travel for tweens

[moonwise]

Last night, I was asking my mother whether my two younger cousins were going to go down to Florida this summer for a visit. The sisters are 13 and 16, respectively (younger one may be 14; I am not sure.) My mother indicated that the older one might be getting a job for the summer, but the younger one might still be interested.

Because my aunt and uncle are financially strapped (he has MS and is on disability; she doesn't work (she should but that's another story)) my parents pay to fly them down and back. For reasons I can't fathom, they have been flying the girls out of Atlantic City on Spirit Airlines. AC is easily a three-hour drive for my aunt, as opposed to Newark, which would be more like 45 minutes.

I mentioned to my mother that if the younger one did want to come, maybe they could fly her out on JetBlue, because Spirit sucks for threatening to charge people for carry-on. We got into a side discussion over penalizing everyone vs. enforcing carryon rules, but my mother was mostly resistant to the younger flying out of Newark because it is a big and confusing airport. If you are not familiar with Newark, then in a nutshell: Terminal C is enormous and might be confusing, but the only airline that flies out of that terminal is Continental. Terminal B is a complete unknown to me, as I've never used it. JetBlue, my parents' favorite, flies out of Terminal A, which is the oldest and smallest part of the airport. JetBlue itself only uses two of the gates, A20 and A21. When you go into security, you pick the "branch" that has your gate in it, and there are only about six gates per "branch."

So, here's the question. Do you think that 13-14 is old enough to go through Terminal A alone? It seems to me that the younger should be quite competent to find the JetBlue gates on her own, especially if Mom is there to help her find the right "branch" before she goes off to security. What do you think? Is my mom being paranoid, or do I expect too much from a young teenager?

Comments

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I think that a 13 year old would be able to deal with getting to the gates (once she's escorted to security), at least if she's given a map and told what to do. Getting to baggage for pickup might be a little harder but if she's given clear directions and follows the signs to baggage, she should be okay. She'll need to know where she'll be picked up since no one can't go to the gate anymore.

BTW, terminal B is pretty small, too, and it's not that hard to find your way around it. I agree that C is really huge and easy to get lost in.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

You understand where I'm talking about, so you know that once you get into your security area, there's nowhere to go but straight. I think she'd be carrying on luggage, and my parents would be escorting her through Orlando, so that isn't even an issue.

They'll figure it out, one way or another.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think she'd be fine. I have flown exactly four times, once in Newark, and I didn't have any trouble once I figured out where the map was. IIRC, at least some of the airlines even have cute little lounges for kids where they can check in if they're confused/lost.