“You’ll need to wear this during the whole flight, okay?” The flight attendant produced two red lanyards with attached tags that read: Unaccompanied Minor. I took mine and put it over my neck, it was long and hung to my waist. My brother stuck his in his pocket. The flight attendant sighed.
“Do you guys know how to put on your seatbelts?”
We nodded.
“Okay. Well just to clarify, to release the belt you have to pull the lever forward like this. See?”
We nodded.
“Okay. And do you know where your life vests are?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Alright. But just to be sure, they’re right under your seat here …”
Trusting an airline with your child
You can’t blame them for being thorough. Parents put their trust in complete strangers to fly their kid from point A to point B safely. After the $100 dollar service fee, paperwork and kiss goodbye, it’s all in the hands of the airline. This may sound crazy to parents who have never done it before—but take it from me, an ex-unaccompanied minor circa 2005—that it’s actually a walk in the park.
I was an unaccompanied minor a number of times. With parents who lived in different cities, my brother and I would fly back and forth between them until admittedly, we got very good at it. We knew the drill. Emergency phone numbers: Check. Extra money: Check. Lanyard: Check. We even knew some of the flight attendants by name, and they sometimes would give us extra cookies or free instant noodles. Not going to lie, it was pretty sweet.
Flight attendants keep tight rein
Some things were a drag. As unaccompanied minors, a requirement was that someone be with us the entire time. Before the flight we had to stay with an attendant at our gate until the plane boarded (it wasn’t so easy to get a snack from Relay or Hudson News), and when we landed we would have to wait until everyone else deplaned before someone was available to take us to our parent on the other side of security.
So our freedom was limited, but understandably so. There’s nothing worse than the idea of an unaccompanied minor gone rogue, and airlines make sure this never happens.
Travelling unaccompanied more common
When I travelled as an unaccompanied minor it may not have been very common, but that’s changing. Every year, more than 10,000 kids travel as unaccompanied minors with Air Canada. Airlines have developed a seamless system that allows kids over the age of eight to travel to their destination at ease.
I didn’t always travel unaccompanied. My parents travelled frequently for work and sometimes I was lucky enough to tag along. Ironically at that age, I was more used to traveling by myself than with a guardian. Switching to being an unaccompanied minor to tag-along traveller was surprisingly drastic. I had gained confidence travelling by myself and suddenly being put back in the charge of my parent was almost a let down (also the flight attendants didn’t give me free cookies).
Perks of young tag-along travel
Nevertheless, travelling with my mom or dad on business trips was fun. I got to miss school, watch movies on the airplane and get exposure to new places I wouldn’t normally have had the chance to see.
“What’s your favourite painting here Mormei?”
I pointed to a small painting of a house covered in snow. It was pastel blue and purple.
“That one.”
“I like that one too,” my mom said.
We were in the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). My mom was in Toronto on a business trip and I had come along. In between her meetings we did some sightseeing.
We went to the gift shop afterwards and I gravitated towards the wall of postcards. Scanning them meticulously, I finally found what I was looking for in the bottom corner. That small, seemingly innocuous blue house, had wedged itself into my memory. Maybe it was the way the sun hit the layers of snow, or the slightly askew angle of the telephone pole in the bottom right – whatever it was the image had stuck. My mother saw me looking at it and got the postcard for me, as a souvenir of our trip. I still have the card and each time I stumble upon it I remember our trip to that gallery. I was a kid who got to experience another city along with its culture as well as art for the first time.
Unaccompanied or not, tagging along on business is worth it
Even if it’s not possible for your kids to tag along on the length of your business travel, the unaccompanied minor program makes it possible for them to join you even for a day or two—or for the weekend after your business is done.
That moment at the AGO wouldn’t have happened if my mom hadn’t brought me along on her trip. I’m sure it’s unnerving to think about bringing your child on a business trip, but I think the rewards outweigh the anxieties. Not much can go wrong, and the experiences you will share are worth it.
Recently I was on a flight back home and I sat beside a young boy who was travelling unaccompanied. He was wearing a lanyard and a mildly frightened look on his face. The flight attendant whisked by to our aisle.
“Hi there, I just wanted to check in to make sure you were settled. Do you know how to put on your seatbelt?”
The boy nodded.
“Wonderful. Just in case you forget you insert the buckle like this …”
It was strange hearing the same routine I heard as a child.
When she left, the boy craned his neck down the aisle to make sure she was really gone. When all was clear, he pulled off his lanyard and stuffed it in his pocket.
He saw me notice and I smiled.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t tell.”
Mormei Zanke is a freelance writer living in Vancouver. She studies English literature and creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
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I had some great experiences flying Emirates as a kid. They take you to a lush private lounge, give your bags priority tags, take you through security first and give you extra food and drinks! Don’t know what they are like nowadays, but flying with them certainly fed my wanderlust as a youngster!
Thanks for the comment Claire! Sounds like Emirates was setting you up for a lifelong desire to fly first class. 😉
Mormei, you did a great job telling about your adventures as a young tag-along. Keep this up and you might get to be as good as your aunt, who is wonderful. Enjoy Vancouver!
[…] Allowing your child to fly as an unaccompanied minor might seem nerve-wracking, but Mormei Zanke did it many times in her youth and lived to tell the tale. […]