S/O Threads about Minors flying alone and not paying the extra charge for unaccompanied

[Lanny]

Yesterday, I was curious about the route our flight to the USA will take and looked at the flight on a tracking web site. There was a horrible delay in the flight. The arrival was delayed almost 4 1/2 hours.  Too long for it to have been Runway Congestion or a Runway Closed for construction/repair at the Departure airport.  Possibly a "Creeping Delay" where the mechanics thought a problem could be resolved in 30 minutes or so, but that it turned out to be far more complex.   I suspect they took off on time and were about 1 hour North, or more, possibly over open ocean, and developed an issue and returned to the departure airport.  Had we been on that flight yesterday, the only thing I would have tried to do would have been to phone the rental car company and let them know we were badly delayed.

 

I will try to encourage everyone in our party to turn off their cell phones, when we are waiting in airports and flying, to conserve the batteries.  My wife and DD and the friend going with us and I have "WhatsApp" installed.  I also have "magicApp" installed on my phone and I will encourage them to install "magicApp" on their phones. With "magicApp", one can call the majority of phone numbers in the USA or Canada, free. In my case, the "magicApp" in my phone uses the same phone number as our "magicJack" device does, so I can also receive calls on that U.S. phone number from any other phone.

 

I then thought, what if DD had  been flying alone and we had not paid the extra fee for an unaccompanied minor, and she  was scheduled to connect in the destination city and missed the last flight of the day to her final destination? My big concern  would be if DD got stranded somewhere and she needed to check into a hotel. Hopefully, if she was on one ticket for the entire route (the fare based on origin to destination airports) the airline would arrange that for her and give her a Voucher to pay the hotel.  But if there were some other issue, it would be very difficult, for a child to  check into a hotel alone. Especially without a Credit Card.  I would have her take her Debit Card and would hope the airline would help her. That would be the worst case  for a minor traveling alone.

  

If one pays the extra fee for an Unaccompanied Minor, the airline should take extra care of them in a situation where they need to spend a night in an unexpected city. That's the worst case.   If one has not paid that extra fee, it's a different situation.

Try to prepare any minor you send alone, for what might go wrong. Probably, everything will be perfect, but there are very rare days, like yesterday on that flight, when things go awry and that is within the range of "normal" for airline flights.  Civil Turbojet aircraft are complex machines and occasionally things need to be fixed or replaced and they don't know that before the flight.

[OneStepAtATime]

Good points, Lanny.  Actually, even adults should have contingency plans.  

 

I used to fly a lot.  I remember having a layover in Chicago.  I got off the plane with another young woman, adult but probably 19-20.  I sat down to wait for my next flight while she headed off to get her luggage and go wherever she was going.  A little bit later she ran back to the gate and asked the airline person if she could get back on the plane.  Nope, plane just took off.  She panicked.  She had left her purse on the plane.  No money of any kind, no I.D., no checks, no credit cards, and no meds (no idea what meds she was missing).  She also knew no one in the city, and had no family she could call.  I have no idea why she was in Chicago but it struck me that she really was in a bit of a pickle.  At least they knew where the purse was (assuming a new passenger didn't take it and deny having it).  Would the airline put it on a return flight?  I don't know, but I assume so.  

 

 

[Starr]

I plug my phone in at the airport if it needs a charge. There are outlets in designated areas and outlets here and there on a wall.

 

Unaccompanied minor, early morning non stop flights. And then pray they don't get rerouted....

[Dmmetler]

Not only that, but as I learned when flying in college, even college students can have trouble getting a hotel to let them check in by themselves. I got snowed in at an airport and rerouted to the next day (no voucher because I didn't know to press for one, but I had a credit card on my parent's account).

 

The ONLY reason I was allowed to get a room was that the flight crew from my flight were also checking into the hotel, and the pilot spoke up that I was on his flight, and if they didn't give me a room, they'd be forcing a teen to spend the night in the airport.

 

A lot of airports also have quick charge stations where you can plug in your phone, pay a small amount, and fully recharge in a few minutes, as well as outlets. Just maybe not enough of them. We flew back from Houston Monday, which is a major hub, right after an international cheer competition where, apparently, a lot of the girls flew United where Houston is the hub. Every outlet had a bunch of teen girls around it, recharging their phones ;).

[Lanny]

Good points, Lanny.  Actually, even adults should have contingency plans.  

 

At least they knew where the purse was (assuming a new passenger didn't take it and deny having it).  Would the airline put it on a return flight?  I don't know, but I assume so.  

 

If the airline had the purse in their possession and knew where she was, they could hopefully have returned it to her quickly, and not sent it to the Lost and Found in Alabama.  I think Alabama is for things that cannot be traced or returned to their owners.

 

When I was an airline employee, early one morning I returned on a "Ferry" flight (employees and their families were the only ones permitted on those flights) to our Maintenance Base.  I had my Checkbook in my inner jacket pocket.  I threw my jacket onto the overhead bin, forgetting my checkbook was in my jacket.  After I got home, about 3 A.M., I discovered my checkbook was missing.  I lived close to the airport, drove back to the Maintenance Base and went to the aircraft.  My checkbook was there and I was able to go home and relax. 

 

The fewer things one carries with them the fewer things one can lose, have stolen, or forget.  For women, it's easy to forget a purse.

[Lanny]

I plug my phone in at the airport if it needs a charge. There are outlets in designated areas and outlets here and there on a wall.

 

Unaccompanied minor, early morning non stop flights. And then pray they don't get rerouted....

 

Thanks!   The last bunch of things I bought on eBay included 10 USB Chargers and 10 mini (Micro?) USB cables.  I'll take several extra ones along and if there are outlets where we are waiting, we can charge our phones!.  We are scheduled for just over 2 hours for our connection on the trip North. I scheduled us, purposely, on the first (earliest) flight, so if there are any problems, we should still arrive in plenty of time for our connecting flight.

 

I agree with you that Unaccompanied Minors should be on early morning Nonstop flights, whenever possible, and then keep your fingers crossed, and pray,  that everything goes perfectly, which, fortunately, it normally does.  

[FaithManor]

Part of the contingency plan for an older teen would be to teach them to go quickly to the customer service desk or to a member of the flight crew. While it can be hard for the teen to get a hotel room, the airline can do it for them. They have contracts with local hotels to provide in emergencies, and they have the pull to get minors into a room. Teach your teen to be upfront about his/her needs. "I feel anxiety about checking into the hotel by myself, or hailing a cab, or walking to the hotel alone or whatever." I know of two cases in which teens were assisted very well. One was a girl who was very apprehensive, advocated for herself, and ended up with a female security guard dispatched to take her to her hotel, check her in, and make sure she was okay. The airline arranged for shuttle to pick her up in the morning, and the security guard arranged with the front desk for a wake up call for her. The airline put her up in a nice, safe, at the airport hotel. The other girl simply told a flight attendant she was unsure what to do. The flight attendant went immediately to customer service, had them get her a room, and then took her to the hotel herself, picked the young lady up in the morning. It wasn't a paid for service, but just something that the flight attendant did out of the goodness of her heart, and if I had that job and saw a teen in that situation, I'd do it too. The key though was in the case of the first, the airline was not required to pick up the tab for the hotel but she had a credit card in her parents' name that could be used to pay for the room. In the second case, the airline was required to pay so the child only needed to worry about her supper plans, and if memory serves, her parents had made sure she had cash with her for an emergency so she ordered room service and enjoyed herself.

 

A fully charged portable battery like a jackery is a great life saver for cell phones. We love ours and it can charge three phones that have all gotten rather low on battery before needing to be charged itself. We got ours on amazon.

 

Identification, emergency phone numbers, cell phone, portable battery, credit card, and emergency stash of cash (all preferably kept in a traveler's pouch under the coat/jacket/sweater so fairly out of sight is really important.

 

If your child can get a hold of you, you can book the room for him or her as well. Don't tell the hotel he/she is traveling unaccompanied. Book it for one adult, one child. When they check in, tell them in the interests of their safety it is perfectly okay to say, "Mom/Dad will be coming up later after the meeting." The desk manager will be busy enough, especially if the hotel is near an airport that has experienced delays and cancelations, that there is about zero chance he or she will follow up on that. But if the teen speaks up and demands assistance, airlines are loathe to leave minors stranded because it makes for very, very bad press, but they have to know what the problem is because with the potential of LOTS of passengers seeking assistance, they will forget about the quiet teen standing in the corner not knowing what to do and not making any waves. That child will end up trying to sleep all night long in a hard, plastic airport chair or on the floor with other stranded passengers.

 

Practicing these scenarios/role playing may be beneficial for some teens.

[Lanny]

FaithManor: THANK YOU for taking the time to write that!  There is a lot of good information in what you wrote.   Excellent reading for anyone who sends a teen unaccompanied.

 

What a difference in the flight yesterday and today's flight.  Today, everything is perfectly normal.  They are North of Cuba, approaching Florida. That happens almost every day, but when things go awry, as they did yesterday, for an unaccompanied Minor it could be problematic.

[Dmmetler]

I think that "don't be afraid to ask for help" is a big part of it. I know I didn't even think about asking the airline personnel what I should do or about getting a hotel room-I just went along with the group, basically too scared to stand out, and followed the group onto the shuttle to the hotel. I'm glad the pilot stepped in and got things straightened out, because I really didn't know what to do (and this was in the days before cell phones, and my parents had already left to drive the couple of hours to pick me up at the airport, so I couldn't call them).

 

 

[fraidycat]

In my former life as a travel agent, and as a parent who searched flight options for my 13 year this past winter, It is my understanding that UM passengers are allowed only on direct, non-stop, single leg flights, and it can NOT be the last flight of the day. So barring a true emergency situation where a flight must land at a different airport and not continue the flight, there is no reason that a minor could be left stranded or needing a hotel due to missed connections. There has to be a pre-authorized person to meet the minor at the destination airport of the single flight.

 

If you were to do a multi-leg flight, you would need an authorized person to pick-up/drop-off at every interim airport to avoid just this scenario.

 

Of course, I think after 16, they are not considered UM, so the rules don't apply but the problem could arise, so plan accordingly.

[Momling]

My older daughter has flown without the unaccompanied minor service and changed flights and such. She did great. Because she was only 13, we talked a lot about what to do in different circumstances and I had a family on call in the Denver area where her next flight was. I think if there had been a problem though, she'd have preferred to hang out overnight in the airport than deal with meeting this old family friend and his kids. Luckily, there was no problem.

 

This year, we'll have to drive to another airport (5 hrs away) to get the kids on a flight through southwest because United now requires UM service for 15 yr olds. My older will fly alone to French camp in MN and both the girls (age 12&14) will fly to San Diego together to comic con. Their uncle will pick them up.

I LOVE that that they are so independent and responsible and capable! It bothers me that airlines like United are forcing parents to purchase this babysitting service for 15 yr olds (used to be 12+ was okay to fly alone, but it was changed a few months ago).

[Χά�ων]

My older daughter has flown without the unaccompanied minor service and changed flights and such. She did great. Because she was only 13, we talked a lot about what to do in different circumstances and I had a family on call in the Denver area where her next flight was. I think if there had been a problem though, she'd have preferred to hang out overnight in the airport than deal with meeting this old family friend and his kids. Luckily, there was no problem.

 

This year, we'll have to drive to another airport (5 hrs away) to get the kids on a flight through southwest because United now requires UM service for 15 yr olds. My older will fly alone to French camp in MN and both the girls (age 12&14) will fly to San Diego together to comic con. Their uncle will pick them up.

I LOVE that that they are so independent and responsible and capable! It bothers me that airlines like United are forcing parents to purchase this babysitting service for 15 yr olds (used to be 12+ was okay to fly alone, but it was changed a few months ago).

This. Mine is 12 and I am really not happy to have to pay (a lot) extra for him to fly solo when I know he is fully capable of changing flights and travel.

 

Amtrak and Greyhound are even more restrictive.

[Lanny]

Looking back, if they had regulations about unaccompanied minors, when I was one, I was unaware of them.  It never occurred to me, at that time, that I couldn't go alone.   I went to a convention by myself (flying) when I was about 13 or 14 years old.   I wonder if they had those regulations then?  And i went back and forth to Las Vegas by myself a number of times, after one of my friends and his family moved there. We are still friends, after all those years.     Like "fraidycat", way back when, I worked for 2 airlines and then was a travel agent for one year after that.  Things can and do go awry.  I remember when DD was a baby, we arrived at the Bogota airport about 5 A.M. for the nonstop Delta flight to Atlanta.  Dumb me, with my background, I did not think to call the airline from the hotel, before we went to the airport.  The flight the night before, from Atlanta to Bogota had a major issue and that flight  terminated in Miami. So, had there been an unaccompanied minor on the ATL > BOG Delta flight the night before, the minor would have ended up in Miami, not in Bogota. And, Delta had no aircraft for our flight from BOG to ATL...  We were on Frequent Flyer tickets (my wife and I) and we had purchased a ticket for DD. They had to put us onto American to get us up to the states and then we were back on Delta, for our flight to Las Vegas.    Things almost always go perfectly, but sometimes they go awry.