Unaccompanied minors on QF International

[funkyr]

I was wondering if anyone had experience in sending children unaccompanied overseas on an international flight? I've read all about the QF policy and requirements but was keen to hear anyone's personal experiences about the whole process.

Thanks!

 

[samh004]

It's been a while since I was sent unaccompanied, but I reckon there are probably a few members here who have first hand experience. Which parts of the process are you most interested about?

 

[funkyr]

The whole thing really, booki g seems quite straight forward.

 

[yld200]

Have done this a few times with my nephew from Melbourne to Dubai on EK. My sister works for the airline so the booking process I'm not entirely familiar with but the airport experience was fairly straight forward fine.

On check in they make you fill out a booklet with all of your contact info, the minors details, where they are flying from / to and the contact information of the collecting parent / guardian. If approval / confirmation of the collecting guardian isn't secured by flight day they'll contact them at that point to confirm. The minors documents are handled and held onto by the airline and a staff member will escort the unaccompanied minors through security and customs.

On arrival the parent / guardian collecting will need to show ID.

I did ask about seating one time and they mentioned that it was their policy to seat the children next to a female pax.

Overall pretty easy going. We've done it 3 times now and each time there were multiple minors travelling on the same flight.

 

[Deborah66]

You don't say how old the child is - I have had a few experiences and when things go well, it is OK. But when things go wrong, the flaws in the system pop up. My 2 nieces fly regularly to me BNE-SYD every School holidays and I was never so happy as when one of them became old enough to be the 'supervisor' of the other. My concerns are that there is a $50 fee, per child, per flight and I thought the children were being supervised and kept safe for this. On one occasion, their father decided to fly with them and when I notified the airline (Virgin) I was told that the $50 (X2) would not be reimbursed as they had to employ additional staff to supervise the girls. So, he flew next to them - there was clearly no supervision or paperwork for that flight - and I paid $200 extra for the return flights for the 2 for nothing. On another occasion (Port Macquarie to Sydney) I was a single female and the (Qantas) staff asked me if I would look after a small boy about 8-10 as it was a small plane and they were busy (!) . The child was petrified as it was his first flight, so I ended up talking him through the whole flight. Supervising him as well as he had been given a 'goodies' bag by his grandmother and he wanted to scoff every last lolly within the first few minutes. (then he felt sick!) At the end of the flight, passengers around me congratulated and thanked me on dealing with the little fellow. Similarly, and not so good, my 2 girls were placed on a Qantas flight - back row as per usual - next to a male, who they said was 'creepy' They were not old enough or experienced enough in flying at that stage to know to tell the staff. (though the man may have been quite OK - but it was their impression coupled probably with their anxiety and unfamiliarity - the reason why you send them UAM) My biggest concern is with the supervision aspect when things go wrong - 2 girls (Virgin) SYD-BNE - the flight got to BNE and was turned around due to weather and returned to SYDNEY very late at night. At no stage was I contacted by the airline nor was their father waiting at the other end. I happened to notice the flight's strange path as I usually monitor it myself to make sure the flight lands, and I rang the airline and asked what would be happening - they had no idea the flight had even been returned to SYD. The terminal was closed by security to entry as it was after curfew, so I had to beg to be allowed through to the gates - then proceeded to be bounced around for about 90 minutes as no one knew what had happened to the unaccompanied minors on the flight. Sent here, sent there and finally I got cross. I was overheard by a Security Guard, who put out a request on his walkie-talkie to find a bunch of kids...............By this stage, we were way after midnight!! 2 children who had no idea what was going on - and no contact by the airline to either me in Sydney or their father in Brisbane. I took my 2 home after having to wait for another 45 minutes for the staff to find a form to allow me to do so. One little boy was sitting there all alone and the staff said they did not know what to do with him as they were unable to contact his Sydney based people who had left Sydney to make their way home to a country area and so were out of range. And at the Brisbane end, the mother was making her way to the airport and similarly they could not contact her for instructions. The airline staff allocated to the children en masse was upset as it was late and she was overdue to finish her shift. So the little boy had to sleep the night in the airport!!! No one was allowed to take him home (of course) including the airline staff who said they were not allowed to be alone with him in a hotel for safety reasons. I do think that the airlines should work from the perspective of what can go wrong in order to determine their Policies for UAM - simply putting the kids in the back row of the flights and then making them wait to deplane as the last passengers with one staff member with papers to be signed is not what we expect really. The kids are entirely self-supervised - at not point have my girls reported that any one checks on them, asks them if they are OK and only approach them when it is time to deplane. The concept I have been told many times that there is an extra staff member specially put on the flight for the limited number of UAM seats available each flight would have to be challenged. Now, they are old enough for one to supervise the other and we have had uneventful flights, I choose their seats and communicate with mobile phones with them every step of the way.