It's funny to think my first experiences were flying as an unaccompanied minor. It was a different era back then, when you could walk up to gate to wave others off.1
Kicking a kid out of the coop? If you plan on sending a child off on the plane alone, expect to pay up to $150 one-way, or $300 round-trip-yes, on top of the ticket-for the service.
Though it may cost as much a full adult round-trip ticket, it might be more palatable than extra hotel fees or taking time off work.
Of course, there's no price on safety.
The unaccompanied minor fee essentially pays for an airline employee to act as a custodian on your child for the duration of the flight.
The Points Guy elaborates:
In return for that fee, the airline provides the child some additional supervision, assistance getting on and off the plane, escort to any connections and assistance in the event of irregular operations.
Typically, a parent or guardian will complete the paperwork and obtain the boarding pass at the check-in desk, obtain a gate pass, escort the child through security and then wait at the child's gate until their plane is in the air. On the other end, at arrival, a designated adult will go through roughly the same process and be waiting at the gate when the plane arrives.
Basically, the process hasn't changed much since the 90s.
Generally speaking, children under the age of 5 aren't able to use any kind of unaccompanied minor service, and must be accompanied by an adult and/or possibly older child.
If you do plan on sending a kid off into the friendly skies, Alaska and Southwest Airlines are the cheapest airline for sending kids off by themselves, while Frontier won't accept unaccompanied minors, period.
Just something to think about before booking that ticket.
Here's a breakdown of each airline's policies. There are a lot of intricacies - for example, some airlines are quite particular about the rules covering connecting flights and won't accept those kind of itineraries, while others will.
Click on through for the full details.
| Airline | Under 5 | 5-7 | 8-12 | 13-15 | 15-17 |
| Alaska | NO | $50 Permitted on nonstop flights only |
$50-75 Connecting flights incur the higher fee. |
$50-75 Connecting flights incur the higher fee. |
$50-75 Connecting flights incur the higher fee. |
| American | NO | $150 Includes additional siblings, permitted on nonstop flights only |
$150 Includes additional siblings |
$150 Includes additional siblings |
Optional |
| Delta | NO | $150 Includes up to four children, may travel on some nonstop flights only |
$150 Includes up to four children, may include travel on connecting flights |
$150 Includes up to four children, may include travel on connecting flights |
Optional |
| Frontier | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
| Hawaiian | NO | NO | NO | $35-100 Depends on route, must be on nonstop direct flight |
Optional |
| JetBlue | NO | $150 Only nonstop flights |
$150 Only nonstop flights |
$150 Only nonstop flights |
Optional |
| Southwest | NO | $50 Only nonstop or direct flights |
$50 Only nonstop or direct flights |
$50 Only nonstop or direct flights |
$50 Only nonstop or direct flights |
| United | NO | $150 For every two children |
$150 For every two children |
$150 For every two children |
Optional |
