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Jennifer from the Jetsetter’s Homestead sent me a link to a Yahoo article referencing an 11 year old English girl who had traveled to France by herself.  At first the article made it out to seem that she was really going all around the world by herself, but after reading the article (and the original article from the Daily Mail UK), it turned out that her parents had just sent her alone on a British Airways flight from London to Paris, where she was met by a friend of hers and the friend’s family.

rosalie-atkins-eiffel-tower

Photo credit: Rosalie Atkins

Traveling as an unaccompanied minor

Now while I think 11 is quite a BIT too young to be traveling around the world by herself, just going on a single flight (that’s less than an hour and a half long) doesn’t seem like a big deal to me.  But to read some of the comments, it’s the end of the world!

My sister and I flew unaccompanied when we were 7 and 5 and it was fine.  Nobody even called us “unaccompanied monsters” (at least as far as I can remember!!!).  Almost all airlines offer something like this, though the prices have gone up for most airlines.  Personally I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay $100-$150 (on top of the ticket price) but I wouldn’t be worried about it from a safety perspective, at least with my older kids.

Trips with Tykes has a pretty comprehensive guide about the rules for unaccompanied minors on different airlines.

What about you?  Have you ever sent one of your kids to travel unaccompanied?


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