BMs - at what age would you let DC travel alone

HisChamaoleGirl · February 2013

And I dont mean completely alone. In the past DH or MIL have escorted SS in between DH home and BM home. These are flights. With our move (military, not by choice), DH pay decrease bc of the move and flight costs doubling bc of the distance bringing SS here is going to be a bit more of a challenge.

We want to propose to BM that we pay the airline to provide an escort for SS flight. This ends up being $100 in addition to the flight. SS is 9. Thoughts?

+j+k+ · February 2013

I am over protective when it comes to these things. I put 16 in our CO before DD would travel alone. And I have no intentions of having an airline escort. She would travel with me or someone I trusted. If DD proves to be mature and capable at an earlier age I can always send decide to allow it earlier or allow an escort.

bebe11 · February 2013

I am not sure. I have a friend who has a son who is 10, and he travels to see his bio dad from California to Louisiana on holidays and over the summer. My DD is 11 and she would probably freak out if I had her fly alone. I would say it really depends on the maturity of the child.

cautionwillburneyes · February 2013

I would also say it depends on the child, but I was going to say about 8 to 9ish. They are old enough to know how to sit still without being told. They should be able to communicate home phone numbers and address in emergencies and be comfortable using a cell phone. I would think that a child in that age range could do all that.

Ilumine · February 2013

12 to 13.

Old enough to understand and perform the safety procedures on an airplane.

I was on an airplane that had a "fire" that made it into both the cabin and cockpit. First of all, the oxygen masks do not come down on their own in cases of fire/smoke, ONLY if there is a loss of pressure. So that alone was daunting.

Secondly, there were a number of adults who could not figure out what they should/should not do in this emergency - a child is even more opt to not be able to handle it. NOT TO MENTION be strong enough to handle an adult who is freaking out.

Ilumine · February 2013

I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but given I have had TWO emergency landings in my life (granted, I used to fly all over the country for a living, so my odds increased a bit), I would not tempt fate

Karma1969 · February 2013

I wouldn't until they are old enough that if they ended up in an airport alone they would know how to find a safe person and call a parent. Plus what if the plane gets diverted for whatever reason to an entirely different state?

I don't think I would be ok with this until my kid was 15 or 16.

blush64 · February 2013

Karma1969:

I wouldn't until they are old enough that if they ended up in an airport alone they would know how to find a safe person and call a parent. Plus what if the plane gets diverted for whatever reason to an entirely different state?

I don't think I would be ok with this until my kid was 15 or 16.

I think I am closer to this. I would not want my kids alone or with an escort I don't know well. There are too many things that can happen and I don't trust anyone I don't know.

In reality I am sure kids will probably be fine much younger. I'm just not willing to take any chances.

mom2one · February 2013

Maybe at age 13 or so.

ETA: flying scares me, so IN OUR SITUATION I would insist on flying with my DC. I would pay for it myself, however.

flippy1234 · February 2013

As long as it was a direct flight I would let my DD, age 9, fly with an airline escort.

HisChamaoleGirl · February 2013

Thank you for all of the responses as varied as they are I am able to see many point of views.

twister22 · February 2013

It depends on several factors - maturity of child, distance, connecting flight, etc.

I would likely not be okay with it with my DS until age 16 or so.

kali55 · February 2013

I would first check with the airline you are thinking of using and make sure it's a viable option as well as look into their unaccompanied minor services.

When I was a child, my brother and I would fly cross country to visit my grandmother as UMs and I think I was 9 or 10 years old

HisChamaoleGirl · February 2013

kali55:
I would first check with the airline you are thinking of using and make sure it's a viable option as well as look into their unaccompanied minor services.
When I was a child, my brother and I would fly cross country to visit my grandmother as UMs and I think I was 9 or 10 years old

yes I have checked with the airlines and they do have a 100 fee for unaccompanied minor travel.

kirbear · February 2013

I wouldn't let my dd fly alone until probably somewhere in her teens based on my prior emergency landing. She'd need to be able to follow emergency procedures and be emotionally mature enough to handle it. When flying together last year vacation our plane had to shut off its engine and make an emergency landing in a different state. We had to wait for a new plane to arrive etc. There was a 12 year old and 9 year old on the plane unaccompanied and not with each other and they were a mess. I just wanted to hug them I felt so bad.

karleegirl · February 2013

With the accompanied minor fee does an airline employee stay with the child or how does that work?

HChad · February 2013

It really depends on the child. My aunt was a flight attendant and my mom is retired from an airline. I flew alone starting when I was 13, without the unaccompanied minor clause.

Under 12 or 13, I would say only direct flights. Any older, if there are connecting flights it would depend on how comfortable the child is with flying, how independent and how well they can navigate an airport.

If you send a child as an unaccompanied minor, a representative from the airline, usually a gate agent, will escort the minor from one gate to the other with connecting flights, ensuring the gate agent is at the other gate. The gate agent at the new gate will not "Baby sit", take the child to the bathroom, ect. It just depends on the gate agent. They will than ensure a flight attendant takes the child onto the plane. seating them by another unaccompanied minor if possible. the parent is given a boarding pass to get thru security to wait with the child before the flight and meet the flight when it arrives. It's doable, but it truly depends on the child, IMHO

Littlejen22 · February 2013

I think it really depends on the kid, their comfort and their ability to do it with zero assistance. Even though you pay for help they really get little help so you need to be certain that child will not walk off and get lost and that they will not get nervous or scared and start crying. My SD was 12 when BM moved and probably 13 when she visited and had no issues, all other issues aside my SD was a capable kid as far as finding her own gate and the bathrooms, etc in the airport and on the plane. She did lose her game boy on a flight though. Even at 13 I think I would have been scared and while I was mature in other ways being alone was not one of them, I probably would have been crying on a flight. Do you think SS would be ok with it?

notkateanymore · February 2013

Lurker, but I started flying alone when I was 5. My mother was a single mother and I flew on holidays and each summer back to my grandparents. Anytime she couldn't get off work and I was out of school, I was on a plane until she could come.

ambrvan · February 2013

I don't even let SD go to public restrooms unaccompanied at 6yo. Call me over protective if you must. But I am terrified enough of the possibility of kidnapping or getting lost near home. There is no way I would ever let either of these two fly unaccompanied before 18. If the airport escort stays with them the entire time, I might be willing to do that at 10.

I might feel differently if this were actually something I had to face, but as it is, this would be my stance.

socloudy99 · February 2013

I flew at 6 the this escort to see my dad. It was a direct flight. One the plane to my dads the escort was a nice older grandmother type of woman who played games with me the whole flight. I can't remember the person on the return flight so maybe they just sat there. I was fine but wouldn't do that with my own. I would say around 12-13 would be something I would feel comfortable with if they had the escort and a direct flight.

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