Unaccompanied minors

To be eligible to travel as an Unaccompanied Minor, certain age and other requirements apply.

Note:

• Flight times don't include any time in transit or when transferring to a connecting flight.

Children travelling alone need to be able to:

• eat and drink without assistance, where we can assist with opening packaging where necessary, 
• attend the toilet independently, and
• administer their own prescribed medication - see travelling with medication below for more information. 

We don’t accept children travelling alone as an Unaccompanied Minor when their trip includes:

• connecting flights departing from a different terminal,
  
• a transit time between any two connecting flights that is more than four (4] hours,
• the last flight of the day from the final connection city (unless it's the only flight), and
• overnight connecting flights.

An Unaccompanied Minor fee is payable for each travel sector, and applies to Qantas operated flights only.* This fee is in addition to your child’s ticket.

Disclaimer: * The Unaccompanied Minor fee doesn't apply for travel on QantasLink flights to and from Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall.

How to calculate the fee:

Where an Unaccompanied Minor is travelling from Sydney to Denpasar, with a stopover in Melbourne, and the service is booked in advance:

• The total fee will be A$90 if both sectors are booked in one booking. 
• If the Sydney to Melbourne flight is booked on a separate booking to the Melbourne to Denpasar flight, the fee will be A$140.

You can request an Unaccompanied Minor service for your child in advance:  

• For Australian domestic flights, Unaccompanied Minor bookings can be made online, or by contacting your local Qantas office or travel agent.
• For international flights or Qantas Australian domestic flights that depart from an international terminal (flights QF1-399), contact your local Qantas office or travel agent for bookings.

Travelling as a Young Passenger is an additional option available for children travelling alone who are aged between 12 and 17 years.

No additional assistance is provided except in the event of a flight disruption. If the booked flight is cancelled, our team will provide support. We’ll do our best to accommodate the Young Passenger onto another flight to their destination and if that's not possible, we’ll:

• provide regular updates to the parent/guardian,
• coordinate supervision including accommodation and transfers, and
• provide food and beverages.
  

If your child is aged between 12 and 17 years and comfortable travelling alone, you can request they're identified as a Young Passenger travelling alone by calling your local Qantas office or your travel agent.

Check-in for children travelling alone is available at Special Assistance counters. The team will check your photo identification and contact details for the adult collecting the child, which should match all the details in the online booking. Ensure your child carries paper copies of any travel documentation.

Make sure you arrive nice and early for your flight:

• one-hour before departure for Australian domestic flights, and 
• two hours before departure for international flights.

Online check-in and pre-selecting seats aren’t available for children travelling alone.

Children travelling alone are subject to the same security and quarantine procedures as other customers.

The person escorting your child for an Australian domestic flight must escort them to the boarding gate. The Qantas team will then escort your child from the gate to the aircraft. For an international flight, we'll escort your child through security and to the departure gate, where the onboard Cabin Crew will assist.

Note:  

• If your child is travelling alone in Business, they’re not eligible to access the Qantas Lounge.
• The person escorting your child to the airport must remain at the airport until the flight has departed and is in the air.
  

We’ll endeavour to seat Unaccompanied Minors together near Cabin Crew work areas. Young flyers will always board the aircraft with Cabin Crew, after the main customer flow. Our team will help them stow their hand luggage, provide a safety briefing and make them comfortable. Food and beverages are available on most flights. During the flight, we’ll regularly check on your child.

If your child has a connecting flight, they’ll be supervised at the airport by the Qantas team and escorted to the next flight provided:

• your child isn’t booked on connecting flights with a transit time of more than four hours, and
• the next flight is operated by Qantas and departing from the same terminal. 

On arrival at their destination, your child will be escorted to the arrivals area by our team. If travelling internationally, we’ll help them through Customs and Immigration, and with their baggage.

In the arrivals area, our team will take your child to the nominated pick-up person. This person must be aged 18 years or older, or a sibling aged 15 years or older. Valid identification is required from the person collecting your child and must be identical to the name on the Unaccompanied Minor travel form.

If your child is travelling to or from the United States of America, the child's parent or guardian is required to drop them off at the nominated location within the airport and must always be contactable.

On arrival, we'll escort your child to the parent or guardian as nominated on the Unaccompanied Minor travel form.

The Republic of South Africa Department of Home Affairs has outlined the conditions for children travelling unaccompanied and the documents they need to provide when entering and leaving the country.

For more information, visit the Republic of South Africa Department of Home AffairsOpens external site. This is information may change and recommend you check the website regularly for any updates.