Anonymous wrote:I don't understand. Why wouldn't you want them to fly as unaccompanied minors?

Because it's $150 each way for each kid. Not OP. When our kids were younger we had them fly Southwest alone as soon as they could. $300 extra for one kid adds up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know the 16 is allowed to fly on her own, but technically, on United, the 12 year old should have the service. This is a direct flight. My only concern is them actually getting to the gate on their own, but they are smart and have flown all their lives. They also have a good deal of independence in their daily lives.

What have your experiences been? Is the airline going to give me a hard time or are there things I am not thinking of here that I should be?

Your 12 year old is not unaccompanied. They are traveling with the 16 year old.

Not under United's UM rules. If the 16 year old were 18 it would be fine but they're still unaccompanied.

I don't understand. Why wouldn't you want them to fly as unaccompanied minors?

Anonymous wrote:I know the 16 is allowed to fly on her own, but technically, on United, the 12 year old should have the service. This is a direct flight. My only concern is them actually getting to the gate on their own, but they are smart and have flown all their lives. They also have a good deal of independence in their daily lives.

What have your experiences been? Is the airline going to give me a hard time or are there things I am not thinking of here that I should be?

Your 12 year old is not unaccompanied. They are traveling with the 16 year old.

You'll have to get it for the 12 year old. They can't travel alone, even with the 16 year old.

Southwest is the only airline that allows this. All other airlines require the kid to be 15 to fly alone.

You have to pay on most airlines for a 12 year old except for Southwest. I have my teens fly Southwest if they are unaccompanied. By 12 my kids could handle a direct flight either with a friend or sibling.

you actually have to call the airline and speak to a person

Depends on the airline. My two kids aged 14 and 11 flew by themselves to see grandma who lives in the Caribbean on JetBlue. JetBlue considers 14 year olds as adults. So they flew together and were perfectly fine.

It’s different in different airlines. On some, a 16 year old is allowed to be the “adult” but on United, the “adult” has to be 18 to accompany younger children. Your 16 year old does not need to be part of the program but your 12 year old does. It’s $150 each way and they assign the seat.

Each airline has its own rules, which you can find with a google search. In order to break a carrier's rules, you'd have to supply a false DOB, which is probably a federal offense. Not advisable.

You can get a gate pass.

16 YO, yes. I'm not so sure about the 12 YO tho.

Anonymous wrote:I know the 16 is allowed to fly on her own, but technically, on United, the 12 year old should have the service. This is a direct flight. My only concern is them actually getting to the gate on their own, but they are smart and have flown all their lives. They also have a good deal of independence in their daily lives.

What have your experiences been? Is the airline going to give me a hard time or are there things I am not thinking of here that I should be?

The airlines have your kids' DoBs so you will be forced to follow their rules regarding unaccompanied minors. Don't even think about making a separate account and lying about the birthdate either since, if they find out, you could find yourself permanently uninvited from flying United.


That said, are you sure your 16yo doesn't count as old enough to exempt your 12yo from needing the unaccompanied minor service per United policy? Also, different airlines have different guidelines for tweens, teens, and cutoff ages, so maybe shop around.

I don't know the answer, but I think you can get a gate pass and go with them to the gate, even if they aren't flying as "unaccompanied minors".

I know the 16 is allowed to fly on her own, but technically, on United, the 12 year old should have the service. This is a direct flight. My only concern is them actually getting to the gate on their own, but they are smart and have flown all their lives. They also have a good deal of independence in their daily lives.

What have your experiences been? Is the airline going to give me a hard time or are there things I am not thinking of here that I should be?