More than ever, children are setting vacation agendas; why not let them plan the whole trip? (Graham Roumieu/The New York Times) -- NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY WITH STORY SLUGGED CHILD TRAVEL PLANNERS ADV14 BY KUGEL FOR AUG. 14 2016. ALL OTHER USE PROHIBITED. —

Last February, when my sister-in-law, Katrina, was struggling to put together a six-person, three-generation family trip for spring break, she turned to a nontraditional travel agent: Leo Kugel of Silver Spring, Maryland.

Leo shelved the original Caribbean plan in favor of New Orleans, selected a hotel that had something for everyone, and found an inexpensive flight. But though at 5-foot-10, Leo is at least as tall as your average travel agent, he is actually my 12-year-old nephew.

“We were stalled out, planningwise,” Katrina told me. “And he said ‘I’ll take it from here.’ I was a little bit skeptical.”

But aside from a tweak in the flight, everyone — Katrina; my brother, Jeremy; my younger nephew, Grady; my mom (aka Grammy); and my Aunt Nancy — agreed to his choices, including a five-night stay in Le Pavillon.

When I heard about this, I may have tilted my head like a dog when it hears a weird noise. When did kids suddenly acquire travel planning skills? I’m pretty sure the first time I picked a hotel was when I met up with my girlfriend in England at age 23. Actually, she probably picked it.

But times have changed. “The general concept of your children influencing your vacation,” said Karen Cicero, travel editor at Parents magazine, “whether helping pick the destination or planning part of the trip, is a trend.”

I’m skeptical when people use the t-word, but she pointed to a 2015 survey of 540 parents by YouGov for HomeAway, the vacation rental site, showing that millennial parents are more likely to let their children ages 6-18 pick a destination themselves, than children of older parents.

It makes sense. Trip planning, these days, takes place mostly online, and children know a thing or two about the internet. Considering that Leo shops for sneakers and jackets online, looking for deals to convince his parents, the jump to hotels doesn’t seem drastic.

Cicero said that social media also played a role. “My daughter is 13, and if you scroll through her Instagram feed, you’ll see pics of her friends’ vacations — it gets kids excited and gives them ideas. If you think back to even 10 years ago, school ended and you didn’t find out where your friends had gone until you went back.”

Involving children has benefits beyond travel-planning experience. “What this highlights is the importance of getting buy-in,” said Rainer Jenss, the president and founder of the Family Travel Association. “A lot of parents don’t consider getting their kids involved in the planning process, dictate it to them and sometimes make assumptions about what would make the kids happy.”

That can lead to risk-free choices like Disney World or child-friendly cruises. But “if kids are involved in the decision,” he said, “they have ownership.”

I reached Leo on his cellphone as his parents drove him and Grady to a Massachusetts summer camp. “Everyone wanted to go to the Dominican Republic,” he said, “but it’s pretty expensive, so I tried to find a place that was warm and not too expensive.” That ended up being New Orleans. He checked a weather app to make sure it wouldn’t be too cold.

The hotel was trickier. He knew his parents wanted to be “close to the center but not so close that it would be so loud I couldn’t sleep,” Leo said.

He had a priority as well: a pool. A web search led to Groupon.com, where he spotted a photo of Le Pavillon’s rooftop pool. He went to lepavillon.com, and noted that the hotel was “a short stroll to the French Quarter.” And he didn’t forget the older generation. “It had kind of a French name so it sounded like Grammy might like it.”

Curious if he was on target, I emailed my father, Peter Kugel, who confirmed that his wife might be swayed by a French moniker. He signed the email “Pierre,” and cc’ed her.

Some experts caution that while involving children in planning is good, there are no precise guidelines. Parents should set limits appropriate to their own children. (Allow me to interpret: Not every 12-year-old is as awesome as my nephew.)

“Younger kids and some teens don’t necessarily have all the tools to plan a trip in a way that would make everyone happy,” said Mark Bertin, a developmental pediatrician in Pleasantville, New York. “But as long as you’re aware of what your child’s really capable of, you could even involve a younger child a little bit.”

Maintaining veto power is a no-brainer, but so is setting boundaries to avoid having to use it — perhaps by preselecting options for children to choose among. “If they make a choice that is not practical, it puts you at loggerheads,” said Dr. Karl Neumann, the pediatrician behind kidstraveldoc.com. But for children who can handle it, open planning encourages them to consider others’ preferences.