Travel Arrangements

<p>This is part word to the wise and part rant....</p>

<p>In an effort to save money I made several flight arrangements for our daughter shortly after she accepted admission. At that time I did not realize how expensive my choice of airline would turn out to be.</p>

<p>If your child is 14 years old and will be utilizing air travel, I encourage you look closely at the airline's policy or call them BEFORE you make the arrangements.</p>

<p>I would also discourage using Delta until your child is at least 15 years old. Delta's policy is very rigid. You must pay the fare, an additional $100 each way AND you must have an adult accompany the minor to check-in and remain with him/her until departure. If your school doesn't provide an escort (most don't), hiring a service to do that can cost an additional $150 each way. So a modest $300 flight can end up costing closer to $800. </p>

<p>The frustrating part for me is that my daughter is very capable of getting herself to the airport with the school shuttles, presenting herself to check-in with government issued i.d., finding the gate, and getting on the plane all by herself. She did it on Airtran for Thanksgiving break. </p>

<p>Unfortunately, at this late date it would cost about the same to switch airlines. Another thing I learned is that if you do not take the first leg of a round trip, the return trip gets canceled automatically. </p>

<p>At least I'll only be making this mistake once!!!</p>

<p>Delta is the most convienent airline for travel for my d, but like you said, it is not workable for a kid traveling alone under 15. We are sticking with Southwest until d is older. At Thanksgiving, d was able to use her school id without a problem, so I am not sure how closely they check age anyways.</p>

<p>They check age. I’ve heard them ask my daughter her age after she presented her ID. And Logan for one will not accept student ID. You can get a DMV ID card for kids who aren’t driving yet. I agree with the checking the airlines - and check them every time you book a flight because they are constantly changing their rules for unescorted minors.</p>

<p>Is there someone from the dorm going at the same time? International students get host families that do it, and if it’s a close time some sympathetic parent might do it!</p>

<p>My d used her school ID at Logan at Thanksgiving. It probably just depends on the TSA employee you get. That’s a little scary.</p>

<p>My 14 year old son traveled from Boston’s Logan to Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson for the Thanksgiving break. He used his Georgia-issued identification card at both airports. AirTran does not charge an unaccompanied minor fee for kids 12 and over.</p>

<p>He also used FlightLine shuttle from the school to Logan and on his return trip.</p>

<p>kali3000-</p>

<p>That’s exactly what my daughter did…does your son go to PA? He may have been the one who was on both her flights. Unfortunately I didn’t stick with Airtran when I booked the winter break flights so many months ago. I will from now on!</p>

<p>Yes, he does. And he did mention meeting her.</p>

<p>A quick update: I found a reasonable fare on another airline (Airtran) which made the final cost fairly comparable and alleviated the major hassle factor considerably. So though I paid more than I had hoped in the long run, now I won’t be supporting Delta’s ridiculously rigid unaccompanied minor policy and the travel arrangements are much simpler.</p>

<p>US Airway: Very bad…extra $100 each way for “unaccompanied minor” plus rudeness exponentiated with the same experience as you had w/Delta.</p>

<p>Jet Blue: Very good…no fees or problems for 13 yr old and up.</p>

<p>I purchased son an adult ticket on USAIR. He is traveling in Dec. and is 14 yrs.old. He will turn 15 two days after the flight date. I did not sign him up as an unaccompanied minor. Do you think they will give him a hard time. How will they know his exact age? He will be 15 for the return flight back to school in January.</p>

<p>I think you’ll be taking your chances. It might work if the people checking his ticket aren’t being diligent. But if it doesn’t work how you hope, will he be able to deal with the situation? If an adult is not presenting the child, they will probably ask him for his i.d. I’ve not used USAir so perhaps someone else can more accurately answer your questions.</p>

<p>Edited to add: They might give him a break since he’s so close to being 15.</p>

<p>We were lucky that our child turned 15 the very day of first flight back home. Airport security did ask to see a state-issued ID. Based on what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t recommend relying rely on a school-issued ID, and I’d assume that airport security will enforce the age limitations, especially during the busy holiday season. Perhaps USAir will give a waiver within x-number of days pre-15th b’day?</p>

<p>I would just fly southwest; they don’t bother with all this information.</p>

<p>Southwest is also good because you can cancel the flight and they will credit you for a future flight up to one year from the original booking date. Because of this, I booked our son on a one way back to school after Parent’s weekend (long weekend), Round Trip for T-giving and Winter break back in August. On the day after T-giving break, I booked Long Winter Weekend and Spring Break. If our (his) plans change, he can use any credits for Thanksgiving next year. </p>

<p>Originally, I planned on driving up to pick him up for all these breaks but the Southwest flights were only $49-$59 each way and they allow two bags for free. Tolls and gas would cost me more than that!</p>

<p>Alaska Air was great + a direct route from DCA to LAX. Only once in 4 years was there a problem: lost piece of luggage (returned the next day)</p>

<p>Please get State ID for your kid(s). </p>

<p>I also had credit card issued for both my children in their name when they went off to their respective BS (for emergency use while traveling). My S was 13 and D was 14. According to my S, he avoided the whole face to face situation when checking in using the machine or get boarding pass printed online.Show State ID to TSA. TSA is checking the expiration date of the ID and matching who you are to the ID." They are not policing airline policies which vary widely.</p>

<p>I don’t know about some of these airlines, but we have to give the age of our daughter when we purchase the ticket–so even if she did the kiosk check in, I would imagine there would be a problem at the gate when the “approved adult” was not there to sign the release form.</p>

<p>I have just added this in to the cost of her schooling. Would I rather not pay it? Of course…but I would not want to encourage my child to try to “get around the rules” (would you have your child lie to get a cheaper price ticket? I feel it is the same thing). </p>

<p>For us, there is only 1 airline that has conveniently timed, direct flights (east coast-west coast) so we don’t have much choice–I guess we pay a bit more, for a few more flights anyway.</p>

<p>I spoke with a Delta representative today while canceling d’s ticket. She stated that even when the minor is 15+ that they have to have an adult accompany them. They don’t have to pay the unaccompanied minor fee, but they still have to be presented to the airline by a responsible adult. I was a little surprised by this. Anyone have 15+ year old kids flying Delta? Have your children had problems getting on without an adult vouching for them at the ticket counter or gate?</p>

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<p>Horsepucky. Goaliegirl (age 17) just flew Delta (old Northwest route) from Boston to Minneapolis and back in October. I met her in Minneapolis. She checks in at the kiosk to get her boarding pass. She presents her driver license and boarding pass at TSA to go through the metal dectector. She gets in line with the other passengers when they call the flight and presents her boarding pass. Nobody ever asked her age.</p>

<p>Granted, she looks like she could be 18, but she’s been flying since age 14 without escort and has never been asked by an airlines representative for ID. These kiosks (or print your boarding pass from home) are wonderful. Gate attendants are too busy to hold up a flight challenging every kid getting on a plane.</p>