The woman at Cate who is in charge of coordinating travel - what a job!!! - was one of the first people that I spoke to once we enrolled. She had tons of advice and information, which certainly set my mind at ease. I would imagine that there is someone like her at every school, and that they’ve heard it ALL. If you’re worried about the travel @fullofbs, contact that person at your DS’s (potential) school and ask how they handle transportation, what other families do, etc. The cross-country solo travel is now a plus for my DD. She feels very independent and almost always ends up on the same flight with fellow students.
Hadn’t thought about it but if TSA pre is $85 and Global Entry is $100, Global Entry sounds better… although no solo foreign travel is planned.
Heads up for families using United Airlines. They’re now mandating that 15 yr olds pay the the Unaccompanied Minor fee
FYI regarding GLOBAL ENTRY
For those considering Global Entry, I found out that it’s not necessary to go on your scheduled date for the interview/fingerprinting session (it’s hard to schedule a convenient date when child is living away from home most of the year). A parent has to accompany minor child at the interview.
You do, however, have to have already booked an interview for SOME date. But u can come in as a walk-in on a different day. You will just have to wait until the scheduled applicants are taken care of first
I was able to do this for S2 during this holiday period. He’s all set now to use the fast lane.
Good thing, I bought Springbreak ticket before 12/14. I suppose No United for a while.
No Delta nor American.
JetBlue and Southwest remains.
For those of you living internationally, or those that do a lot of int’l travel, Global Entry was IMO, the best investment, even better than the laundry service. 
Thanks so much for the heads-up post. Very happy that I just booked JetBlue for Spring break and trip home in June
I haven’t been active on CC lately and learned the hard way yesterday about the change in United’s UM policy. This article written as a reaction to it has a nice summary of policies for kids less than age 15 flying alone.
http://thevacationgals.com/united-airlines-has-an-absurd-new-unaccompanied-minors-policy/
We were locked in to United for our first year of BS. Glad they didn’t have the 15 yr old rule then. That’s an unnecessary pain.
Tip for new BS parents: On a family trip, I had my D navigate us from the time we walked in the airport to baggage claim on the back end. She was nervous and didn’t want to take charge. Of course now she can navigate airports better than most adults who don’t travel for business. We booked long layovers if at all possible at first to give her extra time.
We’ve used the last flight of the day out of necessity but got bit once but thankfully the issue was at the embarkation airport, not on a connecting flight so she just waited until the next day.
Very, very important. We could have been in a serious trouble. Fortunately South West Airline would take D to a 2.5 hours away airport no problem. Delta flies to a closer (45 min) airport, but it’s not an option as it only allows none-existing none-stop flies for unaccompanied minors, which I only found out while trying to book her Thanksgiving break.
I found out about the United UM policy last year after I used my miles to book DS’s Thanksgiving trip. Fortunately, DS flew just before the new policy went into effect. No more flying United for him until he turns 16.
He flew mostly Southwest and Jetblue. Now that he is over 15, there are more options but not United.
Over the summer, finally, we got Global Entry. Yeah! Booking the interviews is crazy as interview dates are filled as far as 7 months.
By clicking/refreshing the interview calendar mindlessly for a week, I was able to snatch cancellations and got interviews within couple of weeks. There is even a python code (in github? from reddit) that does it and I also used Visualping.
Best $20 spent per year per person. (but $400 for the family still hurts.)
Breezing through airport security (with TSA Precheck,) priceless.
caveat: I had to go back and update all the reservations that were made before (of course, DS’s whole year of flights have already been planned - thanksgiving, winter, and spring break) and enter the known traveler numbers.
I checked-in without realizing it and the boarding pass did not show Precheck even though my frequent traveler information had been updated with KTN. horror after all the trouble! 
I called the Southwest, and the agent updated it. I was able to print a new boarding pass with Precheck on it. :D/
My D has flew unaccompanied as a 14 and 15 year old probably ten times. She’s 17 now but that’s the height of absurdity that someone who flies the same route once per month and can navigate an airport better than my 43 year old sister would have to pay $150.
We switched to Delta because United quit offering the flight time that fit our schedule but I won’t book United if I have a choice with this change.
from delta.com:
@SculptorDad How old is your D? If BS age, sounds like she should be able to use the Delta flights.
I’m so glad my D graduated before these changes! It was hassle enough and Delta and United were our only two possible airlines. I think we only had to book her as unaccompanied one time and she hated every minute of it, starting with the mandatory wristband!
@alooknac, thanks for the help. But there is no nonstop flight between our town and the school. So Delta is out. Fortunately, we have South West.
@SculptorDad What is a connecting flight if not a NON-nonstop flight? I see you have an alternative, just asking to clarify for others, and maybe it would be helpful to you too at some point. I have a feeling that their wording is misleading (“ONLY”) and I can fully believe that an agent steered you wrong soon after the change.
I looked into it a little further. Maybe your situation did not meet the guidelines for connecting flights. My D often flies into or out of small airports where various smaller airlines operate Delta Connection flights.
[quote]
Routings Permitted
Flights operated by DL, DL Connection, AF or KL
Thru flights (change of gauge permitted)
Note- Can only connect to other DL, DL Connection, AF or KL flights. /quote
@alooknac, it is DL-DL connection, and I was told by Delta over the phone that no connection what-so-ever is allowed for an unaccompanied minor. Maybe I was ill informed. I will double check. Thanks.
As in paid unaccompanied or any minor flying alone? Our D also flies Delta on her own from small regional airport on Delta Connection with connecting flight in ATL. No issues.
According to what I read on Delta’s website, children ages 8-14 flying alone must pay the unaccompanied minor fee and they are allowed to make connections. There are additional rules which can accessed through the link I posted above, or by searching delta.com.
I just don’t want people thinking 14 year olds traveling alone on Delta can only fly nonstop as was posted earlier.
You were ill-informed. You’d run into problems if the connecting flight is the last flight of the day, but other than that, UM’s can fly on connecting flights.
Oh boy…I’m really glad I saw this as I was looking to book DS’s ticket for Thanksgiving. While I haven’t booked a ticket on United in a while, they had the best price for the route he is flying. Guess I need to go back to the drawing board…
It was hard enough figuring out the logistics last year when he wasn’t 15 yet (almost the whole school year). I guess we will be avoiding United this year as well. Thanks for the heads up CC!