<p>Updates: roommate’s (daughter’s travel companion) birthday is today, and she turns 16! As for buses, I know that sometimes buses may not be the most upscale kind of transportation, but the Boston/NYC trains, while somewhat faster and more comfortable, are expensive, unless you have bought your tickets weeks in advance…and I think we all know that with teenagers, that advance planning can be difficult.</p>
<p>Daughter has also traveled alone from NYC to Providence on buses alone from around age 11…with special forms signed by adults at each end.</p>
<p>I didn’t even know about the Amtrak train age restrictions. Daughter had flu during fall term, so we drove to school to pick her up, but she took the train back as a 15 year old on her own…bought adult ticket online, and adults were with her to board the train, with no problems.</p>
<p>I would be very surprised if they checked ages on the bus. I bet it’s just one of those liability things where they have to say an age restriction and they don’t have any interest in babysitting, but I can’t imagine your student will have any problem (or be in any danger----though if it were a Fung Wa bus I would worry about it breaking down, I often have seen them by the side of the road!)</p>
<p>OK, I can see a new crackdown on unaccompanied minors flying coming with this latest story on the 7-year-old adopted Russian child being sent on a plane back to Russia.</p>
<p>I’m confused. This thread began with stories of unaccompanied minors under 15 (knew about that but since my son turns fifteen right before school starts, I thought I’d be okay) then seems to end insinuating that all kids under 18 will not be allowed through security, never mind on a plane unaccompanied. Is this an airline by airline thing, or is there something bigger going on now because of Haiti, etc.?</p>
<p>Some airlines are worse than others. We stopped flying Continental completely when they hit us with a surprise $100 fee for my 12-year-old daughter a few years ago who was traveling unaccompanied on a non-stop flight. She’d been traveling solo for years to my parent’s house.</p>
<p>Now Southwest is our only preferred airline. We’ve used them since our kids were five. All of the boarding schools we considered are less than an hour from a Southwest airport. They have unadvertised youth fares for kids up to age 22 (although I haven’t needed them because their internet rates are so cheap). Up until now, they also didn’t charge for minors. Now it’s $25 each way but that’s a lot cheaper than other airlines.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, Southwest considers a minor to be 11 and under. When my kids turned 12, Southwest agents made a big deal of tearing up their paperwork in a symbolic gesture :-).</p>
<p>So BS students should be fine on Southwest, no adult needed to make the journey, no extra charge for them. Plus - if travel plans change - you aren’t penalized $100 for it.</p>
<p>It’s airline by airline. Policies are different for the different airlines. For example I think that Delta’s policy requires all minors to be accompanied to the ticket counter by an adult. However the consistency with which it is enforced may vary once the minor turns 15. Airtran does not have that requirement. </p>
<p>I think the most recent posters were implying that airline policies may change (to become more restrictive) due to the actions of that Tennessee mom. Just to be safe, I encourage everyone double check their airline’s policies before paying for the flight. I know I will.</p>
<p>Here I go off on a sidetrack again. My husband and I can’t decided whether one of us should fly with our son to school in September. It’s not that we don’t think he can fly alone–is it worth being there to help set up the room, buy last minute necessities, get a bank account going, __________? It’s two full days of travelling round trip and we’re teachers, so one of us would miss a lot of school–which is okay if there are really valid reasons to be there. Experiences? Thoughts?</p>
<p>I suggest going with him in September. Like you mentioned there will be last minute things you will need to purchase and if he is traveling by air, he may not be able to take everything he will need in one trip. You could ship items ahead of time…but it is inevitable that you are going to forget a few things. The first few days were overwhelming. I met with her advisor, helped her purchase books, opened a bank account, attend a parent meeting, met the roommates parents and exchanged contact information and went to Target three times a nd Wal-Mart once. I think it would be hard for a kid to go for the first time alone and the schools may not provide transportation from the airport in September. If you can manage it, I suggest you go to make the transition easier for your son. By the end of the day, I think about 5:00, they wanted the parents to leave and my daughter was ready for me to go.</p>
<p>My d has gone through airport security without any problems. In fact, they have accepted her school id each time. She says the airlines, Southwest and JetBlue, have not required her to show any id. The policies may not be consistent, so I make sure she has her passport in case security or the airline asks for government issued id.</p>
<p>I think most parents accompany their children when first arriving at school. There’s a lot going on, all new. I think it might be a little intimidating if he was all by himself. By 5:00 p.m. we were politely encouraged to leave.</p>
<p>I agree that it is definitely worth going for the first drop-off. </p>
<p>Here is a thought you might want to bounce off the school in question. Many schools have 2 report dates - one for fall varsity athletes, dorm proctors, and foreign students (usually about 3 or 4 days earlier) and another date for everyone else. The first date often fall on a weekend where you could fly up with your son, get him situated and then fly out again, reducing the number of work days missed. </p>
<p>In goaliegirl’s first year we arrived on the first date, primarily because my wife wanted to spend some time in the area, as goaliegirl was not a recruited athlete for her fall sport (although she ended up playing varsity anyway). After visiting campus the first day, they invited us to move her in and let her hang with the team on the second day (she was on medical restriction from a knee surgery and was limited to straight ahead running).</p>
<p>Mostly during these pre-season days they are fine with students on campus who have something to do (i.e. supervised). If he is playing a JV sport during the fall, you could ask if he could arrive early, practice with the varsity team for the pre-season days and then process with the rest of the students when they arrive.</p>
<p>I love goaliedad’s idea! I’ve no doubt you could find another parent to help your son get settled, but I think for your own peace of mind, it would be extraordinarily useful to go with him. You’d have that image of him getting settled into his dorm room to carry with you while he’s away. (And, yes, he could send a photo, but it wouldn’t be the same.) Goaliedad’s idea is absolutely inspired - I hope you can make it work!</p>
<p>dogersmom-my d, and her friends from bs who are with her, are always asked to show some type of id when going through TSA security. I would be prepared to have my school id, at the very minimum ready. She always carries her passport just in case someone decides her school id is not sufficient. I don’t want my 14 year old to have argue that she is not required to have id.</p>
<p>It’s a financial stretch, but you should go. It’s kind of a rite of passage and both of you will feel better. My parents drove me and I’m just realizing how long a haul that was, with my stuff all in the back of the station wagon. I was grateful to have them there as a safety net - even if it was only for a few hours before they had to make the long trek home.</p>
<p>Now - with my daughter, we’re planning to use our luggage allowance on Southwest to transport her items to the school. I think we need the closure as much as she will and seeing the campus one more time may actually seem magical now that she’s a part of it.</p>
<p>I agree with emdee. Adults are required to have ID. Usually adults show their ID which covers any children in the family traveling with them. However, if a minor presents him/herself without an ID-carrying adult, I am pretty certain that the child needs to have his/her own ID. Some airlines do not accept school IDs. So we opted to get our daughter a state issued id. It looks like a driver’s license. You can also use a passport, but I didn’t want to run the risk of her losing that.</p>
<p>We opened an acct for our daughter at a local branch of the same bank that is on her BS campus. And although they don’t regularly allow 14 year olds to open checking accounts, after explaining the situation, they were happy to help us out. We avoided having to deal with all that when we got to campus. She was all ready to go with her debit card in hand when she got there.</p>