The First Time You Flew Alone?

babybus · Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:44 am

Just wondered if you remember the very first flight when you flew alone?

I was 24 and it was from LGW-TFS. Felt kind of wierd. It was Easter and we weren't able to get four seats on the same plane. I flew down in the morning and my friends were flying down on various later flights.

It was a charter so no inflight movie and four hours of just looking around and feeling a bit awkward on a family filled plane.

How was it for you?

777ER · Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:46 am

I was 13 years old. In 2000 I flew from HLZ-WLG on NZs Saab340. First overseas flight was to Australia in 2004 and first long haul was 2006

LHRlocal · Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:30 am

Was in 1998 i think, was 18, from Heathrow to Melbourne on BA with a stop in Singapore i think, My Dad has worked for BA for 30+ years so i was allowed to fly on his 1st class seating entitlement, was a great experience!

wilco737 · Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:03 am

I have never been flying alone yet... There were always other passengers in the plane

Oh and not to forget the crew

Actually I did fly alone, on my solos! Dont know how many it were, but about 15 or 20 or so?

And to answer your question: I think I was 19 flying to ALC with DE 757-200!

WILCO737 (MD11F)

[Edited 2008-02-03 02:04:07]

Avianca · Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:35 am

my first time was when I was 12 years old on a FRA-BOS LH run... with the 340-200 some, best was it was on a ID ticket (as my mum works for LH) and it was business class...

IH8BY · Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:25 am

I flew alone for the first time on Ryanair when I was 14 (what a baptism of fire!). I hadn't flown at all since I was 8, and I didn't remember any of that flight (asleep most of it, drowsy the rest), so I had no idea what to expect. I was flying Stansted to Hahn, and it was a 737-200; takeoff was a bit scary as I didn't have a clue what was coming! Flight was pretty uneventful, as were the airports: Stansted at that time (2000) was still pretty quiet compared to nowadays, and was easy enough to navigate, and Hahn... well, Hahn was tiny!

For me it was really exciting; first time travelling alone, and the first time I really remember flying.

OA260 · Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:22 pm

7 years old , OA 260 LHR-ATH as a UM. Had to wear a plastic wallet with ''Olympic Airways UM'' on it. Checked in parents had to sign forms then a BA ground staff agent took me to the A/C. Got seated in last row of C class in the orange seats. Was a cool experience . I landed and was met by OA ground staff who took me to my family who had to sign more papers. Whilst I was waiting in the baggage reclaim my Aunt saw me through the doors and walked right passed security LOL.....

StefanPAD · Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:35 pm

On my very first commercial flight I was travelling alone to Florida. It was in 1998 when I was 23 years young. My route was AMS - MIA - AMS on MP with a B767.

Before I have been on a four seater with a neighbor (he is a sport pilot) when I was about 8 years old. I think it was a Piper or a Cessna. But I didn't like it very much, because he made some jokes like climbing and dropping very suddnely.

Stefan

9vswa · Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:25 pm

Flown alone twice already. First time was in 2004 when I was only 14, SQ SIN-SYD. SQ and the travel agent really took care of me, escorted all the way through from check-in to boarding and again from plane to landside in SYD. The crew even helped me fill in the immigration card and stuff. Second time was in Nov last year, SQ SIN-HKG and back in J (I did a report on this trip). This time I insisted on handling things myself, as it turned out it was no sweat at all, except when I dropped my boarding pass just before boarding on the return trip.

mhodgson · Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:30 pm

When I was 16, so 2003 IIRC. I flew back from LHR alone after flying down with a friend on bmi.

First full return flight alone was a few months later, BLK-STN-BLK on FR

[email protected] · Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:58 pm

Think I was 15 or 16. KLMuk STN-CDG-STN.

dfwmzuri · Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:09 pm

I was 17, visiting a friend in MSP (ORD-MSP) and then Grandfather (ORD-PDX) in 1973 before I went into the US Army.

N231YE · Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:51 pm

I was 14, flying from APN-CLE via DTW. I was a little nervous that I'd screw up and be on the next airplane to NRT, but as it started going along, I started having fun.

Plus, getting the Unaccompanied minor treatment had its perks as well wink

AF340 · Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:37 pm

I was 13 and I flew YYZ-CDG-PRG-MUC-CDG-YYZ. Very nice all Airbus trip on AF.

Liam spin

ChristianLee15 · Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:18 pm

14.

NQY - LGW

Dash 8 ASW

sbworcs · Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:16 pm

My first was last Friday! On FR BHX - DUB return the same day.

Have always been quite a nervous flyer and am off to the states later this year on my own (LHR-SFO-LAX-LHR - First flights on a 747 and A346!!!) so thought I would have short hop somewhere to see how i got on on my own! Was just fine and FR were really quite good! (The only slight concern at first was the speed at which we taxied!!)

a380us · Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:19 pm

about 7-8 jfk-san

The message you were about to post is too short and probably not of any higher value to the topic at hand. You should think long and hard before posting a message in this forum and make it detailed and a valuable addition to the topic discussed.

ebs757 · Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:24 am

My first was a couple weeks ago. ORD-LAX
Check out the trip report LAX-ORD AA 763 W/ Walk Around Pics (by Ebs757 Jan 25 2008 in Trip Reports)

PacNWjet · Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:54 am

I was 14 in the summer of 1977 and flew home alone after visiting my uncle who lived in Hawaii. Routing was LIH-HNL-ORD-JFK.

AirAotearoa · Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:56 am

I was 13 and flew AKL to SYD on UA in May 1986 in order to join my old school for a trip up to DPS. I was actually booked on Pan Am but they had transferred their Australasian/Asian flights to UA earlier that year, which was a shame. UA were great though. They put me into their business class section and the extremely friendly FA's constantly stopped by to make sure I was OK. The return flight back a couple of weeks later was equally impressive.

aa61hvy · Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:03 am

I was 10 with my sister doing DFW-ORD-ISP-ORD-DFW... To visit my Grandmother at her beach house in Montaulk. We were obviously UM and did some program where we were ushered onto the plane (this was when people could go through security without a ticket). Then they ushered us off the plane then into some Kid's Club type place that was dedicated to UM's at ORD. Then they moved us to the next plane and got off at ISP without a hitch. AA did a nice job with me and my sister as UM's.

NWADC9 · Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:48 am

As a UM: NW PIT-DTW-MCI-DTW-PIT in 2000
As a Joe Schmoe: WN MCI-MDW-PIT in 2005

staralliance38 · Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:51 am

UM: 13 ORF-IAD-LHR---AMS-IAD-ORF

Delegation thingy

NG1Fan · Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:01 am

I was 5.

GRZ-VIE on OS. Can't remember much at all.

NG1Fan

fbgdavidson · Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:21 am

18yrs old - I travelled quite a lot from the age of seven but it was always with my mother and brother... Supersonic Travel Revisited: LHR-JFK On Concorde (by Fbgdavidson Aug 22 2007 in Trip Reports)

LHRBFSTrident · Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:55 am

BHX-BFS - I was 7 and was escorted all the way by BA ground staff and the cabin crew.

It was the closest thing to heaven I had experienced - I mean, as much Coca-Cola as I could drink, fab!

On a noisy old 1-11 and I loved it - I think I kept the red-striped UM badge and document wallet for years after...

1st long-haul was LHR-HKG when I was 15 (1987) - it felt like the longest flight ever, there's only so many times you can read HighLife before you go mental with 12 hours fighttime remaining...

B747forever · Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:40 am

I am going to fly this winter to LAX alone, and it will be the first time!!!

OHLHD · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:24 am

5 years old as an UM from HEL to VIE in 1985. Smile

I started early. Big grin

Gemuser · Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:13 am

16 years old in 1968. An Ansett B727-76 SYD-Port Morsby (PNG), then an Ansett MAL F27 POM-LAE-Madang, then an AnsettMAL DC3, Madang-Momote (Manus Island).

The return 6 weeks later was MAL DC3 Momote-Madang-Groka-POM, then the B721 POM-BNE-SYD.

Gemuser

ClipperBerlin · Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:53 pm

Without parents or a guardian??? Must have been Dan Air´s Bac 1-11 from TXL to LGW in 1990. I was 11 years old and went to Brighton, UK with a friend of mine to learn English for three weeks. Plane and airline were common sights at Berlin-Tegel airport. Nothing special at that time but still quite a thrill going to the UK. The return leg took place on a BAe 146 (the 200Series I believe or was it the -100???). First ever flight all by myself was on an ATR 42 of NFD-Nürnberger Flugdienst (founding airline of Eurowings) from THF to DTM in 1994.

Cheers

Florian

andaman · Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:14 pm

Here's mini me 8y, just before flying domestic HEL-JYV Wink

Big version: Width: 763 Height: 946 File size: 301kb

The first fllight

wilco737 · Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:18 pm

Quoting Andaman (Reply 30):

Aw, what a classic pic! thumbsup

Great that you have a pic of your first flight!! Looks like you enjoyed it Big grin

WILCO737 (MD11F)
airplane

bullpitt · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:08 pm

Hi all

I was 16 going on 17 flew SYD-MEL-SIN-KUL-BOM-ATH-PRG-MAD With a compulsory stop in PRG for 2days.
Big grin

DavecFlyer · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:17 pm

I had to look this up as I could not recall off hand...

It was actually my 32nd flight LCY-DUB on EI-CPY a Bae 146-100 on 30/08/1999 at the very young age of 23 !!

AlexPorter · Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:57 pm

I was 16. It was November 2003. I flew MSP-DCA on a Northwest B752. It was cold and rainy in Minneapolis, and oddly, over 70 degrees in Washington. I had a heavy coat on and was lugging around a 50 lb. suitcase. My charter bus was picking us up at the main terminal of DCA, but NW uses T1. To get our bags, we had to leave security, but the moving walkways were only on the secured side. Basically walking a long time in a glass-encased hallway with a coat and heavy suitcase on a hot day is not very fun. And of course on the return, the bus driver refused to drop us off at T1 even though at least five of us on the bus needed to use T1. Nice.

JetBlueAUS · Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:55 pm

I was six on a HOU-MSY Southwest Airlines flight.

MidEx216 · Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:23 am

I was 18. Last year. Flew ORD-DTW-FRA. And it sucked. I had spent a lot of time alone driving to and from work, and then I went on a trans-atlantic trip by myself... It was quite lonely. Nobody to talk to...

Jawed · Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:28 am

Can you believe it, the first time I flew alone I was 5, and I flew from LHR to DAC. I still remember what happened... my nose was bleeding profusely and I was scared.

david21487 · Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:28 am

I flew CMH-ATL-MCO by myself when I was 15. Luckily I was at the UM cutoff age, so I didn't have to have the usuall flight attendant/gate agent entorauge. I was very excited and had absolutely no trouble, even with the connection in ATL.

It was that day that I realized that being a child and flying by myself was much less of a stressful hassle than travelling with my parents.

TrijetsRMissed · Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:43 am

My first flight was rather eventful, but for the wrong reasons. I was on a USAir 733, ORD-PHL, circa 1990 if memory serves me correctly, as a pre-teen. There was a sudden decompression about 30-40 minutes after take-off. The masks dropped, which was rather shocking for me. Ears popping like crazy. We landed at IND and were stranded there for a few hours until a sub MD-80 showed up. At the time it sucked, but it sparked my interest in airline accidents and it's a good story to tell.

hjulicher · Tue Feb 05, 2008 6:53 am

I was 13 years old, and i flew DTW-AMS-SVO. I was an UM so I got to sit Business. Luckily, there was another girl flying MSP-DTW-AMS-FCO that flew with me so we sat together on our rather empty J class cabin on a NW744. Unfortunately, my mom gave me all these instruction because I had to bring stuff to my family in Russia. I had a bush to plant at my Uncle's grave as well as my rather expensive violin. When I got off the plane in AMS, they forced us off first as the KLM women came up to gather us to take us to the kiddie holding area until our connection. We had to walk, although they brought a mini-cart as there was a elderly group that needed it. I had forgotten my violin on the plane though (i was asked to move to J after I was seated in Y.) I had to go against the traiffic flow through the jetway, and get my violin, it was interesting as no one really stopped me.

Then we persuaded the KLM woman to let some of us "older" kids get away from the lady who kept giving us Kit-Kat bars and roam thru the airport. Somehow we walked around the whole airport, and at the time thought we had entered the EU, this was like (8 years ago), and got scared since we saw passport control to get back to area E. Anyways, got on the flight to Moscow. Since KLM flight attendants don't enter Russia, they gave me to some passenger that insisted i stand in the line for diplomats at Passport control. I was scared being more american than Russian. After that, they sort of abandoned me by baggage claim, but I knew the drill. The problem was declaring my violin as the customs officers are strict, and the form says they need to be filled out by persons 16 and older, but I was still required to fill it out.

No problems on the way back.

DesertAir · Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:03 pm

It was the summer of 1972 and I had just graduated from high school. I took a PSA flight from Stockton to San Francisco; spent the day wandering around the city and then took a late afternoon flight back. I did not tell my parents.

landingshortly · Wed Feb 06, 2008 11:54 am

actually, this summer. i am still 22 and i flew from VIE via AMS to YYZ and back on KL.

pilotboi · Fri Feb 08, 2008 5:07 pm

I was 16. PHL-MHT to goto ACE Camp at Daniel Webster.

TCT · Fri Feb 08, 2008 7:40 pm

I was 11. LGA-FLL on Spirit, it was extremely weird, and akward at first, but the FA's made me feel more comfortoble than ever, giving me free snacks, and those plastic wings.

SRforever · Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:46 pm

FEB 98 with SR YUL-ZRH in C with the infamous but then fabulous IFE on the MD-11 aged 15.

Scooter01 · Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:00 am

I was 14 years old, flying from FBU to GOT (Torslanda) in a SAS Metropolitan. I had a window-seat just by the right side engine and and observed that one of the 16 latches holding the engine-cowling opened during the climb-out.

Scooter01

[Edited 2008-02-08 16:14:23]

airtrainer · Sat Feb 09, 2008 3:58 pm

I was 25 when I flew CDG-MUC-EWR and back... Kinda exciting for a first "solo" experience, my previous flight with my parents was more than 10 years before.

Bartonsayswhat · Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:43 pm

i was 13 going from YYC-YYJ with WestJet on a 737-200. i remember the F/As to toilet paper and rolled it down the aisle to see how straight the pilot was flying, was of course on autopilot, but i didn't know that back then

PlymSpotter · Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:56 pm

I was 17, although really I wasn't exactly 'alone' as I was on a school trip with many friends, although it felt a little odd, as it was the first time I had flown without family on the flight. The route was LHR-PEK and the aircraft an Air China A340-313X, B-2385 on both outbound and return legs. (I'm also astonished that I can recall all of that from memory!)

Dan Smile

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