At what age did you (or would you) allow a child to fly alone?

I have a business trip coming up, to a city that my daughter would like to visit. I'm considering having her fly there to meet me, so that we can spend a few days exploring after my conference. We'd then fly back home together.

Keep in mind that the airline would require an adult (my mother) to accompany my daughter to the gate and wait until the plane is off the ground, and I would have a gate pass to meet her right when she comes off the plane. She would have one connecting flight, with a 45 minute layover. An airline employee would escort her off the first plane to a supervised waiting area, and then escort her to the second plane. The first flight is about an hour, and the second is an hour and 15 minutes.

Has anyone done this? How old was your child, and how did it go?

2011-06-02T12:02:06Z

Thanks, everyone. The conference I'm going to is 3 full days (and one evening), so bringing my daughter with me probably wouldn't work very well. My daughter is 9, responsible, and is comfortable with the idea. I just spoke with my mother, though, who is not so comfortable with the idea and is considering coming along with my daughter. She's apparently forgotten that she put me on a plane alone at 7 to visit my grandparents. ;-)

brandnew4202011-06-02T10:37:22Z

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If she'd be accompanied to the gate and everything its sounds like there's no way of some type of mix up (wrong plane, missing the flight, etc.) So in that case i think it'd be fine at just about any age. But I'd say like 10 or 11 would be an ok age. But I could justify younger. Depends on every kid individually. If she's younger, but responsible, I don't see an issue.

?2011-06-02T10:37:39Z

Hmm, not sure. My kids are 8&9 now and I wouldnt. I suppose I would if it were a very necessary thing with no other option. Other than that, like in your case, if we couldnt go at the same time(?) Id say 12. Again, still not sure as my kids arent 12 yet, that could change as alot of other ideas have. A large part of that would be child dependant as well. My biggest concern would be if something bad were to happen, I wouldnt be there. I would say defiently not younger than 11.

Anonymous2016-10-05T15:00:02Z

Up until the age of two you may pay for some one to observe a minor flying on my own. You adult adult males could be advantageous. extraordinarily for the reason that there are 2 of you. My youngsters flew jointly at 9 and 11. My grand daughter flew from Florida to Colorado on my own at 10. It relies upon on the toddlers plenty.

ananymous2011-06-02T12:32:49Z

when i was 6 and my brother was 4, we flew by ourselves from nashville to ft lauderdale! our parents saw us off, and our grandparents were there when we landed. it was under an hour.

as far as my own kids, i am thinking about sending my eight year old to his grandparents during the summer. we fly pretty frequently, and he is very comfortable on airplanes. he is able to ask a flight attendant for help if he needs something. he of course can use the bathroom by himself. he knows what food restrictions he has, and will follow them. on the other hand, i think his six year old brother is not mature enough yet.

ѕαѕнα2011-06-02T11:24:25Z

I was 10 when I first flew alone. Long story, but I had to go live with my sister for the summer because my parents had to work away. My sister couldn't fly home because she was too pregnant. I had the same routine until I was 16/17.

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