What is a UM traveler, you ask? In airline talk, a UM (usually pronounced “U. M.” but sometimes “um”) is an Unaccompanied Minor traveling without an adult, with airline personnel providing some supervision. 1. Qualifications for UMs are surprisingly scant. On most major US and international airlines, if children have reached their fifth birthday (yes, […]
Planning for your child to be a UM traveler?
February 19, 2014 by kidstra
Filed Under: Air Travel, Destinations, Outdoor Recreation, Safe & Healthy Travel, Travel Tagged With: accompanied by an adult, airline personnel, airline rules, airlines, airport, arrival gate, child, customs, deplane, destination, divorce, dropping off children, flight attendants, flights kids, frequent flyers, grandparents, how old do minors have to be to travel on a plane unaccompanied, in-flight supervision, kids flying alone, major airports, out of the country, rules for unaccompanied minors, security, stranded, surcharge, UM, UM Rooms, UM travelers, unaccompanied minor, unaccompanied minor traveling without an adult, what age can a child get a plane without an adult, what is the age that children can travel on a plane without an adult
Family Travel/Airlines/“Baby discrimination”
January 15, 2012 by kidstra

Fasten your seatbelts – family air travel is heading for turbulence. Children are becoming persona non grata in the supposedly friendly skies. London’s Daily Mail reports that several major airlines are considering child-free sections on aircraft and child-free flights. The Wall Street Journal asks, “Will new airline seating proposals create “baby ghettos” in the back […]
Filed Under: Air Travel, Safe & Healthy Travel Tagged With: airline baggage fees, airlines, annoying children on airplane, babies on airplane, baby discrimination, baby ghettos, baby segregation, bulkhead seats, business travelers, child-free aircraft, child-free flights, child-friendly flights, family air travel, family boarding, family flights, family seating, family travel, frequent flyers, infants on airplanes, major airlines, middle seat airplane, non-collapsible strollers
Air travel/ infants/crying/remedies
December 6, 2010 by kidstra

For many people one of the biggest fear of flying is sitting next to a screaming child, says the New York Times, “Please Refrain from Tantrums Aboard,” (November 14.) According to the article, some travelers are doing some fussing of their own. They’re calling for airlines to implement child-free flights, designate “family-only” sections, or provide […]
Filed Under: Air Travel, Safe & Healthy Travel Tagged With: Air Travel, airlines, antihistamines, child-free flights, children, children flying, crying, ear pain, family only flights, flying, flying with kids, infant sleeping patterns, Infants, kids, why infants cry in flight