Would you send an almost 16 yr old as unaccompanied minor?

[mumblechum]

DS is off to the States in August, his friend is going out alone the week before and ds will fly alone & hook up with the friend (same age) and friend's 28 yr old brother and young family. They'll be doing a white water rafting course & various other stuff.

DS will be flying United out of LHR via Denver, changing planes on a two hour stopover and then on for a short (1.5) hour hop to final airport.

He'll be a couple of weeks short of his 16th birthday, is a bright kid but has never flown transatlantic (or anywhere for that matter) alone before.

United are relaxed, they say they're happy for him not to travel as UM, but I'm not sure really.

Any experience/views?

BOF.

i meant, i travelled by myself aged 15 with no one watching me.

hope he has a great time

He has flown a lot, so should know the routines. Travelling to London is a good experience - a lot can go wrong, you have to pay attention to the maps and directions, and you have to keep hold of your ticket. These are all useful skills applicable to air travel.

I'm sure if he didn't have the layover in Denver, you wouldn't worry at all. That is where things could possibly go wrong - but unlikely.

Have a look at the Denver airport website and see if you can figure out what your DS is likely to do (for example, arrive in one terminal, go through immigration, take train to another terminal, find gate to new location. Does he have to pick up bags to take through customs and then recheck? You should be able to figure out much of this ahead of time, so DS is forewarned. He can also read the inflight magazine which always has a section on arrivals and transfer procedures.

Throw a little bit of money at the situation by making sure that DS can phone you on his mobile to a) reassure you, and b) ask for advice should he need it. Make sure he has money for contingencies, such as delayed flights.

I first flew to the USA when I was 19. I had to fly to London, transfer terminals, and then board my flight to New York. I promised my mother that I would telephone her as soon as I touched down. When I arrived at JFK, I tried to phone but discovered that I needed something like 19 Quarters. I just couldn't manage it, so my mother had to wait another 4 hours for the call, when I arrived in my next city and my American hosts. In those days, there was no internet, so no idea what to expect. Also, we hadn't, as a family, a lot of experience of flying. You don't have those problems.

I would also send him as a UM to the States - only because they are fantastically THOROUGH at immigration.

I would rather my teen suffer crayons and a kiddie meal for the sake of a straightforward passage, rather than be wrong-footed by a question from an over-zealous passport official, who might wonder where his green landing card is, or customs doc.

Isn't saying "I've seen films where it happened" a bit stupid? It's like saying "Don't go on planes. I saw a film once where terrorists put snakes on it. They might do that in real life".

Personally, I would send my DS by himself but then he has been travelling both as a Um and by himself for a number of years. However, at 14 and 1/2 he would hate to be a UM, it can be seen as very demeaning to kids of that age. Additionally it can be difficult with the other UM's. DS has been pulled aside to wait whilst other passport holders (also UM's) get a grilling and that can be disturbing if its not something you/he have seen before. Interrogation sort of thing. He still talks about it and it was the final decider in letting him travel by himself.

Questions I would ask are, how does your son feel about going by himself? Are you sure you are not projecting your ideas onto him? Could he cope if he missed his connection, ask him what he would do, dont give him ideas, let him think it through and see what answer you. Realistically speaking that is probably the worst that can happen or he loses his bag. Really thats not sooo bad and can all be easily resolved. However to avoid the red flag at immigration he just needs info about where he's going who he is meeting , their contact number, as much as possible. Of course it goes without saying that he needs a debit card to get extra money in an emergency, a copy of the insurance, plenty of phone credit (that'll be so you can call ;-))

It sounds like a great holiday, the hardest part will be for you waiting for the call, whilst you track the online status of the flight, with your fingers crossed. lol. When he gets home you will be amazed at his growth and maturity and a little sad at the confident world traveller in front of you.

good luck to you and him.

well then gerontius, maybe i am a bit stupid? at least in your opinion.

in life we form our opinions according to our experiences, and our reading, and in the last few years, our tv watching, internet browsing. just ecause some information is gleaned from a film, doesnt make that any information less valid, if it is also backed up from other sources.
for example, avatar. tells the story of what happened in africa to native peoples when the white man came. doesnt mean its any less valid than the info i have read on it in history books, encyclopedias and other places.

I would send him as UM and let him put up with a bit of embarrassment for a few hours just for your peace of mind. A friends 14 year old flew to Thailand at Xmas on his own and had to change planes at Bangkok. He has flown often and was not happy about being looked after, but she insisted. It was not that bad, he got proper meals etc and was left alone unless he wanted something and they dont have to wear that wallet round their neck anymore!
My son at 16 managed to leave his handluggage at the security check and only realised when he got to the gate that he didn't have it with him (he was travelling handluggage only)! Still it taught him a lesson and he sorted it out and was fine.

mumblechum,

He will need to complete the ESTA online prior to travelling to the US as it is now a mandatory requirement. Get him to do this asap.

ONLY use the US govt official website; there are those out there who will gladly take cash from you for this service - ESTA is free!. Do not be ripped off by scammers

The official one is esta.cbp.dhs.gov

America can be a great country to visit but their airports generally on arrival can be an intimidating experience particularly for the first time visitor.

He will need to fully complete and sign the green visa waiver form without any mistakes on it along with the white customs form. Both forms will be given to him at check in at LHR. Both of these forms should be given to the US immigration official on arrival; the lower third portion of the green form will be stapled into his passport (that;s the v important bit). The customs form is collected after immigration.

BTW he will see a yellow/red line when he gets to the head of the immigration line; he must NOT cross that until he is called forward by the immigration official. Have seen many pax get told off for that transgression so forewarned is forearmed.

He must NOT LOSE his UK passport under any circumstances; he will need to surrender that lower green portion of the immigration form to the check in staff when he departs from the US. It is important he does this and is reminded in advance to do so because the US authorities treat that little green form as his departure record. The check in staff should ask him for both his passport and ticket at check in; he should hand both documents over as a matter of course. Returning to the UK with the green form in his passport will just give him more problems, problems you certainly do not need!!!.

Two hours should hopefully be enough (Denver is a vast airport and he will need to fully understand where he goes next after clearing immigration and customs; UNITED ground staff are usually available after clearing customs) for him to deplane from the UK flight and get himself onto the next flight but he will need to keep his wits about him throughout and not lose or leave anything behind. I would therefore be inclined to send him this time as an UM.

At 15 he will be expected to complete the forms himself (the green visa waiver form needs to be completed by children themselves when they reach 14 years of age) and submit to them taking an imprint of his fingerprints and photo taken.

He must treat these people with the greatest of respect, any teen attitude will not be tolerated.

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice, esp. Attila for detailed info.

Have definitely decided to book him as a UM in the light of what Attila is saying.

Thanks everyone!

Bloody Hell Attila, I think I would go as an unaccompanied major!

I'm usually Mrs Relaxed about letting children do these things but I think, in light of all the airport security issues, I'd go the UM route. It just seems too easy for a teenager to make an innocent mistake and land themselves in a mess.

If he was travelling elsewhere it would be different.

I was travelling over Christmas and our plane was delayed by snow. Lots of people missed their connecting flights, and were in the airport overnight. Just in the light of that experience I'd agree with your decision to send him as a UM.