u/cordial_carbonara

Here’s what I’ve found and how it all went down after I wrote this post, just in case someone else ends up in the same boat! TLDR: I have my 3 kids ages 14, 13, and 11 traveling together unaccompanied.

First of all, thanks to everyone who gave their experiences and advice, it helped me make a game plan and talk with my kids about what to expect.

I did end up calling, and to say the customer service had no clue would be an understatement. I’m not sure that was worth my time. 0/10 experience, but maybe I just had bad luck.

However, the ticket counter at the airport was super helpful! That lady was very nice, and made it quick and easy to get a gate pass and explain what would happen on the other end of their flight. She helped me check that my mom was a verified pick up person who would be able to get a gate pass at the arrivals and was just all around full of information.

Basically, the “young travelers” going with an unaccompanied minor means the airline treated the whole group like young travelers. That is to say, they don’t really care about them at all lol. It’s whatever for us, but other parents might want to know how it works so they can make an educated decision on choosing an airline.

We got to the airport, I went to the ticket counter and got my gate pass, walked them through security and to the gate. I had my 14 yo add the SW app to her phone so she could manage their boarding passes to make it all easier. They ended up with group 4 and since we purchased seats I didn’t bother upgrading and it was fine. We got in the back of the group 4 line, I walked with them all the way up to the gate and scanning boarding passes, gave them a big hug, and off they went. No one acknowledged them or said anything about them being young travelers. They reported no one checked in with them on the flight or anything which was fine. I hung out at the gate until their flight took off, went and cried in my car for a bit, and headed home. On the arriving end, my mom got a gate pass at the ticket counter (they did check her ID to make sure it matched exactly their records), and was able to meet them at the other end.

The kids did very well, I let them take the lead going through security and navigating the airport with me there and they had zero issues. If TSA weren’t so grumpy I’d probably be okay with them doing all that alone next time, at least in our home airport.

So yeah, AMA I guess if you have questions about your own kids? But it all worked out.

We’re currently building a house and planning the landscaping. The front lawn will be kinda small between the setbacks and easement, and I want to dedicate as much of the larger back yard for edible plants (which is much easier!) but I still want at least one tree out front, and I’d love for it to be native. I’ve already got a huge list of shrubs and grasses and perennials but want to wait to narrow it down until I pick a tree.

South Puget Sound region.

I’m looking for any and all ideas for favorite standalone sentinels!

Edit to add that it is full sun, with a western facing lawn. Well draining soil overall in the area.

We’re in the process of having a home built. Earnest money is paid, financing has passed underwriting, now we’re just waiting on county and municipal permits to start building, which I’m told is currently taking around 2-3 months, plus another 4-6 for actual construction.

Currently, I’ve got the rest of the down payment and closing costs sitting in our money market account at our credit union since we were putting offers on existing homes up until a few weeks ago, but since we’re now looking at 6-9 months to close I’d like to make a little more money on the money if possible.

Thoughts on where to store around $50k for 6 months? My first thought was a 6-month CD and if by some miracle the house is done early I can eat the interest fees, but open to hearing other opinions.

Backstory: We’ve been casually working with a realtor, she’s been great. Understands we’re not in a huge hurry to buy, isn’t pushy, is easy to get a hold of. We toured two homes with her yesterday (Friday) and really are considering putting in an offer on one. But I’d like to take a second look to answer a couple questions we had and be more analytical before that. Houses are going quickly here, especially in this price range.

However, how okay is it to contact her on Memorial Day weekend? I don’t want to be rude, and am not sure the etiquette here.