Little globetrotters

Every day, I see the world as a passing parade of backpackers, families, groups, pets, singles and little globetrotters – young kids travelling alone, who we refer to as “unaccompanied minors”.

A very sweet and well-mannered young lad recently showed up at my desk. He confidently handed me a sheet of A4 paper and informed me that this document gave him permission to travel to the US together with his Polish grandparents. After handing over the three passports, he asked if he himself would be allowed to place their baggage on the belt.

Cars
I really love these little global citizens, who take a very matter-of-fact approach to world travel, despite their tender age. Their attitude already hints at the (successful) adults they are to become. When I asked the young gentleman if he had any other wishes, he replied: “Yes, a window seat please.” He then heaved his little trolley onto the belt. It was decorated with images from the film “Cars”, which is a must-see for 4-12-year-olds. He waited patiently for his boarding pass and claim tag. “Thank you, ma’am,” he said and gave me a sunny smile that warmed my heart and gave me a glimpse of two missing teeth. He glanced proudly at his grandma, who gave him a wink, and then he slowly disappeared from view together with his grandparents. This is what it’s all about, for me. I love moments like this. And I experience a lot of them, thanks to my job.

With LAV, Morena
KLM Ground Services

Posted by:   Morena  | 
Join the conversation Show comments

Sylwia M

I use to travel thru klm on my own a few times traveling from Toronto to Poland back in the early and mid 90’s. It was one of my best experiences in life.

Sylwia M

I use to travel thru klm on my own a few times traveling from Toronto to Poland back in the early and mid 90’s. It was one of my best experiences in life.

miska

And sometimes they are really impolite, mister and miss ‘know it all’ and are not really listening to the ca’s. Luckily most of the times our um’s are nice and friendly on board…

miska

And sometimes they are really impolite, mister and miss ‘know it all’ and are not really listening to the ca’s. Luckily most of the times our um’s are nice and friendly on board…

Raymon

In most of the countries is it well aranged to let children fly unaccompanied. However i have to say when you have family in romania and want to arrange flight up and down for kids it is made very complicated and extremly strict. I hope they will improve that fast!

Raymon

In most of the countries is it well aranged to let children fly unaccompanied. However i have to say when you have family in romania and want to arrange flight up and down for kids it is made very complicated and extremly strict. I hope they will improve that fast!

Robert

I have booked my 12-year old son on a flight that will take him from Germany via Amsterdam to Hong Kong next month (June 2017) and back to Germany the following month. This is the second time he is doing this UM flight. Last year we paid EUR100 one-way, i.e. EUR200 in total for the unaccompanied minor service.

I just noticed that starting next month the fee increases to EUR250 one-way, i.e. EUR500 for the two-way flight. This is a 250% increase!

I feel almost like being cheated with this sudden and unexpected price increase as we have no other option but to buy the UM service (well, apart from cancelling the ticket altogether!).

Does KLM not realise that this drives customers away from their airline? We will certainly not book KLM for our son again!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Loading