Flying

I really used to enjoy flying and booking tickets was the start of the happy anticipation. Not so much anymore. I'm trying to find a flight I can afford so my grandson can come to visit over his Thanksgiving break. He is 13 so most flights cannot be booked on the internet. Not wanting him to have to have assistance to change planes I found a direct flight into Salt Lake City, a six hour drive from here. His mom can put him on the plane and I will get him off. Sounded like a plan until I found out that in addition to spending more on this direct flight and driving the six hours each way to Salt Lake City the airline will also charge me 100 dollars each way because he is unaccompanied. OK, if this was not a direct flight I would expect to pay for an airline employee to walk him to his connecting flight but that is not the case. Even at that 100 dollars seems like a pretty steep charge. I am paying 100 dollars so that (if they remember) I'll be asked who I am when I meet him at the plane as will his mother at the other end. We did this last year and to be honest I don't remember anyone asking me anything when I picked him up at the airport. There's going to be one very disappointed young man when I am unable to find a flight (with the extra charge) that I can afford and that's what it's looking like right now. Maybe I'm more angry at myself for not having the money to do what I want to do but either way it sucks for him.