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In addition, you will have to agree that the airline is not taking on any special
responsibility of guardianship during the flight. Legally, an unaccompanied minor is
treated in the same way as an adult passenger.
Children ages 1 - 4 may fly only when accompanied by an adult. A child must be at
least 5 to fly alone.
Kids ages 5 - 7 can take a direct flight to a single destination but not connecting
flights.
Those 8 and up may change aircraft on most airlines. If they're between 8 and 11,
they will be escorted by airline personnel to their connecting flight. A significant extra
charge for this service is likely. Older kids -- age 12 and up -- may not be routinely
escorted, but you can request this assistance.
Anyone under the age of 17 who is flying alone on an international flight must have a
signed note from a parent or responsible adult giving permission, destination and length
of stay.
Editor's Note: As these guidelines vary slightly by airline, be sure to contact your carrier
for specific information.
On international flights, age restrictions are more stringent. Additional fees may apply for
flights longer than six hours.
Some airlines may not allow unaccompanied minors to fly on the last connecting flight of
the day, or on so-called "red eye" flights between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Be sure to read each
airline's policies carefully before booking.
After filling out some paperwork and paying the appropriate fees at check-in, one parent
or guardian will receive a special pass that will allow him or her to get through the
security checkpoint. The parent or guardian must accompany the child to the gate and
wait there until the plane takes off.
If you can help it, buy your children nonstop tickets only. If a change of planes is
necessary, use a small, less intimidating airport for the transfer, if possible.
Make sure your child carries plenty of emergency information. For example, leave
instructions on how to handle flight delays or cancellations, including emergency
contacts and a means to pay for necessities, such as overnight accommodation.
Familiarize your child with his or her itinerary and make sure all travel
documents are kept in a safe place -- especially if they'll be needed for a return
flight.
Try to book a morning flight. If it is delayed or canceled, you have the rest of
the day to make alternate plans.
Small children may have trouble with checked baggage. If possible, stick with a
single carry-on bag and a personal item. If not, check your child's checked bag stubs
carefully to be sure that the luggage claim ticket and luggage tag match your child's final
destination.
Get to the airport early to ease check-in and get children accustomed to their
surroundings. If possible, show them where help desks are located and teach them to
recognize uniformed employees.
Give your child a picture of the person meeting him or her -- with the full name,
address and phone number written on the back. You will need to provide this information
to the airline as well.
Make sure the adult meeting your child at the destination airport is carrying photo
identification.
Pack some snacks for your child: chips, sandwiches, trail mix or other finger foods
like grapes or berries. You may also want to purchase juice or water for your child after
you pass through the security checkpoint.
Make or buy young children a travel pack to keep them entertained while in flight.
Give your child a little cash to cover incidental expenses and phone calls in the event
of an emergency.
In addition to being sure your child knows how to place a collect call, you may want
to provide a calling card to use in an emergency, as well as a list of numbers to call if
necessary.
Just because a 5-year-old is permitted to fly solo, that doesn't mean that your 5-year-
old will be able to handle flying alone, especially if your child hasn't flown before.
Parents should use common sense and make a decision based on their own child's level of
maturity.
Airline Policies
Click on the link below to find your airline's policy on children flying alone.
Don't see your airline? Check out our full list of airline contact information.
For more family travel tips and ideas, see our sister site, Family Vacation Critic!
Home > Travel Information > Customers with Disabilities > Children Traveling Alone
Continental designates children 5-11 years of age as unaccompanied minors when traveling
without their parent or guardian over the age of 18 in the same cabin. Travel arrangements
for young travelers can be booked at any of the following:
• continental.com
• Continental Reservations Call Center
• A U.S. Continental Ticket Office
• Your local Travel Agent.
• Children under the age of 12 traveling alone may not travel on any flights operated by
Continental that connect to/from other carriers.
AMERICAN AIRLINES
Please note that Unaccompanied Minors cannot be booked on AA.com. Please call Reservations for assistance.
AA reserves the right to request documented proof of age for children traveling alone. Please be prepared to provide documentation (birth certificate, driver's license, passport,
etc.) upon request.
• The charge will be assessed for each individual unaccompanied minor. Two or more unaccompanied children from the same family (immediate or extended),
traveling on the same flights, will be assessed a single charge.
• The charge does not cover onboard snack purchases or meals during a layover.
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Please note that no reservation will be accepted for an unaccompanied minor traveling on an itinerary that includes the last on-line connection to any American Airlines, American
Eagle or AmericanConnection destination.
American Airlines, American Eagle, and AmericanConnection do not accept unaccompanied children when their itinerary includes a connection to/from another airline, including
codeshare and oneworld partners.
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For international flights, please plan to arrive three hours before departure.
Please see additional information below.
A parent or responsible adult must do the following when a child who will be traveling as an Unaccompanied Minor is brought to the airport:
• Complete an Unaccompanied Minor form at the ticket counter. This includes providing the name, address and phone number of the parent or responsible
adult who will meet the child at his or her destination. A child may not travel unaccompanied until this form is completed.
• Obtain a boarding pass from the airport ticket counter (for clearance through the security checkpoint).
• Remain with unaccompanied minors until the child is boarded on the flight and the flight has departed the gate. This may not be possible at airports outside
the United States. See below for additional information.
An agent will ensure that the flight on which your child is confirmed is operating as scheduled. If the flight is delayed and expected to misconnect or divert to another airport,
please make alternate arrangements for your child's travel.
Upon completion of check-in, your child and the parent or responsible adult delivering your child to the airport should be at the gate 30 minutes prior to departure for pre-
boarding.
Please Note: Requests for someone other than American Airlines to escort your child at the connection city will not be honored. American Airlines remains responsible for the
unaccompanied minor from the origin city to the final destination.
At airports outside the United States, you may be required to release your child upon check in at the ticket counter. In these instances, an American Airlines representative will
escort your child to the departure gate and your child will remain under the supervision of an American Airlines representative until the flight departs.
American Airlines has implemented cashless cabins onboard flights within the U.S. and between the U.S. and Canada. However, international flights still accept cash as a
possible form of payment. American Eagle and AmericanConnection are not accepting credit cards for onboard purchases at this time.
If your child plans to purchase a snack during a cashless flight, we accept American Express® cards and other major credit or debit cards. Our flight attendants use wireless
handheld devices to quickly swipe the card and provide receipts upon request.
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Please plan to arrive three hours before departure. A check-in agent will ensure all documents are in order and assist in completing all forms prior to boarding. The agent will
ensure that the parent or responsible adult delivering your child to the airport completes all necessary Customs and Immigration forms before American Airlines or American
Eagle takes custody of your child.
Upon completion of check-in, your child and the parent or responsible adult delivering your child to the airport should be at the gate 30 minutes prior to departure for pre-
boarding.
At the airport you may be required to release your child upon check in at the ticket counter. In these instances, an American Airlines representative will escort your child to the
departure gate and your child will remain under the supervision of an American Airlines representative until the flight departs.
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Schedule Irregularities
If schedule irregularities occur at any city, American may refuse to provide air transportation services at any originating city to an Unaccompanied Minor holding reservations if
there is a reasonable likelihood that the child will not make a flight connection.
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Identification Requirements
Passengers 18 years of age or older are required to have government-issued photo identification for travel within the United States. However, you may be required to present
proof of age (such as a birth certificate) at the airport for any children under the age of 18 who are traveling with you.
Passengers under the age of 18 who are traveling outside the United States are subject to the same travel document requirements as adults. Visit the U.S. State Department's
Web site for information on passports* as well as visa and immunization* requirements for international travel.
Note: Please contact the nearest Consulate for the latest updates.
• All children travelling alone, between the ages of 5 and 12 years old must be booked with
the Skyflyer Solo service.
• Children between their 12th and 18th birthdays requesting assistance can also be
registered as unaccompanied minors by following the same booking process.
• We charge for the Skyflyer Solo service, which must be booked and paid for together with
your child’s flight. If not, cancellation and re-issue fees will be charged.
• The Skyflyer Solo service must be booked at least 48 hours in advance of the flight’s
departure, otherwise it will not be possible for your child to travel.
• All flights must be confirmed at the time of booking.
• Children from age five upwards can travel alone on a single sector, direct, non-stop flight
only.
• Children from the age of six can travel alone on any British Airways flight.
• If you are booking through your travel agent, please take your child’s passport with you, as
you will need to show this to make the booking.
• Check that all visas and other formalities have been completed.
• Additional documentation is needed for some countries when your child is travelling alone.
Please note that we cannot accept:
• children travelling on any journeys which include a transfer between London Heathrow and
London Gatwick airports
• children on any journeys which involve a night-stop, transfer or stopover exceeding six
hours, unless you have arranged for your child to be met and cared for at the transfer point. Full
contact details must be provided before the child can be accepted for their first flight
How to make a booking
You can book your child’s flight and the Skyflyer Solo service by contacting your local British
Airways office or your travel agent.
• Contact us to make a booking
The Skyflyer Solo service cannot be booked on ba.com.
• US $50 ($100 return trip) for shorthaul flights and flights within the UK
• US $75 ($150 return trip) for longhaul flights
Exchange rates fluctuate, so the price may vary.
Other airlines, with whom we have alliances, may have different regulations, age limits, and
charges, so do check when you make your flight booking.
Please contact your local British Airways office or your travel agent for further information.
• Contact us
You will need to accompany your child to the airport and go to the designated check-in desk, to
hand your child into our care.
You will not be able to use online check-in or an airport check-in kiosk.
• Please be at the airport early, with your child, to check in - at least one hour before the
flight's scheduled departure - and remain at the airport until their flight has actually departed.
• At most airports there is a designated desk for children travelling alone. Please ask a
member of airport staff for directions.
• You will need to complete check-in formalities in order for us to accept your child for travel.
• You will be asked for the completed and signed Declaration Form, contained in a
distinctive blue wallet with red and white stripes, that advises us who will be collecting your child
at the end of their journey.
• We will also ask for your contact details in case there is any disruption to flights.
The Declaration Form will require the following information:
A member of staff will host your child throughout their journey, until they are collected by the
nominated adult at the arriving airport, or by the transferring airline if applicable.
It is essential that we know who will be collecting your child as they will be required to show us
formal photographic identification.
At London Heathrow and Gatwick airports, we have dedicated lounges for children travelling alone,
where they will be cared for until they board their flight.
Arriving at their destination
Our ground staff will host your child from the aircraft through all the arrival procedures until they
have met up with the person nominated to collect them, or the staff of the airline to which your
child is transferring.
If the person collecting your child is delayed, it is essential that you advise us as we have limited
hours of operation at some airports.
The safety and security of your child is of utmost importance and we do ask for photographic
identification of the person collecting your child to make sure it is the person you have asked to
meet them.
Virgin alantic
UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN
Virgin Atlantic is happy to help kids fly solo. We accept them from the
ages of 5 to 15 years old (up to and including the day prior to their
16th birthday). Conditions and restrictions apply for the
Unaccompanied Minor service.
WHEN TO BOOK:
WHAT TO DO:
Please call our Contact Centre if you have any doubts about whether
the child or young person is able to travel unaccompanied.
SPECIAL NEEDS:
AT THE AIRPORT:
From the check-in point onwards, we will take charge of the child or
young person and guide them through the airport until they are safely
handed over to a member of our crew.
• About
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3. Cite this Page
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• Background
• Why Children Travel Alone
• Train and Bus Travel
• Air Travel
• Common Sense
• Additional Resources
• Organizations
Background
The number of children between the ages of 5 and 12 traveling alone, particularly by air,
has risen steadily over the years. Estimates for how many children travel alone by plane
in the United States per year run as high as 7 million. Children traveling alone, known in
the travel industry as "unaccompanied minors," raise a number of issues, the most
important being liability and safety. In most cases, solo child travelers neither create nor
encounter difficulties. Even the best-planned trip, however, can go wrong, and when
unaccompanied children are involved the issues can be particularly problematic.
Many air travelers, for example, have had the frustrating experience of finding out that
their luggage was accidentally placed on the wrong plane, and they may have to spend
hours or even days tracking it down. But in August 2001, two girls ages 11 and 8 wound
up in Toronto instead of San Diego because airline personnel placed them on the wrong
connecting flight in Phoenix. While many airlines have strict rules about allowing
unaccompanied children to transfer to connecting flights, others do not. (The airline that
placed the two girls on the wrong plane quickly revised its policy.)
There are no official guidelines regarding the transport of unaccompanied children. Train
and bus regulations are more strict than air regulations, but in all cases it is the
transportation providers' obligation to set the requirements. Neither the Air Transport
Association nor the International Air Transport Association provides detailed guidelines
or even statistics on the number of children traveling alone. The American Society of
Travel Agents (ASTA) does note in its "Traveler's Bill of Rights" that unaccompanied
children have a right to "timely and courteous assistance" and that they should "never be
abandoned or put in fear of being abandoned."
These omissions do not mean that the government is unconcerned about unaccompanied
children. The self-imposed industry requirements that must be met are considered
stringent enough. With the rise in concern for travel safety in general since the fall of
2001, the government has taken a more active role. Still, airlines, trains, and bus lines are
all still allowed to set their own rules for children traveling alone.
The necessary precaution for sending children on trips unaccompanied is that those
making the travel arrangements should get as much information before the trip as
possible about travel policies and procedures for children. Because rules are subject to
change and in order to avoid potential difficulties, it is important to check each time a
child travels.
The most common reason children travel alone is to visit relatives. As families spread out
it is more likely that grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins may live across the country
or overseas. Children whose parents are divorced also travel alone. In years past,
divorced couples with children would tend to stay in the same geographic location to be
able to spend time with those children. Today, job opportunities or remarriage may mean
that a child's mother and father may live on opposite coasts.
Clearly, some children are more comfortable traveling than others. A child who flies
several times a year will likely be more comfortable on a plane than one who has never
flown alone. That is not a given, however. Just as some frequent passengers never get
over their fear of flying, neither do some children. A 6-year-old who has never flown
before may find the experience one big enjoyable adventure. An 11-year-old who dislikes
plane travel, on the other hand, might actually be a difficult and demanding passenger.
Since the attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, airline,
train, and bus security have all increased. While this may not affect children as directly as
it affects adults, the travel process is longer and involves a considerable amount more
time standing in line and waiting. Not only that, children who are old enough to
understand what happened in the plane attacks may be frightened of flying even if they
were never afraid in the past.
Relatively few unaccompanied children travel by train or bus, in part, because train and
bus trips may be too long for children. Also, railroad and bus companies have stricter
regulations about who is old enough to travel solo.
Amtrak estimates that no more than 5,100 children per year travel unaccompanied on its
trains. Greyhound estimates far fewer unaccompanied children on its bus routes. In part
this low number reflects the fact that most long-distance travel is done by plane, but it
also has to do with strict train and bus regulations.
Amtrak will not allow children under the age of 8 to travel unaccompanied, subject to the
following restrictions:
Air Travel
Airline Regulations
No airline will allow a child under the age of 5 to travel alone, although some will allow
a child under 5 to travel with a companion as young as 12. Most airlines will not allow a
child under the age of 8 to take a flight that requires changing planes to make a
connection. Any child under 12 who has to make a connecting flight will be escorted by
an employee of the airline. Southwest Airlines does not allow any child under the age of
12 to take connecting flights. Although children between the ages of 12 and 15 are not
automatically escorted, the parent or GUARDIAN making the travel arrangements can
ask the airline to assist the child.
Accompanied minors usually pay half or reduced fare when flying. Unaccompanied
minors are required to pay full fare, as well as an additional service fee of between $30
and $75 each way (the price is higher when the child has to make a connection). On most
airlines, that fee will cover more than one minor traveling within the same party.
Airlines usually require that a parent or guardian fill out a form with all relevant
information about the child. While the airline does not generally take actual guardianship
of the child during the flight, one of the personnel is generally assigned to look after the
child. Solo child travelers usually have to wear a button or badge to make them easy to
identify by airline staffers.
Some children are required to take medication. Airline personnel will not dispense
medication to the child, but if the child is able to administer his or her own medication,
the airline will allow the child to carry that medicine. The form that parents and guardians
fill out asks for a list of medications or other medical issues that may be important for
staffers to know.
Most airlines will not allow minors to take the last flight of the day. The reason is that, air
travel being subject to such unforeseen circumstances as weather, there is always a
chance of delay. If a late evening flight is delayed, it means passengers will probably
have to wait until the next morning to catch another flight. A stranded child clearly
presents more difficulties to the airline than a stranded adult.
In the event that a child is stranded at the airport overnight despite everyone's best efforts,
different airlines have different procedures, all of which are subject to the approval of the
parent or guardian. Usually, the airline will put the child up in a hotel room. An airline
staffer may stay in the room with the child or in an adjoining room. Some airlines will
post a guard outside the room. In most cases the airline assigns a staffer of the same sex
as the child to serve as an escort. Some airlines may turn a stranded child over to a local
child welfare agency for the night.
One of the biggest challenges for those in charge of watching children is keeping those
children amused. Doing so is particularly difficult in the case of long flights. Many of the
larger airlines have established facilities designed for children at major airports, where
children can wait for their connecting flights. These rooms have games and other
activities for children. They also will have other children, so that young travelers will feel
less lonely.
Under no circumstances will airline personnel turn a child over to a waiting adult without
seeing definitive identification and matching that carefully to the information filled out
on the pre-departure form.
International Flights
Children traveling alone on international flights face even closer scrutiny, in part because
of the fear of child abductions. In fact, children traveling with only one parent are subject
to strict regulations to ensure that a parent is not KIDNAPPING the child from a
custodial parent. Any child under the age of 18 who is traveling with one parent to
Mexico must show notarized consent from the other parent or a sole CUSTODY
DECREE from the accompanying parent. If the other parent is dead, the airline requires
the travelers to show a death certificate.
Children need the same documentation, whether passports, visas, or other official
paperwork, as adults. It is a good idea to contact the consulate of the country being
visited to determine whether there are any special requirements for children traveling
alone.
Common Sense
The most important rule for both parents and children to remember is to plan ahead.
Parents should explain to children exactly what will be expected of them as solo
travelers. They should also let children know that inappropriate behavior by adult
passengers (such as unwanted physical contact) should be reported to airline personnel. If
the child has traveled alone before on a different airline, it is not a good idea to assume
that the current airline has the same policies. Most airlines list their policies clearly and
comprehensively on their websites.
Increased concern for flight security has made the travel process slower and more
cumbersome. These new procedures should be explained to the child. It should also be
made clear that no matter how accommodating airline personnel may be, they have no
obligation to children traveling alone before or after a flight.
Checking out the airlines' websites is a good way to become familiar with each carrier's
policies on solo child travelers. Groups such as ASTA (http://www.asta.org) and the U. S.
Department of Transportation (http://www.usdot.gov) can provide additional information.
The Department of Transportation offers a free publication, Kids and Teens Traveling
Alone, which can be obtained by writing to 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, D. C.,
20590.
Additional Resources
Fun on the Run: Travel Games and Songs. Cole, Joanna, and Stephanie Calmerson,
Morrow Junior Books, 1999.
Trouble-Free Travel with Children: Helpful Hints for Parents on the Go. Lansky, Vicki,
Book Peddlers, 1996.
Organizations
1776 K Street NW
Washington, DC 20006 USA
Phone: (202) 293-9292 (202) 293-9292
Fax: (202) 293-8448
URL: http://www.iata.org
Primary Contact: Pierre Jeanniot, Director General
and Chief Executive Officer