How old should a kid be before he takes his first Airline trip by himself?
 

I hear a relative of mine who is 15 years old is flying to New York City and meeting another relative. He will be all by him self at the Airports and will be changing planes and has a long layover.

Would the other 15 year old you know be able to handle a complex flight arrangements of checking in and making a connection all by themselves?

Most airlines (some anyway) offer "unaccompanied minor" status as an optional service for teens 12-17. This would give them extra assistance from airline staff to make their connections.

If the parents think the particular 15-year-old is not mature/confident enough to handle it on his own, they should look into it.

Most 15-year-olds I've known would probably be ok, but I've known a few would be scared to go it alone.

As a UNAM "Unaccompanied Minor" they will be ushered into a separate waiting area, taken to their seat by an airline, and checked on by the flight attendants. Once they land, they will be escorted from the gate by another representative.

The airlines have pretty strict rules about connections for UNAMs so they should make sure the agent booking the travel knows it is for a UNAM.

Our kids have flown a lot alone, starting around the ages of 8 and 10. The airlines we usually use do not require the unaccompanied minor routine past the age of 12.

That said, some 15 yr olds would be fine with flying alone and making connections, but other kids will not. Heck, there are adults who have a hard time handling things like this.

BTW, most typical 15 yr olds would kill the layover time by sitting and texting or calling their friends.

I remember my older son when he was 13 - this is when we came to the US. Yes, at that age he was mature enough to fly with a layover.

I would not send a child under 12 on such a flight, but a non-stop can be done much earlier.

It all depends on the child. I know my husband would not be able to fly with a layover by himself :) But for him a language problem comes in too.

My daughter started flying alone at age 7, to visit cousins. But there were no onnections involved and the flight was only about an hour. In the past, airlines REQUIRED that youngsters under a certain age be sent as unaccompanied minors, and there was a small fee--35 or 50 dollars? I can't remember--but lately I have heard that the fee is substantial, in the $200+ range, but that the status is no longer REQUIRED.

The aforementioned daughter was usually in the lead of our family in airports by around age 5, and after the first trip alone at 7 very comfortable. At age 11 she even somehow managed to use one of the old phones they used to have in seatbacks, without having a credit card.

I just helped my friend book a flight for her daughter, 17. You need to read the fine print...some will NOT allow them to change, others have different rules and FEES for segments.

I have no problem with either of my kids doing it...however, if the flight is cancelled and the passengers require an overnight stay, then what? I'd make sure they flew early in the day!

You can download the forms online which give permission and indicate who will pick child up at next destination. The adult must go through all security procedures and accompany child to gate, ditto for person at receiving end.

Airlines require that kids under a certain age - usually 12 - fly as unaccompanied minors with a special fee. Over that age it is usually optional - but there will be a fee for the service.

If a 15 year old could do this depends completely on the kid.

Mine lived in NYC, negotiated the subwys by themselves from 11 on, flew fairly often and flew alone from 13/14 on with no problems.

But - some kids aren;t used to flying.

Some are daydreamers and lose track of time and what they should be doing.

And some are timid.

Depends on the kid.

I think it depends on the child and the airline.

Most will impose a charge if the child is under 12, even if it is a direct flight.

When my son was 14, we paid the $100 (round trip) for special consideration since he had not flown too often and this was the first time by himself.

They were very nice and let us go through security and wait with him (he was flying out out of Newark - I think I would be more comfortable if he flew out of our very small regional airport by himself).

His flight was delayed,, so I was glad that we were there with him.

On the landing side, my brother (who was picking him up) had to have special id and information about the flight to show before they would release my son to him.

Hope this helps!

I flew my 15 year granddaughter here last year, and she "had" to have a chaperone and there was a fee. She did have to made a transfer to get here. And also we had to fly her only between the hours of 8a.m. and no later than on a 4:30 p.m. flight. Will not mention the airline, but we check three different ones and they all had the same policy.

With American Airlines, a child 14 or younger is an "unaccompanied minor" and a fee of $100 is charged.

An adult must check-in with the minor and escort him or her to the gate area.

if you want to read the policy of each airline, orbitz has it available on their site.