I can't believe no one's even looked this up. Delta, at least, does not allow 5-7 year olds to make connections.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/special-travel-needs/children.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do it. DOn't listen to these fear-mongerers.

What about the nightmare that is clearing foreign customs and immigration.

The extra fee you pay for an unaccompanied minor gets you escorted through customs and immigration, often in a special line for unaccompanied minors.

No it doesn't.

I am a fairly laid back mom but I wouldn't allow this. What would happen if the flight was diverted? It happens. What if he had to spend the night in some random city. How does that work? Who would take care of him?

Not a chance. I took a couple domestic, non stop flights at 7 and was fine. A 5yo, 20 hours of travel time with a layover to an international destination? No way. Maybe when he's older, if it were a direct flight and he was fluent in the language of the place he was going.

He has done fine on long flights so far because you have been with him!

OP -- are you sure they still allow this? My DD flew at age 5 by herself domestically, but i thought airlines did away with that even for domestic flights. We did it and it worked. I think an international flight would be super long for anyone to get crabby much less a child.

Here was our experience just to give OP an idea of how it works: At age 9, DD flew UM from DC to Europe, direct on United. Check in was much longer than usual and I had to designate who would pick her up there and fill out lots of forms. She had all documents in a pouch around her neck. I was able to take her to gate at IAD, and had to wait there until flight took off. At other end, nobody from our family could meet her at gate, and she ended up waiting there for a while for her escort to show up. Note it is NOT the flight attendant who escorts them once they leave the plane. Person showed up, spoke no English, and she was escorted to front of line in immigration, and to get luggage and out. They had to check ID of my sister who picked her up outside customs. Pretty smooth all around. I was most worried about who she was sitting next to for nine hours, but it turned out she was next to a teenage girl - planned? I don't know.

On the way back, they upgraded her to business class. She was happy.

She was 9 - it was a direct flight. I don't think I'd do it at age 5 with a connection. And I'm super laid-back. I had friends who thought I was crazy to let my DD do this flight. But she actually loved it and felt very grown up.

I don't know if I would have understood fully, when I was 5, what all this would mean, and that uncertainty (being alone, no parent with me, etc.) would have made me terrified. Poor child, to have to travel alone at such a young age.

No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do it. DOn't listen to these fear-mongerers.

What about the nightmare that is clearing foreign customs and immigration.

The extra fee you pay for an unaccompanied minor gets you escorted through customs and immigration, often in a special line for unaccompanied minors.

Are you OP? Because you sure sound alike - if there is anything I learned on this thread besides the fascinating info that so many international carriers allow unaccompanied 5 yo doing stopovers, is that seems like the most amazing $100 service ever - you have a personal doting Mary Poppins in the sky, your own lounges with all the toys imaginable and even your own designated customs and immigration line! What a steal! I should really reconsider how my 5 yo gets around...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do it. DOn't listen to these fear-mongerers.

What about the nightmare that is clearing foreign customs and immigration.

The extra fee you pay for an unaccompanied minor gets you escorted through customs and immigration, often in a special line for unaccompanied minors.

I'm starting to think OP is a troll and is laughing herself silly over the reaction this thread has produced.

No one could be this dumb in real life.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do it. DOn't listen to these fear-mongerers.

What about the nightmare that is clearing foreign customs and immigration.

+1 I wonder about this too. Do they have a special line they would take him through? That can last for hours.

I would not do this, period, but I certainly wouldn't do it with a layover. I was a chaperone on an overseas trip and had to stay back with a child who got sick and was hospitalized the night before we were set to leave. We left 2 days later, and our flight was late so we missed our connection, forcing us to stay another 24 hours in a strange city. There are tons of variables at play when you add in a connection.

Would you be okay with your 5 year old staying overnight in a hotel room with a complete stranger? I wouldn't.

Anonymous wrote:I would do it. DOn't listen to these fear-mongerers.

What about the nightmare that is clearing foreign customs and immigration.

Another possible cultural issue at play here is that people from many other cultures are much less considerate about inconveniencing strangers - in fact they don't give a #%€% about what surrounding strangers think or feel. If an American had a flight attendant and a nice Scottish gentleman in first class (definitely not what he had in mind when he was buying his first class ticket) taking care of their 2 year old kid for an entire transatlantic flight they would try at all costs to avoid anything similar happening in the future and not take it as a "good sign" (everything was fine, we can do it again ) as OP is doing here.

OP does not seem like much of a worrier. She's pretty sure her kid will do OK. It's her decision to make, not ours. I am not from her culture. I'm a helicopter American parent. I would never let my five year old go unaccompanied anywhere, much less on an international flight with a layover. But if she's not worried, well, then it's her call. I don't think it makes her a bad parent, just a different type of parent who doesn't worry about all the "what if"'s as I do. The chances of a problem are small, and she's willing to take that risk with her child. If the airlines say it's OK, well, then it's possible. I could not stand the anxiety worrying about my kid for all that time, but if OP's OK with that, well, good for her. Worrying shortens your life, as we all know. OP if your kid is scared, that's the point where I'd think seriously about whether or not this is in his or her best interest. Otherwise, well, as you say, happy travels!