Air travel for unaccompanied minors

The amount of children or "unaccompanied minors" who travel on their own across the United States, and internationally, has increased over the last few years. In the USA alone, this number is around 7 Million and rising, and that number just includes travel by plane. Though children or "unaccompanied minors" traveling alone does come with its own set of issues, such as liability and safety, most children do not encounter any difficulties at all. Like all well laid plans, things can go wrong, and its best to plan as much as possible to ensure a safe and enjoyable trip.

The first thing to consider is the child's identification. If you child does not have a valid passport, than a passport application should be completed and signed by both sets of parents, at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance. If the child's passport is about to expire or has expired, a passport renewal form should be completed and processed in the same time frame.

Always check passport renewal dates prior to traveling to ensure the passport doesn't expire while your child is away from home.

Another thing you need to consider is the age of the child that will be traveling alone. No airline will allow a child younger than five years old to travel alone. Some airlines will, however, allow children under five to travel with a travel companion that is at least 12 years old. Most airlines will not allow children under 8 years old to take a flight that requires changing planes to meet a connecting flight. While children between the age of 12 and 15 do not need to be escorted by airline staff, one can be arranged. Parents or guardians are advised to contact the airline their child will be traveling with to get more details.

Parents or guardians are required to fill out appropriate paperwork providing information about the child, including any medications they may be taking or traveling with, as well as who will be picking up the child once the flight has reached its destination.

Airline staff will never hand over an unaccompanied minor to anyone who can not present valid identification matching the information on the child's travel documents.

Once the passport application has been filled out, the next step should be contacting the airline you wish to use, in order to ensure your child has the safest and easiest flight possible.

Source: http://travel.ezinemark.com/air-travel-for-unaccompanied-minors-18d5ab1470e.html

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