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?

I'm not interested in Branleuses circumstances. This thread isn't about her.

people who are neurodiverse arent a different species nor are they particularly rare. Thats all I meant by its not about the age its about the individual. I am also neurodiverse but I could have done this at 17 without too much problem. If you think your 17 year old could do it, then you know them better than anyone else. Just saying its about ability and level of independence, not age necessarily.

I've scrolled back through the first few posts and almost all have a variant on "it depends on the child"

I flew alone at 7. Just had an air stewardess assigned to look after me. It was fine.

savioursare nonU, do you have a problem with me posting or something? You seem a bit snippy. I wasnt posting for your benefit in particular

Bran - come on. An 18 year old is legally an adult. A 17 year old should be able to do this. If your 17 year old can't, that's because of their disability.

The OP's child doesn't have a disability that affects her ability to be independent and able or she wouldn't be going to language camp in Austria for 3 weeks.

Actually your post came across as extremely snippy. Goady in fact.

im just saying you assess the individual childs ability. Some 14 year olds would find this no problem and some would be completely lost or be massively anxious over this. Several airlines wouldnt even allow it. Some would.

Making it all about age is silly because there are all types of people in the world with all different levels of capability.

Thats all im saying. Surprised anyones got a problem with what I said really.

Absolutely fine. I flew unaccompanied at 8.

It and over more as if you had a problem with what everyone else was saying, as they were saying more or less that - "depends on the child".

You saying you wouldn't let your 17 year old do it, quite baldly, came across as if you were saying that the OP was UR for letting her 14 year old. It actually read quite aggressively, to me anyway.

it came over bloody phone

The OP has clearly given the context.

Me talking about my child who isn't NT who might never be able to get a plane by themselves is absolutely irrelevant to the OP

Yes I was just thinking that. My brother is 38 and couldn't be trusted to fly on his own.

Not very relevant to the OP though.

apologies, I had no idea that people would be offended by what I said.

I don't think anyone is offended.

I think it was probably NotAgain's post that got up peoples noses.

No one is offended FFS

It's not offensive, it's just irrelevant. In exactly the same way as if I posed a question about something my ND child was having difficulty with and a load of people with NT children told me he was bloody useless because their kids were able to do that brilliant.

yeah I get it. Ill fuck off.

You're right, this thread should have been all about you, rather than the OP

The OP thinks her Dd is capable.
The thread is about whether this is unreasonable because the OP’s friends are aghast and pursed lipped.

And no reason for this has been given except age.

Obviously if a child (or adult ) has ANY qualities that might cause risk or upset, then that influences the answer, for that individual.

The OP thinks her kid can do it. The objections have purely been based on being 14. So the thread is bout ‘is 14, per se, too young to fly ‘

If the answer is that a particular young person is not ready to travel alone, it is likely that that will be down to a factor other than age.

This thread is not about other factors that may influence the answer.

If the OP's daughter happened to be a cat (fluffy thing that meow's) the airline would still be able to get her there safely. Airlines are in the business of transferring things from one place to another.

not United though

Lots of children that age would be fine travelling alone and lots wouldn't.

It doesn't mean you have failed as a parent because your child would not be ready at this age. As a teenager I was very shy and anxious and would have been terrified to do this. By the age of 20 I flew to New York alone and enjoyed the experience. Everyone is different.

What bizarrely argumentative comments from user1490607838.

My parents were divorced and lived in different countries, so I flew from one to the other from the age of 6, with my little sister who was 4. It was a bit shit at that age - I'd cry as I said goodbye to whichever parent was dropping us off, and would usually throw up on the plane.

It got better as we got older.

My shy 9year old did it, with no issues. My friends were all a little aghast but it didn't stop us and she had a lovely holiday with her grandparents.

Ultimately the answer is yes, do it if your DC has experience of flying and feels ready. Both my DC flew alone at 15, and DD2flew with 16yo DD1 when she was 12. we encouraged it, we are expats so flying is just part of our lives. And this is all Easyjet and co, so no 'unaccompanied minor' style mollycoddling from the crew.

But I do need to give a warning note with what happened last November, DD2 on her second ever solo EasyJet flight (first had been getting there a week before).
She'd been visiting DD1 in France, I'd arranged it so that DD1 would be flying off somewhere else at the same time - but had forgotten the airport has two terminals so DD2 was on her own in that terminal. We checked she was at her gate (on phone) and wished her a good flight - what else could go wrong? What went wrong was a phone call an hour later, DD2 in tears, the gate had somehow been changed without her realizing (how could she not have seen people moving???) and she'd missed the flight. This was 10pm, no other EasyJet flight that day. Next day booked out. No other direct flights to where we live.
We went into overdrive, kept DD2 calm on the phone while looking at plans of the airport and sourcing nearby hotels. We got her out to the front of the airport, into a shuttle bus, to a reputable local hotel (known chain) where we'd booked a single room by credit card and checked they'd accept a minor. Hotel was great and really looked after her. In the meantime we booked her on two connecting flights, which unfortunately involved a transfer in Frankfurt. We talked her through the whole thing on the phone the following morning. It was a very tense 24 hours but she managed it! Cost us 400 euros extra, but a valuable lesson in listening our for gate changes (and checking with people around you that you're on the right flight!)
Nothing like getting back on the horse after a fall, so we sent her on another flight to meet up with DD1 a few weeks ago, and it all work fine! We didn't want her to develop an anxiety about it - but I admit we we a bit nervous ourselves!
So my tips - get your teen to check they're at the right gate, allow plenty of time, and expect zero help from Easyjet in a crisis, so set up contingency plans without worrying your teen unduly.