Has anyone ever allowed their child to fly as an "Unaccompanied Minor"?

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apuleuis

UM's are very well taken care of during travel, because the airline would be responsible if anything happened to the child. I work for an airline and if I had kids, I would trust them to the airline. They get directly handed from gate agent to flight attendant to gate agent.

olomaya

I've done it a few times when I was younger. Once, my sister, brother and I flew international by ourselves, she (the oldest) was 12, my brother (the youngest) was 6. It's perfectly safe but there is an extra charge with the airline to have someone meet them and make sure everything is handled correctly.

As you've said that your son is accustomed to flying, you really just need to ask him whether he is okay with flying by himself (a much different experience). That, I think, is the most important thing, that he feels safe going by himself.

melanie m

My brother let my neice flew alot when she was visting her mom and she had ablast and she flew on SW airlines. What they did was let my brother escort her to the gate and they did give my neice a plastic thing that hung around her neck that held her boarding pass and all of her information in it like who she was suppose to meet and all of that. My ex sister-in-law met my neice on the other end when the plane deboarded and the flight attendent had her show her I.D. to them and it was all safe. They done that like that about three other times.

Petra

No! My sister was 10 ( I think) when she flew by herself for the first time. She landed in Atlanta to switch planes and was stuck on stand-by, she was listed as a UM but was bumped anyway. She was freakin out and called home crying, because they person who was taking care of her left her sitting in the airport with her luggage. I am not sure about a non-stop but remembering the fear on my mother's face is something I will not forget and because of that I would not put any child on any flight alone until they are old enough to care for themselves in an emergency.

tommy woo

Unaccompanied Minors can be very safe for flying but can be very nerve racking for the parents, and since 911 it has gotten more scary but also alot safer to fly. You are right about a direct flight to and from your sons destination, this would be the best thing.

needtoknow

yes, I have. The airlines are exceptionally great when caring for your child. I do believe there is a 50.00 service charge. There must be a flight without changes from your home airport to the destination airport. It may have a stopover but must continue on same aircraft. I recommend it highly. This is a win win situation for all involved.

Jean S

Call your airline ahead of time and arrange for your son to have the flight attendants assist him. They put a little pouch on a necklace of sorts and only the person whom you designate with the proper ID can pick him up at his final destination otherwise he is constantly with the flight attendants.

txgirl

ive done it before when i was around 9 and ii flew from another country to the states by myself and had no problem whatsover
flight attendants took care of me to the fullest all the way till the adult that was pickin me up sign for me

sellatieeat

Its safe for a unaccompanied minor to travel alone. Just tell the airline ahead of time and then they will have someone to watch over him and to take him to the right exit and stuff like that. Don't worry about it.

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