<p>My DC and I were planning to fly to a sports tournament, and I've bought the tixs. They are on USAir, and involve one change. Now due to some commitments, I can't go, and planned to send DC (14 yr) alone. However USAir only lets unaccompanied minors fly alone on direct flights.</p>
<p>Is this policy unique to USAir? How do the Boarding school parents handle this, since the kids needs to fly back and forth so often. And generally the connecting flights are so much cheaper.</p>
<p>I’ve ridden many flights as an unaccompanied minor from 9-13 and from what I can tell this rule is exclusive to USAir. I had never flown USAir as an UM but every other airline I flew didn’t have this policy. However the airlines I flew were Southwest, United, AirTran etc. at one point, my parents didn’t register me as an UM because I knew my way around the airport and looked older than 13 so we didn’t have to go through the process of people walking me down.(just another option if you feel comfortable enough)</p>
<p>Put a word out to local sports parents/coaches flying to same tourny…maybe your kid can pony on to them.</p>
<p>Southwest requires an unaccompanied minor’s itinerary not involve a plane change. The plane can stop, so the flight doesn’t have to be non-stop, but they won’t intentionally change planes with a UM. However, Southwest allows 12yos to fly as adults (UM status is for ages 5-11 without a 12-or-older on the same itinerary).</p>
<p>IMHO, USAir is unusual in requiring that kids be 15 to fly alone. Every airline has its own weird rules, but 12 seems to be the most common cutoff.</p>
<p>Jetblue counts 14 year-olds as adults. They can fly alone and no one has to take them to or meet them at the gates.</p>
<p>Every airline has different requirements. Some of them require that 14 year fly as unaccompanied minors, which is just more trouble and money than it’s worth in my view. I said my daughter was 15 this year so that I didn’t have to pay an extra $75 and find someone to take her to/from the gate in Boston, and there was never a problem.</p>
<p>Delta requires travelers ages 5 to 14 who are traveling alone and require changing planes pay $100 each way so they can be escorted by Delta staff.</p>
<p>Not only does Southwest let 12 year olds fly as an adult, not an unaccompanied minor, but they can even be in charge of younger kids. My 13 year old has flown as the “adult” with his younger brother and sister on Southwest flights, with no “real” adults. US Air’s policy is just silly. Most kids who are over 12 are perfectly capable of flying by themselves, especially if they’re accustomed to traveling.</p>
<p>United’s policy is 12 & under are UM. 13+ can fly alone, change planes, etc. but you CAN opt to pay for UM if you don’t think they’re up to it.</p>
<p>Delta is 14 and under are UM. 15+ can fly alone.</p>
<p>Which is why we flew United last year… We had no other options to Boston.</p>
<p>USAir had a highly publicized catastrophy with an accompanied minor who got put on the wrong flight by the careless USAir attendant and ended up alone, lost and crying a very long way from home instead of being picked up by grandma, who was waiting at the right airport gait. Grandma went ballistic, it was the wrong family with lots of legal power, large lawsuit, no more unaccompanied minors on USAir. </p>
<p>Actually not at all surprising if you have ever flown on US air. They tried to sit me in a seat someone else already had and looked clueless when we both refused.</p>
<p>I once had an unaccompanied minor seated next to me on a long flight. The boy looked to be about 10 years old and was on his way to visit his dad.</p>
<p>During the flight the kid volunteered the details of his parents messy divorce and how his dad likes to smoke pot. I felt like I needed a chaperone for myself on the flight…</p>
<p>If your child is flying unaccompanied, at little coaching about appropriate conversation topics might not be a bad idea.</p>