Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 11 12 13 ··· 16 17

Original poster

sending a nearly seven year old alone on a plane to Germany...

423 replies

emkana · 05/01/2008 16:51

... for a holiday with her grandmother, for five nights?

Dd1 keen to go and not scared. Have never done this before, but as I understand it airline will look after child?

MIL so upset at the thought that she can't even talk about it.

Have to go now, but will check back later.

OP posts:

handlemecarefully · 06/01/2008 22:38

Gameboy - I agree, that's out of order!

farfaraway · 06/01/2008 22:39

Yes DD1 was sat next to a man during her first unaccompanied flight and I only mentioned it because I remember my mum saying she thought it was inappropriate. To be honest I think it is a bit inappropriate to even suggest that any random man on a flight should not be sat next to a child purely because they are male. In fact probably most lone men would rather not sit next to noisy fidgety child.
Finished reading thread now and shocked at attitude re the worst happening. How does one get through each day with the risk of so many nasty/one in a million things happening? Agree it depends on the child but surely a holiday being spoilt by grandma is the best/main thing here.

eidsvold · 06/01/2008 22:39

if you think she is happy enough to do it - let her go. Flew unaccompanied at aged 7-8 internally in Aus and the flight was longer than you are proposing. We were hand delivered to cabin crew member who took me onto the plane and got me sorted. Then delivered me to my aunt at the other end. Again coming hand from aunt's hands onto the plane and then waited til last and taken off the plane by same crew member and delivered to my mother.

Looking at that info - it appears they have a large number of children who fly unaccompanied with Lufthansa.

She will love it. I loved being able to do it and travel off to stay with my aunty for two weeks. Am sure it contributed to my love of travel and flying.

Gameboy · 06/01/2008 22:42

MeMySon&I - yes, I felt a right mug, but I never dreamt she'd do such a disappearing act!
They weren't brother and sister, so they didn't even talk to each other much either. The boy kept asking to play with DS's Gameboy which was annoying (we wanted to save some battery power) and the girl kept shouting across the aisle at me!

It's not really the same for a 1 hour European flight, but if the airlines are going to make claims about 'taking responsibility' for UMs then I think they have to REALLY do that - especially on long haul flights.
Clearly some are better than others of course, based on the experiences on here.

Jackstini · 06/01/2008 22:43

Sorry to hear that MMSAI
They did have to send in a medical report to get the plane nut free as it was such a serious reaction but your service sounds appalling!

MeMySonAndI · 06/01/2008 22:46

A medical report I sent and presented to every member of the crew...

Original poster

emkana · 06/01/2008 23:19

But Cali, it's not the same as leaving dd in a cafe or in a library. There will be a written agreement between me/dh and Lufthansa in which Lufthansa will agree to look after dd. And they do this 60 000 times a year!!!

OP posts:

MsHighwater · 06/01/2008 23:31

Your child, your choice.

Check with the airline to find out how they handle unaccompanied minors, including how they deal if plan A goes wrong (say, the person meeting your dd is delayed, for example) - show this to your MIL if it'll help reassure her - and plan out any reasonably likely problems.

If you're OK with it, your dd is OK with it, her gm is OK with it and the airline is OK with it, go for it.

yorkishbirdy · 06/01/2008 23:51

I think it is easy to get caught up in "the worst could happen" type thinking when you are chatting in this type of forum. In reality most of us would be a bit more realistic about these things if the situation came on us in RL.

In truth I probably wouldn't do it at this age - but then I have never been on a plane myself so I have no real idea of the process and therfore could not trust it IYSWIM. Clearly, you are experienced in traveling and therefore you are the perfect person to decide if your child is ready for this and to decide that the system is good enough.

As has been said at length, really you are talking about your child being supervised in 1 place for 1 hour...

yorkishbirdy · 06/01/2008 23:52

BTW, I read your link with the airline policy and, on face value anyway, it looked good to me!

yorkishbirdy · 06/01/2008 23:56

and, now I come to think of it, we don't sit here saying, you want to leave your child in the care of another parent after school I mean, what happens if they have a car crash or a peado turns up at the park or...or... or...

FGS

Jackstini · 07/01/2008 09:30

MMSAI - would have loved to see the complaint you wrote after that one!!
Hope you got decent compo at least

Rolacola · 07/01/2008 10:27

Not read full thread, but there is no WAY I would do it.

DontCallMeHun · 07/01/2008 10:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PippiCalzelunghe · 07/01/2008 10:34

I am sorry too for how ridiculous this thread has become. Most fears are irrational we agree but most people know their fear ARE irrational! not some on this thread obviously.

kerry would you live with yourselves if something happen to your child while driving? IMHO I wouldn'y live with myself whatever happen to DD regardless so that's beside the point.

fear of strangers...come on! there are strangers everywhere. do you know what's going on while your child is at a childminder. do you know exactly who goes in and goes out of that house?

I don't know, maybe I am too relaxed or maybe my DD is too young for me to have experienced this kind of irrational fears.

DB (10) and I (11 went on a 2 weeks tennis course trip to england from italy without our parents). admittedly my DB was not as ready as I was but it is a question of personalities. I loved it!

PippiCalzelunghe · 07/01/2008 10:36

I am sorry too for how ridiculous this thread has become. Most fears are irrational we agree but most people know their fear ARE irrational! not some on this thread obviously.

kerry would you live with yourselves if something happen to your child while driving? IMHO I wouldn'y live with myself whatever happen to DD regardless so that's beside the point.

fear of strangers...come on! there are strangers everywhere. do you know what's going on while your child is at a childminder. do you know exactly who goes in and goes out of that house?

I don't know, maybe I am too relaxed or maybe my DD is too young for me to have experienced this kind of irrational fears.

DB (10) and I (11 went on a 2 weeks tennis course trip to england from italy without our parents). admittedly my DB was not as ready as I was but it is a question of personalities. I loved it!

Deludinoid · 07/01/2008 10:38

Looks like KKM's point backfired spectacularly when the only Lufthansa crash she could "recall" had to be trawled through the internet for and dated back to November 1974.

Proves really that they aren't always crashing don't you think?

Everything we do is a calculated risk, when kids go to nursery, birthday parties, extra curricular activities, shopping creches etc you have to have faith that there won't be a shooting massacre/there won't be a gas explosion/some pervert won't be leering at them. If we didn't we'd be stuck in with the kids all day every day. Hoping that our house didn't suddenly sink down an old chalk mine.

This is 'just' another and tbh with all the extra care that's taken it sounds like the risk is far less than a lot of things we do every day without a second thought.

Go for it.

chisigirl · 07/01/2008 10:39

If your DD is happy to go and the airline will make sure she is accompanied and given help getting on/off plane, why not? I did as a child and had great fun! What could possibly happen? After all, it's such a short flight.

goingfor3 · 07/01/2008 10:41

I went to Poland by my self when I was 7 1/2 and didn't have any fears. I was looked after from the point my mum dropped me off until my Grandmother picked me up on the other side and the same on the way back. I renmember finding it exciting!

PippiCalzelunghe · 07/01/2008 10:41

sorry for double post

cmotdibbler · 07/01/2008 10:47

As a very regular traveller, I've seen a lot of UMs both long and short haul. They are taken by an assigned person right from check in to the plane, handed over to the cabin staff, fussed over, and then taken off the plane at the other end, sheperded through collecting luggage, customs etc and then handed over to the specified person.
I've had the pleasure of sitting next to a few UMs, as they do seem to have a general policy of trying to seat them next to women, but more commonly they are in the first non exit row on their own.
The children always seem to be very chilled about it all, and have all been better behaved and supervised than many children travelling with their parents I have sat next to.

LadyMuck · 07/01/2008 10:49

Presumably the better behaviour is also connected to the fact that a parent would be reckless to send a child as an UM if they had an sort of behaviour issues I would assume. Ie it is the typically better behaved children that get to be UMs rather than being a UM produces better behaviour?

CeylonSapphire · 07/01/2008 11:01

I flew alone from an early age, as I was at school in the UK, and parents were abroad. I had never flown in my life before. My parents took me to Heathrow, showed me check-in desks, and talked me through the procedure etc. When it came to it, the school coach drove me to the airport - the driver walked me to the check-in desk, when I was then chaperoned by the airstewards. They checked me in, and put me in a 'pen' until it was time to go through to airside. I was looked after every step of the way, and on the flight was given preferential treatment - fed and watered first, goody bags, even trips up to the flight deck to have a look around (although these sadly have now probably been stopped!). First off the flight at landing, luggage taken off the carousel for you, and handed over to parents at the other end.

On the way back it was hard, not only saying goodbye to parents for the term, but being met by a stranger (from various 'meeting' companies who looked after children arriving on flights) before being taken to Paddington to catch the train back to school (special chartered train!)

I don't think it's a huge problem, especially if the child has flown before...

AnnakeyRules · 07/01/2008 11:05

not always so, parents send children as UMs be they naughty or good
I had a near riot at the back of a plane once with 4 UMs on,causing all sorts of trouble- I had to seperate them because they were all giddy and winding each other up, throwing food etc.

(they were at the back of the a/c because the front was business class)

MeMySonAndI · 07/01/2008 12:08

Ceylon! did you go to Hogwarths?

Just kidding but being taken toschool in a special chartered train seems very exciting!

Flip

1 2 ··· 11 12 13 ··· 16 17