Cannot travel with under 5 year olds on different PNR from parent?
Mar 9, 2017, 10:48 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Rochester, MN
Programs: UA GS, AA PLT, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,437
Cannot travel with under 5 year olds on different PNR from parent?
Here is the situation and I am looking for advice on this.
We have booked through United 4 tickets to KOA via HNL. We have two paid F tickets all the way through. We have 1 award ticket booked in F all the way through and have 1 award ticket booked just to HNL (as United had run out of seats to sell on HA). United ticketed my wife and I on the paid tickets, our almost 4 year old on the award ticket all the way to KOA and our almost 2 year old on the award ticket just to HNL (were going to lap baby her inter-island). With me so far?
Moving forward, we decided that we would just go ahead and buy a ticket for the almost 2 year old in F. So I go on to HA's website and try to book a RT F seat for her on the same flights that we are on. And get a message that she is too young to travel as a UM, and the ticket cannot be processed unless there is an adult traveling with her in the same cabin. Ok, that makes some sense. So I call HA reservations to book the ticket manually, and get a nice agent, but she tells me its no dice. Cannot book her a ticket without an adult on the same reservation in the same cabin. The agent then tells me that our other daughter will not be allowed to travel as well because of the same issue. And now looking at the reservation for her, i see that the HA sectors have now been cancelled for our other daughter.
Looking at HA's website, I see where it defines what a UM is. The key is that they are traveling without a companion over the age of 15 (18 if international) in the same compartment However, I do not see the requirement that they be on the same reservation. I also see where they say children under 5 cannot travel alone, but again it does not say they have to be on the same reservation.
So my question is what can I do here?
I understand the no traveling alone part of the rule. However, it doesn't make sense to me that I cannot buy tickets at a later time for my kids to travel with me. I can see a number of instances where this can come up. (Parents book a trip, and later decide to bring the kids along. Booking some revenue tickets and some award tickets. etc)
Right now I am trying to figure out how to respond. I could go yell (figuratively) at United for selling a ticket that they shouldn't have. However, there has to be a solution that I am currently not seeing that doesn't involve me shelling out an obscene amount of money.
We have booked through United 4 tickets to KOA via HNL. We have two paid F tickets all the way through. We have 1 award ticket booked in F all the way through and have 1 award ticket booked just to HNL (as United had run out of seats to sell on HA). United ticketed my wife and I on the paid tickets, our almost 4 year old on the award ticket all the way to KOA and our almost 2 year old on the award ticket just to HNL (were going to lap baby her inter-island). With me so far?
Moving forward, we decided that we would just go ahead and buy a ticket for the almost 2 year old in F. So I go on to HA's website and try to book a RT F seat for her on the same flights that we are on. And get a message that she is too young to travel as a UM, and the ticket cannot be processed unless there is an adult traveling with her in the same cabin. Ok, that makes some sense. So I call HA reservations to book the ticket manually, and get a nice agent, but she tells me its no dice. Cannot book her a ticket without an adult on the same reservation in the same cabin. The agent then tells me that our other daughter will not be allowed to travel as well because of the same issue. And now looking at the reservation for her, i see that the HA sectors have now been cancelled for our other daughter.
Looking at HA's website, I see where it defines what a UM is. The key is that they are traveling without a companion over the age of 15 (18 if international) in the same compartment However, I do not see the requirement that they be on the same reservation. I also see where they say children under 5 cannot travel alone, but again it does not say they have to be on the same reservation.
So my question is what can I do here?
I understand the no traveling alone part of the rule. However, it doesn't make sense to me that I cannot buy tickets at a later time for my kids to travel with me. I can see a number of instances where this can come up. (Parents book a trip, and later decide to bring the kids along. Booking some revenue tickets and some award tickets. etc)
Right now I am trying to figure out how to respond. I could go yell (figuratively) at United for selling a ticket that they shouldn't have. However, there has to be a solution that I am currently not seeing that doesn't involve me shelling out an obscene amount of money.
