To think 14 isn't too young to fly alone?

[Deadwood58]

Dd14 will be flying to Munich by herself over the summer to attend a language camp in Austria.

We will drop her at a London airport, and she will be picked up in Munich by the camp staff, who will drive her to the camp in Austria for 3 weeks.

I was talking about holiday plans with a few of the mothers of her school friends, and when I mentioned this they all seemed utterly horrified.

Is it unreasonable?

Lol. All you lot thinking using an unaccompanied minor service means ‘alone’. Don’t be muppets. The thread means ‘not using an unaccompanied minor service’ ie not having aircrew mollycoddling you. Flying as an adult.
Most major airlines have mandatory UM until 12, optional until 14. I think most don’t offer UM service over 14 at all.
I win the callous parent of the year award anyway. I sent mine without using the UM service at 12 and she is disabled. Terrible.

Perez
Hi Mum
nowa
I was flying LONG before 9/11 so we (unaccompanied minors) had perks like lunch in the cockpit and snacks from the galley and rides in the lift on the 747
some flights there were seven or eight of us and we were made to feel like royalty by the crew (who back then were all unmarried young women)
I had a frequent flyer book that the pilots would sign (I still have it)
When my best friend's dad was the pilot one flight it was a real laugh

PMSL.

Ahhh, the golden days of flying talk

User149, you are posting in the manner of a pointless unfunny twat.

OP: yes, it'll be fine. I live overseas. Ds flew unaccompanied to the UK at 12 for a weekend with his dad & had a blast.

Apparently he had to sit next to a much younger unaccompanied child who insisted on chatting to him throughout, which was annoying, but otherwise all good!

This was with the airline's unaccompanied minor service as he was under 14, but apparently all they did was make sure he got to the gate before the flight & was met by his dad the other end.

Two years on, he's planning on making the same journey completely independently & will be fine.

Agree with PP that I'd be more worried about a complicated train journey. He can't get out at the wrong stop on a plane .

I probably wouldn't have felt comfortable doing this at 14, but it's very much the sort of age where it depends on the person. If she feels comfortable and confident doing it, I'm sure she'll be fine. Maybe the children of the mothers your mentioned are less confident/haven't traveled as much?

Why not? Dd3 flew from London to Newcastle aged 11/12 to visit her sister at university. BA were no longer doing unaccompanied children but it was hardly a big deal. Much more straightforward than her last trip by train (just 14) where she changed stations in London. Just part of growing up.

Hope she loves the trip.

Talking, it really was like how you described. 😊

teisan
I've still got my PanAm triangular badge that they pinned onto my coat and my BOAC flight bag
Happy times

I knew someone who was put on a plane on their own at 4 or 5.
The flight attendants and ground staff will help all along the way, it is their job for starters and helping a young person is FAR preferable to sorting out rowdy P^heads (stags or hens). Most youngsters would cope pretty well anyway. If you drum into them that they only need to ask any uniformed ground staff or security the chance of real problems is minimal.

BA absolutely do allow 13 year olds to fly alone. My nephew flies to and fro for school all the time with them

My parents put me on a plane to south France alone at the age of 6. There was a small group of unattended children on the flight and the stewardesses looked after us. See what the flight company offer

I wouldnt let my 17 year old do it.

Its not about the age of the child, its about how independent and capable they are

Depends on the kid of course but mine took his first solo flight when he turned 14 to stay with grandmother abroad. He has dual nationality and was travelling on UK passport but did get stopped by passport control who said he should have had a letter from parents. He’s as cool as a cucumber my kid so he just said “come on dude, I’ve come to visit my nan”!! Was all fine but I’ll make sure he had letter next time so maybe do that with your daughter.

Of course it's about the age of the child Branleuse. An NT 17 year old should be able to fly on their own - I left home when I was 17!

I was flying unaccompanied at 11 (1971) on BAOR troop charters. Other school mates were going all the way to Africa. I had my glider pilot's licence by 16, in part due the cockpit visits.

If my NT 17 yr old wasn't independent enough and capable enough to be flying on their own I'd be asking wtf went wrong to be honest.

My child will be looking at doing this from next year. At 6 I think she's too young, but I'd expect by 9 or 10 I'd be ok with it.

It's more when something goes wrong eg delays. They need to be resourceful.

I think some of you may have egg on your face when Branleuse explains why she is best placed to say that her 17 year old isn't capable of it.

Live and let live an all that

OP I wouldn't be horrified at all (another flying from age 7. I would just make sure she had her ticket/passport/phone + relevant charger and contact details for the people picking her up. It seems a simple journey and she'll enjoy the independence.

If there are specific reasons why a child/ young adult is less capable of independence than average it isn't really relevant to just say you wouldn't let them though NotAgain

If a thread says "can a 14 year old do X" with no specific needs mentioned, then it's fairly clear that the thread is about a 14 year old who is more or less typical, as far as anyone is.

It's not ridiculous to want a sanity check in whether what you're planning is roughly age appropriate if you're second guessing your decision due to an acquaintance making comments.

Obviously everyone is different, some 10 year olds are more capable than some adults, some people will never fly alone, but where no additional information is given its likely that the question is about average abilities/ expecting.

I think it’s fine. I flew alone at 14. I didn’t even have anyone to meet me on the other side. I just got a taxi from the airport (was also going to a summer programme). I flew alone again at 16 (to visit unis) and got a taxi to a hotel and checked myself into a hotel for three days on my own. It was fine. My mum was a single parent and couldn’t afford to accompany me. I didn’t get up to anything too exciting!

Evelyn

We can't answer the question for the OP though. As this thread shows, there's a wide spread of experience. I object to the judgemental tone that Branleuse recieved when she spoke about her own child

With a disclaimer that I am not about to test this I am pretty sure that my 10yr old would be fine to fly alone. We fly a lot as a family and will frequently ask DC to 'take charge' and prove they know what they are doing at an airport.

At any age, the question is what they would do if things don't go according to plan. What if the flight is delayed by several hours or cancelled? If there is a last minute gate change? What if there is no one at the designated meeting place?