<p>Have you had an unaccompanied minor fly to Europe?</p>
<p>How did it go?</p>
<p>My 13-year old will be flying this summer to Rome.</p>
<p>We could have her meet up with fellow travellers at an airport out of town(probably JFK or Newark - meaning we would need to drive four hours to see her off in the evening and then stay somewhere or drive home - ugh).</p>
<p>Or</p>
<p>We could have her fly from here, but she would need to change planes in Milan for Rome (flying outbound - coming home there is a nonstop flight).</p>
<p>Are the airlines good about taking care of unaccompanied minors and getting them to connecting flights?</p>
<p>The program director will meet her at the airport in Rome.</p>
<p>Many years ago, I used to work fro Pan Am, and as long as the child is listed on the manifest as an UAM, (I understand there is a fee for this service now, there wasn’t back then) the airline jumps through hoops, because they know they are responsible for the child. We used to board the plane and take the child off ourselves, then escort them to their next flight, and wouldn’t turn the child over until the person showed ID, and was the person listed on the form. One time, our flight from Frankfurt came in delayed, and the child couldn’t make herr next flight, and was rescheduled for the next morning. It was a girl, so I remained on the clock all night (we put her up in a hotel) in the same hotel room with the little girl, we got up, ate breakfast, and I escorted her to her new flight. Of course, we had called the receiving parent the evening before to inform him of the turn of events. So the airlines do take this seriously. Just make sure your child knows to wait for the airline person to go with her, and not to wander off. A 13 year old should be just fine.</p>
<p>My then 12-year old flew unaccompanied to Paris (met at the airport by my brother). It was quite a few years ago, and the airlines were very good about taking care of unaccompanied minors. On the way home, the plane was diverted to NH because of weather, but he was well taken care of.</p>
<p>I don’t know about how good they would be helping a teenager make connecting flights. The ground staff can be extremely unhelpful while the flight attendants can be wonderful.
My question would be: is your child going as part of a group or on his own? Nowadays, it is rather confusing navigating checking in, going through security, etc… If he has to change planes in a foreign country, that, too, adds to the confusion. It would be better for him to go on a direct flight.</p>
<p>About ten years ago my then-12-year-old son and his brother, who was seven, flew to Manchester, England by themselves. No changing planes, but the airline people were great.</p>
<p>Also, about – ummm – 16 years ago, my then 8-year-old son flew unaccompanied to Dallas. He was seated in the bulkhead seat, so they could keep an eye on him, and the only problem was that the flight attendant put his backpack – with all his amusements for the long trip – in the overhead compartment, and he couldn’t get to it. But he had his gameboy in hand and he was fine. (Beat the game by the time he got to Dallas!)</p>
<p>Also – when my then 15-year-old traveled to Orange County, CA by himself, he had to change in Dallas. My Darling Husband and son together decided he didn’t need to be deemed as an UAM, so he changed planes all by himself in Dallas. God – only like the largest airport anywhere. Everything worked out fine, but I don’t advise it!</p>
<p>In those days, the airlines were very very careful about making sure that the person “claiming” them at the other end was who you, the parent, said should be picking them up. Photo ID required and so forth. When we picked up our boys upon returning from their trip to England, they were escorted right to us by the nice airline lady and even my husband and I had to show photo ID.</p>
<p>Check the policy of the airline you’ll be flying. I think they all charge a fee for this service now and some make the service mandatory before a certain age and optional for older teens. </p>
<p>I would try to stay away from having a child make a connecting flight on their own - too many things (weather, equipment problems, simple problems with the language) can go wrong. Remember - by then your child will have been travelling for hours and is not likely to be at their peak.</p>
<p>Also, if the airport is bigger than a breadbox, they may need to change terminals – thereby requiring taking a tram or a bus or something else. Can get confusing and messy.</p>
<p>My son changed planes on his own in Detroit at about age 15 and was fine.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies, they are very reassuring!</p>
<p>According to the Alitalia web site, their staff will accompany unaccompanied minors to their connecting flights – in other words, they remain with airline staff all the way through to handing them off to the person meeting them.</p>
<p>I forgot to ask - how does it work when the UAM goes through customs? Do they do that on their own and meet back up with the airline rep on the other side?</p>
<p>My D flew as a UAM when she was 10 years old, across several continents, including a 3 hour layover in Paris. The airline staff was totally amazing. There were 6 kids of various ages on these flights, and they were very closely supervised, and pampered. My said she felt like a princess. Kids were not allowed out of sight, all had to stay together with 2 adult staff members, taken off the flight and handed over to staff on the next flight. I handed her to staff at originating airport, and my H picked her up at destination. I had to fill out paperwork authorizing him to pick her up, and he had to provide identification at the other end, even thogh she said “Hi daddy”.</p>
<p>She was escorted through customs, the kids do NOTHING alone.</p>
<p>Fendrock - as an ex-Customs inspector, I can tell you that the airline rep will escort a minor through Customs. It’s a common practice here and I would assume it’s the same way in Europe.</p>
<p>My kids hated, HATED having to fly as unaccompanied minors, which each of them did, separately and together, quite a number of times. They far, far preferred not to be given that status, especially once they were 11 or 12. In many airports, being an unaccompanied minor is essentially being in custody. It’s great for being escorted through customs, or to a connection, and awful for just about anything else.</p>
<p>You may not have a choice in the end, since lots of airlines have tightened up their policies and started to charge largish fees for the service. But if you can choose, even on an international flight, I think it’s a tossup for a 13 year-old. Depends on the kid, and on your anxiety level.</p>
<p>(NB: I am probably on the fringe about this. My kids did lots of travel, including inter-city, on their own starting when they were quite young. They liked it, and nothing bad happened that they couldn’t handle.)</p>
<p>Slightly different take, but how many kids on her program will be leaving from NY? If almost all are, your D may wish to travel together to begin to build friendships. If many fly from local airports, then I wouldn’t be concerned. Perhaps there is someone else that could be leaving from your local airport?</p>
<p>My experience has been that the airlines do take the responsibility for UAM’s very seriously. Have sent my kids alone several times, once to Canada, and have been pleased with the care taken. They allowed my sister to meet the kids at the gate even though she was not a passenger. The best story I have is when my 16 year old was (not listed as a minor) was flying a late flight from Vermont, her flight was delayed which would make her miss her connecting flight. I called the airline to ask how they would handle this and they HELD the connecting flight for her.</p>
<p>Hmm, maybe Alitalia is not such a great choice if they often go on strike.</p>
<p>We will find out about traveling with others from the group next month. The program is small (only about 12 students), so the travel groups generally consist only of two or three traveling together.</p>
<p>My daughter was 16 when she flew to Spain by herself the summer before her senior year. She had to change planes in Madrid for a flight to Sevilla, where she was met by someone from her summer immersion program. On the way back, at least, she had to change terminals. She was a little older than 13 and we have flown quite often as a family, so she had no trouble. She did not want to be an “unaccompanied minor” and I didn’t force the issue, but if she had been younger (even 15), I probably would have insisted.</p>
<p>I sent an 11 year old to Toronto one year and the ‘pick-up’ was not there. He and his friend wandered the airport and bought a snack. A kind woman stopped and inquired about their travel plans. She happened to know the camp director.</p>
<p>I send 15 and 16 year olds across the Pacific routinely.</p>
<p>My D had a friend come visit her while we were in Germany. The friend’s parents paid for UAM status (with Delta.) One parent (with photo ID) was required to accompany her to the gate. Then a flight attendant took her from there. When they arrived in Germany, the attendant took her through customs, passport control, etc. They came through quickly, because they got to go through staff lines, rather than peon lines. I had to show photo ID, and sign for her when they brought her out. Her parents had to give my name and other identifying info to the airline at the front end. It all happened in reverse when we sent her home.</p>
<p>I was wishing I could be an UAM, just for the speed getting through!</p>
<p>I’ve lived all over the world with three children. I have sent all three boys to various places unaccompanied. I would NOT send a 13 yr old by themselves to a foreign country without the airline’s UAM help. Although they may hate the UAM status, when something goes wrong they’re going to love it.</p>
<p>I just flew to London a few weeks ago. I saw two children maybe 8 and 10 being escorted and they were being VERY well taken care of, including being guided through customs and immigration at the end. They would have to be, because the airline has to hand them over to somebody with proper ID and the customs and immigration comes first.</p>
<p>On the way back, while waiting for a flight out of London, there were two children being escorted as it was a connecting flight for them. The flight was cancelled due to weather, and those kids had to be taken care of until the next morning when the flight finally took off. I can’t imagine any 13 yr old capable of taking care of themselves in that situation.</p>
<p>Exactly. My 12 year old talks, behaves and looks like a 15-year-old, but there’s no way I would send her on a international flight unescorted. There are too many possibilities of things not going according to script. The fee is well worth the peace of mind, and the airline will take responsibility for missed connections, meals etc.</p>