So your kids' flight gets canceled - or they are stranded...

<p>Great advice on this thread. As a very frequent air traveler, I’d like to add 2 comments: first, if at all possible, have your college student fly Southwest. Even if the ticket is a little more expensive, it’s worth it, because there are NO CHANGE FEES. Two of my kids attended college near Southwest cities, and I can’t tell you how stress-free it was making their reservations, knowing that if schedules changed (as they always seem to do with college kids), we could change the ticket without incurring a $150 fee. Sometimes we’d have to pay a little more (and in a few cases, we’d get a refund), but it really made life easier. My daughter is now at a school near a city not served by Southwest, and we are stuck with United. I’ve always bought her ticket on my credit card, and she’s never had any trouble at the airport because she always checks in online ahead of time and brings her printed boarding pass with her, going directly to security. No need to deal with airline employees until she gets on the plane. There’s no reason I can think of not to check in ahead of time – and remember, the passengers who are bumped are those that don’t have seat assignments. Never make a reservation on a flight where you aren’t assigned a seat; if they say the seats will be assigned at the airport, that means the flight is overbooked. (That doesn’t hold true for Southwest – I’m talking about the legacy carriers). Occasionally, equipment can be changed and passengers with assigned seats holding boarding passes can be bumped, but 99% of the time it’s the passengers with no assigned seats who are bumped.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I forget that not all credit cards have free additional cards. If yours does, then consider getting them a card with their name on it and only use it for airline tickets. The credit card miles go to your account, but they will still earn flown miles for their account provided that it is a paid ticket (you will not get the flown miles as they are the one flying). I was surprised when I started hearing that airlines are asking for the credit card that purchased the ticket and do think that it is a misguided rule, especially in situations like these where the person does not have a credit card or when the ticket is purchased with a corporate credit card.</p>

<p>“stuck with United. I’ve always bought her ticket on my credit card, and she’s never had any trouble at the airport because she always checks in online ahead of time and brings her printed boarding pass with her, going directly to security.”</p>

<p>Ah… so THAT’s the trick. So no baggage? And this is in 2010? Will that work for kids traveling across the country for school? They often only come home at summer and Christmas.That’s a one month, or three month stay with only a carry on.</p>

<p>I’m confused about airline employees asking to see a credit card. If you arrive at the airport with your boarding pass in hand (printed at home, at school, or at your hotel), no one would ever be in a position to ask to see your pass. If you forget to do this and go to a self-service kiosk, you are asked either to provide your credit card OR other information, such as your record locator. There’s never any need to interact with an airline employee at all.</p>

<p>Trust me, even with luggage you do not need to produce the credit card you paid with. I have flown on United 8-10 times in 2011 already and have checked luggage a couple of times. You go to the kiosk and then bring your bags to an employee whose job it is to label the bags and give you a receipt. Or, you check the bags at the curb with a skycap, who does not ask to see the original credit card. I think the only time this would happen is if for some reason you do not print your boarding pass at home, then bypass the check-in kiosks, and wait in line for an agent – definitely the most time-consuming way to check in!</p>

<ol>
<li>The airline ticket is purchased with a credit card that has the student’s name on it >></li>
</ol>

<p>Greyhound has the same policy, but I’m not sure how often it is enforced. My kids have always bought their own tickets with the cards that are on our account, so we still get the points, etc. We have 4 or 5 users on two cards.</p>

<p>I hate dealing with airlines. The biggest problem I had was once, when my teen flew alone and one airline refused to board him on his return flight from a university summer program because he was under 18yo. There was no problem with him flying alone but they said minors had to have an adult with them at the counter. His summer program had put him on a shuttle-type bus and sent him on his way. As we searched for a ticket with a different airlines, the airlines then called airport police saying there was an unescorted minor at the airport with no flight plans! (Remember, he had plans until they cancelled him.) The airport officer took my kid into a room, called me and threatened to file charges against me-- until I told them that it was the university who had put kid on the bus so they should address their concerns with them. Despite the fact that other airlines would let him on their flights, the police would not allow my kid to walk to any other airline counter alone. We eventually managed to get the officer to agree to put my kid back on the bus back to the university and the director of the program had to accompany him to the gate the next day. The extra night at the university cost me hundreds. </p>

<p>The best story was when one of my kids missed a flight in Toronto because of his own fault and the airline rebooked him without charging him a fee because he was a minor.</p>

<p>S1 has flown solo on United with a ticket we purchased on our CC. Printed his boarding pass in advance, didn’t check luggage. No worries. Even did it on a solo international flight when he was 17. We did give him a letter with my signature and DH’s saying that he was authorized to travel alone, but noone ever questioned him.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>In this day and age, why wouldn’t you check in online ahead of time and print your boarding pass? If you’re on the road (as I am, right now - in a hotel room) – most hotels have printing kiosks. I’ve printed out my D’s and my boarding passes for tomorrow night’s flight back home. Additionally, some carriers are doing electronic / mobile boarding passes, though I still like to have a paper copy as back up.</p>

<p>I do check in ( I’ve even paid the $10 to have southwest check me in exactly 24 hours ahead, if I can’t drop what I’m doing and race for internet access),and usually print from home, but it’s the carry on’s I can’t stand, so sometimes I don’t bother. Unless it’s Southwest…</p>

<p>(Ah… so THAT’s the trick. So no baggage? ) </p>

<p>Especially if I’m traveling across the country for a week or more in the winter. Sounds like that’s not a problem either, although I don’t know if the Sacto airport has a set up where you can skip the check in people.But I may be the last person who checks baggage. Last week, there where more people waiting in that tunnel thingy, for confiscated bags, then there were at the baggage carousel!</p>

<p><a href=“Ah…%20so%20THAT’s%20the%20trick.%20So%20no%20baggage?”>QUOTE=Shrinkrap</a>

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Even if you have baggage to check, you can check in on-line and print your boarding pass.</p>

<p>Most airlines at most airports have a special baggage drop line that moves much faster than the regular check in counter line. Having checked in on-line, you can use this faster special baggage drop line.</p>

<p>Having checked in on-line, you will also avoid the problem of the regular check in counter line being too slow causing you to miss the check in deadline. Or being involuntarily bumped because you are the last to check in.</p>

<p>“most airports have a special baggage drop line that moves much faster than the regular check in counter line.”</p>

<p>Yeah, I get it, I’ve done that, but not where I usually fly from. At least not yet. And I almost always check in and print my pass. </p>

<p>But I have learned a NEW benefit; avoiding the United credit card rule! I’ll be sure to see if that will work where my D usually travels.</p>

<p>Sacto, Raleigh/Durham</p>

<p>I fly United all the time for business. I don’t think I’ve ever been asked to present the credit card used for the purchase. Anyway, I don’t see how that would work when, for example, as a business traveler, I might have had my client purchase my tickets for me, or maybe even had a co-worker do so and then plans changed and the co-worker couldn’t go. Anyway, I don’t even see where you’re interacting with United personnel, since you can check in online or at a kiosk in the airport. The first interaction I have with United personnel is the five-second worth of interaction at the gate when they scan my boarding pass.</p>

<p>FOR United Airlines only-
If the person buying the ticket (mom or dad) does not match the name (your student’s) on the plane ticket, the purchaser must present the credit card at a United ticketing agent sometime before the person flies by going to the nearest airport.
Found this out the hard way when the student was unable to print out the boarding pass 24 hours prior to the flight because of this United rule.
So like the people above, had to get the credit card holder go to their nearest airport to prove to a United ticketing agent( take confirmation number, the credit card and a picture ID) that it is a legitimate purchase.
If you(mom or dad) use frequent flier points to buy the ticket for your student you do not have to do anything extra.
Business and corporate accounts must have special status.
United ticketing shuts down around 9pm in all the large cities so plan accordingly…</p>

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>*** note to self: never book flights on United ***</p>

<p>*** note to self: look into Southwest - even though it’s not non-stop, the no-change fee and no-baggage-fee makes it worth considering ***</p>

<p>D is flying home tonight! Dear Delta, please keep her safe.</p>

<p>I did not read this entire thread, but I just caught Balto’s post about United. Wow! We never had any problems, but our son never flew on United. We have always used one parent’s credit card to buy airline tickets and then son just printed the ticket confirmation before going to the airport. That was all he needed along with an ID. Most/many students today do not have credit cards. Does United feel that the purchaser (mom, dad, uncle, grandparent, etc.) should go to the airport every time the kiddo flies home?!?!? I find that hard to believe. Really?</p>

<p>Editing to say that I just wrote the same note to myself as Lafalum. Lafalum, hope you enjoy your weekend with your DD!</p>

<p>I find this hard to believe, too, as I fly United all the time. My kids have checked in online numerous times on flights where I had bought the plane ticket. Not a problem. I have clients who buy my plane tickets for me. Not a problem. (And don’t say “it’s a business account,” because there’s no such thing as a business account – if Bob Smith’s credit card is used to buy a ticket for Mary Jones, United doesn’t know or care if Bob is her husband, her co-worker or her client.)</p>

<p>Plenty of people buy tickets for other people – I’m thinking of my parents buying tickets for my elderly grandparents, that type of thing. Sorry; I think something else went on in this circumstance that triggered an alert. I do not believe this to be standard United policy.</p>

<p>My son frequently flies United, and has never run into this issue; I always pay for his tickets with my credit card.</p>

<p><em>thud</em> (reaction to this thread ‘taking off’, excuse the pun)</p>

<p>Thanks to all who contributed. Especially Rule 240, I forgot about that one.</p>

<p>My contribution: my kids have had our credit cards with their names on it since they were driving - to get gas, and for emergencies. They don’t abuse it. We also have them enrolled with our AAA, same reason. I expect to do the same with whatever airline credit card we join, depending on which school is picked. Looks like it will be Southwest for us. </p>

<p>When we travel, I copy, enlarged, all our drivers licenses and credit cards (front and back so you have the 800#) in case a wallet gets lost. A copy goes into a backpack. For those who trust the internet, that copy can also be scanned into a document and uploaded where it can be retrieved, from a laptop or iphone.</p>

<p>I also print out multiple copies of boarding passes, again, stashed in backpacks/fanny packs, purses. Came in handy when one of ours got lost sometime after security, before the gate.</p>

<p>It’s says right on the confirmation that you must present this credit card when checking in - this is from my son’s ticket from March.</p>

<p>Check-in information</p>

<p>“Please note that valid, government-issued photo identification must be presented at check-in. The credit card used for this purchase must be available at check-in.”</p>