Last Update: 12/30/15

By Betsy Wade, New York Times

No matter how self-assured children seem, when they are traveling alone there is always a moment when the plane begins to empty or the train pulls out that their vulnerability shows. 

In a perfect world, children would not travel alone until they were skilled, ready and pressing for the chance. But the world is not perfect, and tens of thousands of children head home from school, or from one parent to the other, or from grandparents to parents. 

The airlines, Amtrak and Greyhound have rules governing travel by unaccompanied minors. Amtrak and Greyhound are more stringent, forbidding unescorted travel by children younger than 8; the airlines' minimum age is 5. Northwest Airlines and Trans World Airlines have just raised to 15, from 12, the minimum age at which a child may fly alone without being registered as an "unaccompanied minor," avoiding payment of a fee for the airline to supervise children.

The airlines that permit children to take a trip that involves a connection put a priority on getting the child to the next flight, but missed connections do occur. Each airline has a protocol, and parents should get the details: Will the child be kept at the airport, or will a local agency be called in? The child should be told what to expect. 

Other rules also have an effect. Parents taking children to Mexico or the Caribbean should know that there are regulations involving documentation. Ignored, these can thwart a trip entirely. 

Here is a look at guidelines about children's travel. 

Amtrak 

Amtrak carries few unescorted children (5,100 in the 12 months ending June 30, 1998). It accepts children 8 and older as unescorted travelers under these restrictions: 

The trip must be scheduled for daylight hours. 

No transfers are allowed, between trains or from a train to a bus. 

The station at the start of the trip must be staffed at boarding, as must the destination station. 

The person taking the child to the depot must complete a document giving Amtrak permission to transport the child. 

The agent must talk with the child to verify who is meeting him or her. 

Children traveling alone pay the full adult fare. 

Greyhound 

George Gravley, a spokesman for Greyhound, said that the line does not handle many children traveling alone. Its rules are quite close to Amtrak's: 

No unescorted children under 8 are accepted. 

Children must not change buses. 

The trip must be no longer than five hours -- about 250 miles -- and must end in daylight. 

The child may board and leave the bus only at Greyhound terminals or at full-time agencies, which must be open at arrival. 

The child sits in Row 1 or 2 and must receive the driver's approval to get off at a rest stop. 

Airlines 

The Air Transport Association has no count of how many children travel unescorted yearly. Whatever the industry-wide total, when Northwest and TWA changed rules in October, Northwest said a significant number of its registered children were between 12 and 15. Their earlier rules, like current ones at the other airlines, did not require registration of children above 11, although parents could do it voluntarily. Now, registration is optional for 15- to 17-year-olds. 

Since 1995, Northwest has permitted all unescorted minors to take flights involving connections. The supervisory fee for a domestic non-stop flight, one way, is $30, for a connection, $60. International non-stop and connecting flights are permitted with registration, although there is no fee.

TWA does not permit connections until the child is 8. It also does not schedule unescorted children up to the age of 17, registered or not, on the last connecting flight of the day. TWA's fees are $30 for a non-stop flight, $60 for a connection, domestic or international.  

Southwest Airlines registers unescorted children 5 to 12 but does not charge a fee. They are not permitted to change planes or make connections. 

American, Continental and Delta have rules to avoid strandings caused by canceled flights or missed connections. American will reschedule if possible; it also will not take children on the last flights of the day out of its hub airports. Children must be 8 to take a trip with a connection. Its fee is $30 each way, whether non-stop or connection, domestic or international. 

Continental will not take a child on a flight leaving between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., except international flights, a flight from Honolulu or a domestic flight of two hours or less. Continental also will not schedule a child on the last connecting flight of the day or start a child out if a missed connection is possible. Its fees are $30 for a non-stop and
$60 for a connection each way, domestic or international.  

Delta, beginning April 1, will not accept a child on the last connecting flight of the day. A child must be 8 to take a connecting flight. The domestic fees are $30 and $60; a fee is charged on international flights only if the child is connecting from a Delta domestic flight to another airline's international flight. 

United and US Airways take 5- to 7-year-olds on non-stop flights only; children 8 to 11 may make connections. United's fee is $30 each way. US Airways charges $30 for each flight segment. 

Leaving the country 

Because of concerns about abductions, travel to Mexico with children requires strict documentation. A child under 18 traveling with one parent must have notarized consent from the other parent to board a flight to Mexico, or must present a decree of sole custody for the accompanying parent or a death certificate for the other. Children traveling alone or with someone else must have notarized consent to travel from both parents, or notarized consent from a single parent, plus documentation that that parent has sole custody. 

The Bureau of Consular Affairs has also become concerned about travelers, including children, who visit Mexico, Central America or Caribbean countries without passports. For years, many of these countries have admitted U.S. citizens on modest identification -- driver's licenses, say -- and people are surprised to discover that they cannot re-enter the United States on the same documentation. A valid passport works best, but an expired one, a certified copy of a birth certificate or a certificate of naturalization or citizenship will also work as long as another document with a photo establishes identity. 

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 12, 2000