The author said a $349 unlimited flight pass became the graduation gift that keeps on giving to her teen son.
Courtesy of Chris Rosenberg.
Our son graduated from high school early by finishing online and isn't planning to attend college right now. He's been working since he was 14, and we've always focused on helping him build practical life skills early: cooking his own meals, managing his work schedule, doing his own laundry.We struggled to find a suitable graduation gift, but months later, we landed on something that seemed ideal: an unlimited flight pass. Since he wasn't moving away for school, we wanted to give him an opportunity to expand his perspective and build more independence in a way that fit his life. Plus, it felt like he had the opportunity to both build skills and have the most fun through the process.It's the gift of opportunityYears ago, my husband and I came across an unlimited flight pass from Frontier Airlines, where you pay an annual fee and then fly any route they serve for just taxes and fees. Domestic flights can run as little as $16 each way. We tucked the idea away in the back of our minds.We caught a Black Friday deal where the pass was available for only $349 with an extended timeline offer. Our son would have use of the pass for 18 months, so we decided it was the perfect belated graduation gift.When we gave it to him, he was ecstatic. It was like an unlimited amount of opportunities all became available to him at the same time, and he immediately had to figure out how to navigate it. That was exactly the point.The pass has restrictions. Domestically, you can only book up to two days in advance. Internationally, up to 10 days. You have to search for available tickets specific to the pass, plan around limited routes, and stay flexible. We told Nate that a great goal would be to take at least one trip a month to start getting comfortable with traveling on his own.
