Absolutely. I think it's a great learning experience.

I started doing this internationally in 8th grade and it was an adventure (I didn't speak the language), but I made all my connections and had no problems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you checked with the airline to see if they require unaccompanied minor status? The only airline I've seen that doesn't require 13 year olds to fly as unaccompanied minors is southwest. If they are unaccompanied minors, you will have to pay for the service and the camp will have to escort them to the gate (and you will have to meet them at the gate at arrival).

Yes. I checked and they are flying on Southwest so they are labeled as youth travelers. So there is no fee. They have both flown in the past but not in the past two years due to COVID so they both were around 10 when they last traveled on an airplane. I figure my husband dropping them off at Denver can point out how to get to the gates so they will at least see how it works. And they both will have phones.

Southwest does allow the (free) youth travelers to be accompanied to the gate by a non-traveling adult and picked up at the gate on the other end. We’ve done this on the way to/from camp. Camp staff have always accompanied our kids to, or met them at, the gate, though.

Are you sure the airline won’t require you to pay for an airline escort? The age varies by airline.

On my last flight I had my 9 year old figure out what airport line, security line, gate, etc we needed to go to (we started in the correct terminal). She had no problem at all! But I agree with other posters that’s very different than if flights get canceled / changed. The first time I flew alone (17) my flights were canceled and rerouted. I was fine, but it might have been different if I’d needed to spend a night. And with younger kids, they can’t even book a hotel room and may not be allowed to take certain transit alone. Does the camp stay until takeoff? What happens if summer storms cancel flights? I’d ask the camp about their contingency plans.

Anonymous wrote:I fly out of DIA a lot. You will need to prep them for the trolly system to the right terminal, etc. It's a really big airport. My kids are great travelers and I don't think I would let my 12yo do it alone, but maybe with a fellow camper.

+1 I was in that airport recently and I’m not sure how my space cadet 13 year old would handle it, although I’d love to be a fly on the wall watching. I think if Dad spends some time familiarizing the kids with the airport after landing on the way out, that would help a lot.

Anonymous wrote:on the way to camp, have them navigate on their own without any help from your husband.

This. If you don't make your kids read signs and follow direction, they just tag along without learning much.

My son couldn't believe that I'm able to drive from DC to Richmond or Charlottesville without directions or waze. Like, duh, it's all in my memory.

My 10 year old could do this. Easily.

I fly out of DIA a lot. You will need to prep them for the trolly system to the right terminal, etc. It's a really big airport. My kids are great travelers and I don't think I would let my 12yo do it alone, but maybe with a fellow camper.

My then 13 year old had no problem, and he's definitely below average in this type of thing (book smart, but often lacking in common sense). They shouldn't need to have cell phones but if they do that's yet another backup.

At that age they can have a chaperoned from the airlines.

Anonymous wrote:on the way to camp, have them navigate on their own without any help from your husband.

This!!!

If it goes really poorly, you can always book a pick up flight for the return home.

OMG yes!!

Anonymous wrote:I would need to know the backup plan if the flight is canceled and they need to overnight in Denver. I’d prefer a morning nonstop.

That would be my only hesitation.

Anonymous wrote:I would be totally comfortable with this but would want one to have a credit card in his name and would maybe walk them through a map of the terminal first. I got super lost in JFK at age 15 because I had no idea there were separate terminals and a shuttle between them. After walking for 40 minutes, I asked a very nice pilot who helped me. I can’t remember if Denver has any weird twists but forewarned is forearmed.

Yeah this definitely depends on what the airport is like! I have missed a flight because I couldn’t navigate the airport. Charles de Gaulle is not the same as DCA is not the same as ATL.

But I wouldn’t worry about Denver. Even if they fail, they’ll learn something.

An airline check-in agent can issue an escort pass to someone with a government-issued photo ID who wishes to accompany a minor child or a person with a disability, age-related or not, to a departure gate