on the terminal map, although if she lives in NV she's probably seen that before :-)

Welcome to FT, blondie72!

I have children that travel alone on UA all the time, and yes, you don't need to pay UM service for a 13 year old. Not sure why her mom would have to take her to the gate, but most counter agents will give mom a gate pass to do so.

Just note you can't book her on the last flight of the day.

Welcome to FT, blondie72!

I have children that travel alone on UA all the time, and yes, you don't need to pay UM service for a 13 year old. Not sure why her mom would have to take her to the gate, but most counter agents will give mom a gate pass to do so.

Just note you can't book her on the last flight of the day.

At least on UA, the last flight restriction does not apply if you aren't using the UM service; see the last footnote below the table:

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6867,1052,00.html

May or may not be a good idea (if a nonstop flight and a parent will wait until the flight takes off before leaving, it's probably not a problem), but it is allowed. As far as I can tell, 12-17 without UM service are considered the same as any adult passenger.

No restriction and also, with a connection, it's possible they wont have a choice of flights anyway.

Plus this child has relatives in both cities.

It's a good idea to have the parent wait until the flight shows departed.

OP - why are you using miles to book a ticket for a one hour trip??

I'm using miles for the entire trip Reno-SFO-Maui

Thanks for the feedback everyone. She's flown before but not alone. I'm going to have her mom ask for the gate pass and if have her escalate to a supervisor if United gives her guff about the $99 fee. Aloha!

The mom might also want to print up that helpful link above to show the agent what UA's policy specifically is. Good advice reminding her to get the supervisor before anything escalates.

Organize your rendez-vous point at SFO and remind her to have her cell phone fully charged before leaving. Also instruct her to turn on her phone as soon as she's off the aircraft. My son always forgets to turn his phone back on when he gets out of school and misses my texts with instructions!!

The following is from UNITED.COM Customer Service>Check-in and travel>At the airport FAQs
http://faq.ua2go.com/display/4/kb/browse/cat.aspx?tab=browse&c=12&cpc=WnaqDcP5KrMu623S1OA64DwwrR4UyhK6fv2ylkXXS&cid=1&r=0.2882932

Can friends or family accompany me to the gate?
Yes, in some cases. Non-ticketed escorts may accompany minor children traveling alone and passengers needing special assistance to the gate. In addition, family members of military personnel being deployed to combat zones overseas can accompany ticketed customers to the gate.

Each escort must have a valid government-issued photo identification card. At major airports, where United has special assistance employees in red jackets in the lobby area, the escort can ask these employees for assistance instead of waiting in line at the ticket counter. Non-ticketed escorts need to obtain a security checkpoint gate pass from a United representative.

Be sure to have the name of any adult who will be needed a gate pass in the reservation.

a 13 year old should be able to get through security (with some prep on what to expect, and Mom can be watching to see that she gets through okay), find a gate number, and get on board the plane. If she has a cell phone she can contact Mom or you at any time in the terminal if she has any questions. This can be a very empowering, yet safe, experience.

Ditto!



I'm the parent of a 3 year old girl and a 10-month old boy.

By the time my girl is 13, I would certainly hope she would be able to navigate airline security and make her way to a gate alone. I would also hope that she'd be able to seek out help by herself if she got lost or needed directions.

When I was 8 years old I was already taking public transit to school, unaccompanied, with a transfer along the way...

Ditto!



I'm the parent of a 3 year old girl and a 10-month old boy.

By the time my girl is 13, I would certainly hope she would be able to navigate airline security and make her way to a gate alone. I would also hope that she'd be able to seek out help by herself if she got lost or needed directions.

When I was 8 years old I was already taking public transit to school, unaccompanied, with a transfer along the way...



Sometimes it's more a matter of what makes us, as parents, more comfortable rather than what the child is capable of doing on their own. You certainly don't want to smother your child, but I really don't think waiting with them at the airport rises to the level of smothering - unless your (mature and fully-capable) child has expressed a desire to "do it on their own".

The last time I asked for a gate pass to accompany one of my children through security, my daughter was 15 (this was about 4 years ago). While I have no doubt she could have made her way to her gate and onto the plane without difficulty, I chose to take the opportunity to spend a little more time with her before she left on a three week trip. I suppose I could have just dropped her at the curb with her bags and boarding pass, but instead I parked the car, escorted her in and kept her company while she waited for her plane. (The bonus for her was that the money for the magazine and snacks she bought came out of my pocket and not hers.) :p I'd also rather wait than have to drive all the way back if her flight was cancelled or delayed several hours.

I'm in my mid-40's now and it isn't really necessary that I call my dad to let him know that I got home safely after a visit (I haven't gotten lost yet!), but I do it anyway because it makes him feel better. :)

I'm in my mid-40's now and it isn't really necessary that I call my dad to let him know that I got home safely after a visit (I haven't gotten lost yet!), but I do it anyway because it makes him feel better

Lol! So do I and there's a reason...

As a new Flight Attendant, I lived with a bunch of coworkers. We kept a blackboard because in the days before cell phones were so common, we wanted to be able to tell anyone who called when that person would be back.

There was one time I ran out and forgot to write down where I was going. I was called out on a last-minute reserve flight... While I was in the air on the return leg, one of our aircraft crashed, killing everyone on board. Ironically a route I flew more often than the one I had that evening.

I tried to find a pay phone to call my family but there were huge lines. Someone offered me a ride home and figuring that it would ultimately be faster, I accepted. Someone crashed into us. Luckily not badly.

My family didn't know where I was for 8 hours. Guess who made sure they knew (or knew who knew) ever since??