iCorpRoadie

Good thing for DUSTY's DEN!!! lol

cblaisd

It's always a judgment call and it does depend somewhat on the age, maturity, and flying-experience of the child.

But it's not just "regular" irrops (to coin an oxymoron) that always worried me. What if my 14 year old got sick mid-itinerary? What if it were, say, appendicitis? You parents out there can multiply these scenarios. It was worth the peace of mind know that someone (and in those days it was mostly on American) was in charge of my child and that I had given them the authority to do what was necessary in an emergency.

bhmlurker

Times have changed, for the better I hope. Nowdays most minors have a cell phone as soon as they can figure out how to use one. Coupled with a FTer as parent, as long as the kid has the phone charger along in carry on and knows how to use it, it's not so bad to have unaccompanied minor.

That said, I don't have any children, so the peace of mind factor is priceless, and that I would not presume to understand.

TA

All the comments above about peace of mind during irregular ops are fine, and make sense.

BUT EXCUSE ME, what exactly are you implying here, GalleyGal? We're clearly talking about a 13 year old girl, so let's be specific and not dance around the subject with Flight Attendant-speak, saying "passenger of the same gender". Are you saying that every male passenger is a potential child molester, so seat her away from them? What kind of suburban paranoia is this? Do you also recommend having the child take a different flight if a middle-eastern looking passenger gets on?

I don't know what you exactly intended to say by that, but I have the feeling that this is the same kind of thinking that's behind some airlines' stupid policies (which we've read about here before) to move passengers away from kids just because they're male. Frankly, it's offensive and exactly the kind of flawed reasoning behind so many airline/"security" policies.

Revealed: How BA bans men sitting next to children they don't know:
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/...n_page_id=1770

cblaisd

You may find it offensive, but I completely agree with both the suggestion and the policy.

Back to the original question, somewhere between 14 and 16 I might (and did) allow my child to fly unaccompanied without the airline's chaperoning. Partly depends on the child of course.

But at the same time, consider other not-farfetched possibilities. You follow all the rules for booking your child xyz-ORD-IND; you made sure that there were two more flights ORD-IND after your child's. One of those famous and furious summer thunderstorm/hailstorm/tornado events pops up in the afternoon. Your child's IND flights are canceled. It doesn't matter too much because your child's plane has been diverted to, say, OMA or RFD or DSM. Iirc, each of these airports actually closes overnight. Do you want to think via cell phone with your child about a) whether to call the police, b) is the bench in front of the airport safe enough to overnight on, d) is it possible for her/him to get to a motel and you pay for it over the phone? Etc., etc., etc.

If flying chaperoned, United WILL take care of the child and that's worth $99 to me.

TA

Sorry to continue this, but if you're seriously recommending to the person asking the question that they go out of their way to seat their child away from men, I think it should be backed up by some good justification.

Exactly what hard proof, aside from mass hysteria, do you have to support the idea that single men on a plane are so dangerous that children should be purposely seated away from them? Last I read, child abuse/molestation is most commonly committed by people who know the child, and even family members. Doesn't that suggest the opposite course of action, seating a child away from his/her dad? I mean, if you're going by whatever flawed statistic you're using, you do apply it consistently, right?

racep

I had my 13 yr old son fly DEN - IAD - ZUR last year and he did fine the entire way and learned a lot.

I traveled the route often so I gave him all the details he needed and he had a cell to call his mom in States or text me in Zurich if anything went wrong. He made his connection fine, but before landing in Zurich, he was asked by a FA if he was alone. He said yes and she told him to stay on the plane after they landed.

I was waiting for him at the terminal and after many text messages; he was brought out by security saying that he is not allowed to fly by himself. I checked into UA’s policies before his flight and found that a 13 yr old can fly by themselves. He has flown many times throughout the US for vacations and sports, but never alone. I made a decision and didn’t think it would be a problem.

Back in Zurich, the security had me sign for him and gave me a lecture on having minors fly by themselves. My son was fine and thought the whole thing was not necessary.

For the return from Zurich, my son didn't want a chaperone, so we declined it during check-in. They insisted that a chaperone was required. After consulting the check-in manager, a chaperone was not required, but highly recommended. He went with out one.

After landing in IAD and going through customs, my son missed his flight and got a little flustered. He sent me a text message but by the time I got it he had already talked with a UA agent and got booked on the next flight back to DEN. The plane was bigger and his seat was better.

We talked about the whole situation when I got back and my son said it was a great learning experience and can't wait to go again. He really liked the feeling of the adventure and was very appreciative that we let him do the entire trip on his own.

I wouldn't say that everyone should send their child on a trip like this. Each parent must evaluate their child's maturity and make their own decision, but I thought I would share our experience.

Fredd

I couldn't agree more. Just look at the recent UA thread about the two adult "scientists" who managed to get themselves stranded in an airport overnight.

The thread I linked to in my earlier post provides a great example of two traveling siblings whose parents were allegedly advised by their travel agent that they could save the unaccompanied minor fee since the older sibling was above the cutoff age. What a fiasco:

http://tinyurl.com/32avpj

As cblaisd says, there are a lot of variables and possibilities without getting the least bit paranoid and IMHO it's a wise investment.

bennettb

Seems like the counsel is unamious and consistent one this query...cool!

cblaisd

I'm done

Agreed on the first, and it does sound like it was a wonderful adventure. I'm glad it all turned out so well. Just think what could have happened if an RCC attendant had gotten hold of him in IAD

Thanks. I think, indeed, it is a wise investment.

Although I have been known to over-worry a wee bit too.

Fredd

"Hello, Dad? I'm at the front counter and the lady says she'll only give me one drink cert. Can you talk to her for me?"

SkiAdcock

I'm not a parent, but in my mind the fee (whatever it is) is worth it because presumably my child would be the most important thing in the world to me, and I would want to make sure there was 'back-up' available.

Too many things could go wrong, from mechanicals to weather to airport changes due to the former two. I gave my sister (she's older than 12 LOL) a F-class award ticket to Italy, and she got re-routed to Indianapolis due to weather in ORD. The airline didn't do squat to try & help her, and she was (luckily) able to reach me to help out. I can't imagine being an UM in that situation, especially if mom/dad might not get the voice or text message in a timely fashion. Nice to say they can reach you, but stuff happens - what if they can't?

Why on earth take a chance? Your child isn't worth a small fee? Color me a naive non-parent, but I just don't get it. I'd pay the fee gladly.

Cheers.

PS - But if I did send my child out alone & they were offered a single drink chit, I would tell them to call me & hand over the phone & I would make sure they received the appropriate TWO drink chits

Karen2

Absolutely, you did the right thing, esp. since your child is a daughter. Cell phone or no. And I don't care who is wounded over BA's policy of not putting minor children next to male strangers. Males comprise the vast majority of child molesters. Just one of the facts of life. I think BA has the right idea. Keeps the poor FA from having to be watching the kid constantly. Airlines used to put UMs together in the first rows to make life easier but I see them scattered these days.

jan_az

Flew my then 12 year old unchaperoed BUR-PHX on HP. Due to irreg ops they tried to to bus her to LAX and put her in a hotel overnite.

She got them to Rule 240 her to WN while all the grownups ended up on busses to LAX . I have a feeling if she had been chaperoned she would have been on that bus instead of a WN flight home, so it can work both ways

GalleyGal

TA, Jeez lighten up and find out why I suggested what I did before accusing me of suburban paranoia. I was once a 13 year old girl, I suspect you were not. A girl of that age is going to be more comfortable next to a female. End of story. . Young kids are often shy around adults of the oppose sex.
Would I get paranoid if there was a middle eastern passenger on a flight? Um.....my grandfather was Jordanian-work that out for yourself.