<p>yeah, i need a carpool to andover, too. PM me if you live near the north pole. <3 ROAD TRIP</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that Andover sends a bus to NYC on major breaks (Thanksgiving, Winter, Spring). I imagine that NJ kids might take advantage of that.</p>
<p>Through 6/24, Southwest is running a fare sale that just allowed me to book a one-way trip for $39. Fares are valid 9/8-11/17 so it won’t help for the initial trip to school or for Thanksgiving, but it’s perfect if your child wants to come home with you after Parents weekend and you want to fly them back. Also perfect for visiting them to catch a Fall sporting event. I’ll also post this as a separate item.</p>
<p>my mom doesnt want to put me on the bus tho because she doesnt want me to take the train alone guess i will have to see</p>
<p>take me with you, i want to go to andover! i’m pretty small, i think i would fit in your suitcase 
just don’t forget to put ventilation holes in there for me</p>
<p>haha ok i think we have a deal :)</p>
<p>Thought I would pass on a tip I learned from Southwest today. First the background. My d missed her connecting flight due to a mechanical issue on her initial leg and all the other flights into Manchester were sold out. Southwest wanted to send her home, which was reasonable since she couldn’t go to a hotel. D suggested they put her on a flight into another city in order to make a connection to Boston and she took a car service to Concord. It all worked out and she did it all without me (boy has she matured). Southwest tried to call me to approve my d’s new travel arrangement’s but I had listed d’s cellphone number when purchasing her ticket so they called her and she told them I approved (we had already talked so I had in fact approved). </p>
<p>When I called Southwest today to complain about the initial delay and ask for compensation, the customer service person was the same person who had worked with my d yesterday. She suggested that my d always let the gate agent know that she is a minor flying alone and give the gate agent my contact information. She said if they had been aware of her status yesterday, they would have held the connecting flight for her. I told her that I did indicate that she was a minor flying alone when I purchased her ticket. She reiterated that the gate agent should always be informed. That information would have made a huge difference yesterday in time and money.</p>
<p>@emdee! </p>
<p>Incredibly helpful info. Thank you.</p>
<p>A note of caution, though . . . what works with Southwest might not work with another airline. Given each airline’s individual policy’s regarding unaccompanied minors, that bit of information could well end up costing you a huge chunk of money in unaccompanied minor fees!</p>
<p>I see that the term used above was “minor flying alone,” which may have been intentional. I think it’s important to avoid the term “unaccompanied minor”–as that generally leads to extra fees/restrictions. It’s an optional label for kids between the ages of 14 or 15 and 18, and using it requires a level of supervision (and expense) that most of us are trying to avoid. When we’ve had difficulty with connecting flights, I’ve avoided any terminology at all, simply told the agent my kid’s age, and they’ve been very helpful.</p>
<p>Right classical, minor flying alone is very different from unaccompanied minor. Southwest also has unaccompanied minor fees, that include escorting the child from one gate to another and the child is released to a designated adult. A minor flying alone is just that, no extra fees are paid, however, if a minor is flying alone and a connection is canceled the child can not go to a hotel. I think Southwest was concerned because the other two folks on my daughter’s flight were given hotel vouchers. They could not do the same with her and did not want her in the airport all night. Her connecting flight departed at 9:25A.M and her late flight arrived at 9:35A.M. If they had known she was a minor flying alone, they would have held the connecting flight. </p>
<p>Despite my daughter’s last two flights on Southwest involving missed connections, they have been great. They are usually on time, we do not have to pay unaccompanied minor fees and they did ultimately get her where she needed to be on this last flight, even though it was more than six hours later than planned. </p>
<p>We have not used other airlines for my d because they required unaccompanied minor fees, so I don’t know what others policies would be.</p>
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<p>Southwest: I was with my student in Manchester last December waiting for a nonstop flight to the Sunshine State. There were a group of students from some nearby bs who were not allowed to board another flight because the connecting flight was cancelled. (They had the misfortune of flying to a Snowy State 
)It was really messy and quite a few of the kids were visibly upset. The students all looked mature and perfectly able of taking care of themselves, but the fact remains that they are minors and therefore the quote from emdee above applied. </p>
<p>Don’t know how it all turned out because we boarded a different flight. But I thought about it alot…</p>
<p>I know everyone is not fortunate enough to have a non stop option - but if you can choose to do so it makes a big difference. For us, flights to BOS are connecting but to MHT they are non stop. So we choose MHT.</p>
<p>Nothing against Southwest - I love them and they are hands down the best. AirTran and JetBlue a close second for us.</p>
<p>So I have a logistical question about travel arrangements. My DS seems pretty clear on which school he’ll be going to although I’m making him sleep on it to be sure. In the meantime, I thought I would price flights to his school destination and start watching fares - who was it who said in the benefits of having a kid in boarding school is that it’s a planner’s dream? I completely agree. :)</p>
<p>Anyway, what I’m not clear on is this - do we buy him a one-way ticket to school to get him there in Sept., and a one-way ticket to get him home in June and round-trips for the breaks? Or do airlines have open ended tickets so that we buy him one round-trip ticket to get him there in Sept. with an open return date in June? Or do we buy him a r/t ticket and stagger the dates meaning arrive at school in Sept but the return trip home is the 1st day of Thanksgiving break. Next ticket is back to school for the end of T’giving break and return trip home is the 1st day of winter break? Maybe that would be too complicated to pull off though.</p>
<p>Anyway, just curious what people do - not sure if this is addressed in a different topic. When I was searching this one seemed to be the closest related one…</p>
<p>The short answer is any or all of the above.</p>
<p>I prefer to do a one way in Sept. because I just can mentally handle a RT ticket at Thanksgiving better than the return half of the Sept. ticket and the first half of the Dec. ticket. Just easier to wrap my brain around it and stay on top of things. </p>
<p>In future years you may be able to book a June/Sept RT, although you may not always know the exact return date if your child is in special activities. That is what I did for my other child, some years ago.</p>
<p>That being said, for the coming year, a family member booked D a frequent flier ticket going to school in Sept. and coming home for Thanksgiving, and RT for me in Sept. So I’ll just have to get my head in gear. I am not necessarily going to fly with her every Sept. Didn’t with my son because it was just out of the question financially and logistically. But he had the same dorm and dorm parents the whole time while my D is currently in a freshman dorm so she will be changing.</p>
<p>For her very first arrival at school we flew Southwest. I was able to book one way for her and RT for me, with 4 free suitcases, at a very good price. Of course we had to drive 4 hours just to get to the airport where swa flies.</p>
<p>United frequent flier miles can be used for one way flights at half the RT “price.” One way travel varies from airline to airline.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about booking a Sept/June ticket. Worth checking out.</p>
<p>Find the cheapest airlines, find the cheapest fares. For us, that means taking whatever is the best fare for any particular date. That might mean Airline A for the trip home and Airline B for the trip back to school - whatever works. And if the kid isn’t sure yet if he wants to leave on June 6 or June 7 (for example), book with Southwest, which doesn’t impose a penalty for changes!</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll do some more digging around on kayak.com and other sites but unfortunately it doesn’t look like Southwest will be an option for us. He’ll be flying San Francisco bay area to Hartford. It seems like that route is either Delta or United. (So this old thread was actually interesting - luckily he turns 15 in August so we won’t have to worry about the whole unaccompanied minor fee sham.)</p>
<p>I hadn’t considered checking different airlines for each part of the trip so I’ll look in to that too. Thanks!</p>
<p>Southwest flies from SFO, OAK, and SJC to Hartford. SJC is the cheapest, then SFO, and OAK is the most expensive. With free baggage, it’s likely to be your best option. (Yes, he’ll likely have to change flights en route - but he’ll survive that! :))</p>
<p>Just fyi for other reading this United doesn’t require 14 year olds to be classified as unaccompanied minors.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t plan too far advance with plane tickets as the change fees are just ridiculous and you have no idea if there may be adjustments. If your kid plays sports, the break dates may be somewhat different etc.</p>
<p>dodgersmom - thank you! When i looked on kayak.com, Southwest flights didn’t show up as options so I didn’t realize they flew to Hartford from here. But I checked their site and you are absolutely right. And the free bags and also no change fees are a total savings bonus. That will be a great option for him. (And he knows he’ll have a layover to get to and from school, but he thinks it’ll be worth it to go to this school.)</p>
<p>FWIW, I totally chickened out our first year and just used JetBlue - nonstop flights, shortest travel time. (And you also get a JetBlue credit if the price drops after you book!)</p>
<p>This year (our second), although I still prefer JetBlue, it’s whatever works. And he’s done a lot of flying, with a lot of last minute changes . . . so Southwest has been a lifesaver!</p>
<p>Glad I could help . . .</p>