Flying with Children - 1
Whenever the holiday season approaches, one of the common worries for parents is how to keep their children occupied and happy on the flight. We've had quite a bit of experience of flying with our little ones (our eldest first took a long haul flight aged 3 months!) so we thought we'd share some tips and advice that you may find useful.
When flying with children, there are a number of things you can do to make it less stressful and these start before you've even booked your flight.
Our eldest child first flew when she was just 3 months old and taking the passport picture of a 3 week old was a challenge (but there are special allowances for this, for example their eyes do not have to be open - check with the Identity & Passport Service). The Post Office offers a service (for a fee) where they will check your passport application prior to sending it in – this is well worthwhile, particularly if you're travelling soon.
A child’s passport is only valid for 5 years, if your child already has a passport, you need to ensure that it will still be valid for at least 6 months after you plan to return from your trip (some countries insist on this). If you got a passport for your little one at birth, then you will need to start to think about getting a renewal sometime around their 4th birthday – and you'll certainly need a new photograph!
Now all you need to do is decide where and when you're going and then go ahead and book your flights.
You need to decide what time of day to fly, it may well be that there's no choice, there is only one flight per day so you'll have to take that one, but certainly for longer haul flights we found that travelling on a night flight can be less stressful, your little ones are so tired that they sleep for the entire flight. Longer haul for us is over 4 or 5 hours so there's plenty of time for your little ones to sleep.
You must remember that you'll get limited sleep on an overnight flight so you'll need to take this into consideration. Also think about which way around the earth you'll be travelling. Going from West to East means that the night will be relatively short, travelling East to West means the night will be relatively long. (Travelling during the daytime or on shorter haul flights means that you will need to keep your little one entertained both at the airport and on the flight).
Which seat?
When booking, particularly when travelling with a child under 12 months always try to book a “bulkhead” seat – these are the seats situated at the front of each cabin on the aircraft. Not all airlines divide their cabins into sections – most of the low cost airlines and virtually all airlines on short haul routes have a single cabin with no bulkheads (the main dividers between cabins). You may not be able to select your seat at the time of booking, particularly if booking online, but we've found it useful to call the airline after making the booking to request a bulkhead seat.
The reason for wanting these seats is that there is often a little bit more space and on some airlines there's a drop down “table” in the bulkhead on which a bassinet or baby seat can be fastened. If the aircraft has the drop down table, then they will almost always carry the bassinets or seats – we've found it impossible to reserve bassinets ahead of time but make sure that as soon as you board the aircraft you ask for a bassinet – there are limited numbers on board.
A bassinet is also useful because children under 2 years old don't get their own seat and if you don’t have a bassinet then your little one will have to sit on your lap for the entire flight (unless you are lucky and there is an empty seat beside you!).
Remember that if your child is under 2 they'll have to sit on your lap for takeoff and landing and whenever the seatbelt signs are on – ensure that you are given an additional seat belt which fastens to your seat belt and secures your little one.
Which Cabin - Business, Premium Economy, Economy?
When booking, and if you can afford it, you may well be considering booking business class (or first!!) but we’ve found that certainly business class offers no advantage for the flying family and in many ways has disadvantages.
On some of the larger airlines, the business class seats are individual and have high dividers between seats – ideal for the business traveller, less than ideal for the family traveller, also the seats don't all face in the same direction, some face to the front of the aircraft, some to the rear.
We would suggest trying to get a seat in a premium economy cabin. The cabin is often smaller than the main economy cabins, there's more space between seats than in the standard economy cabin but the seats are still in rows and all point in the same direction; so you can all sit together and keep an eye on the children but also everyone has a bit more space.
What else to book early?
If you'll be travelling to the airport by car, it’s always good to book your airport parking ahead of time; you'll often get a discounted rate whichever type of parking you choose. Also, it’s well worth looking at the valet parking options which if booked far enough in advance may be surprisingly reasonably priced.
Valet parking is so convenient, all you need to do is arrive outside your terminal, unload all your bags and a driver will take your car and park it for you – on your return the car is brought back to the terminal for you. This means that you don’t have to wait around in the long stay parking for a bus, lugging children and bags around and on your return your exhausted children can be put straight back in the car for the journey home – no more messing about waiting for transfer buses!
If possible ensure that you pre-order a meal for your child, you may be able to choose a special child’s meal, of course on low cost and some short haul flights meals are not provided as part of the ticket price so it may be best to take something with you.
If you're renting a car at your destination, all reputable car rental companies will also rent you a child car seat – we have found that these can vary in quality so for peace of mind you might prefer to take your own car seat with you. For older children there are rucksack/booster seat combinations available which might be a good solution.
This article is continued in Part 2
Copyright: Kinderpods 2010
When flying with children, there are a number of things you can do to make it less stressful and these start before you've even booked your flight.
Before booking your flight
If you're flying internationally, make sure that everyone has their own passport, children can no longer be included on their parents passport, so if you're planning on travelling anytime in the foreseeable future make sure you get your little one their own passport.Our eldest child first flew when she was just 3 months old and taking the passport picture of a 3 week old was a challenge (but there are special allowances for this, for example their eyes do not have to be open - check with the Identity & Passport Service). The Post Office offers a service (for a fee) where they will check your passport application prior to sending it in – this is well worthwhile, particularly if you're travelling soon.
A child’s passport is only valid for 5 years, if your child already has a passport, you need to ensure that it will still be valid for at least 6 months after you plan to return from your trip (some countries insist on this). If you got a passport for your little one at birth, then you will need to start to think about getting a renewal sometime around their 4th birthday – and you'll certainly need a new photograph!
Now all you need to do is decide where and when you're going and then go ahead and book your flights.
When booking your flight
Choose your take-off timeYou need to decide what time of day to fly, it may well be that there's no choice, there is only one flight per day so you'll have to take that one, but certainly for longer haul flights we found that travelling on a night flight can be less stressful, your little ones are so tired that they sleep for the entire flight. Longer haul for us is over 4 or 5 hours so there's plenty of time for your little ones to sleep.
You must remember that you'll get limited sleep on an overnight flight so you'll need to take this into consideration. Also think about which way around the earth you'll be travelling. Going from West to East means that the night will be relatively short, travelling East to West means the night will be relatively long. (Travelling during the daytime or on shorter haul flights means that you will need to keep your little one entertained both at the airport and on the flight).
Which seat?
When booking, particularly when travelling with a child under 12 months always try to book a “bulkhead” seat – these are the seats situated at the front of each cabin on the aircraft. Not all airlines divide their cabins into sections – most of the low cost airlines and virtually all airlines on short haul routes have a single cabin with no bulkheads (the main dividers between cabins). You may not be able to select your seat at the time of booking, particularly if booking online, but we've found it useful to call the airline after making the booking to request a bulkhead seat.
The reason for wanting these seats is that there is often a little bit more space and on some airlines there's a drop down “table” in the bulkhead on which a bassinet or baby seat can be fastened. If the aircraft has the drop down table, then they will almost always carry the bassinets or seats – we've found it impossible to reserve bassinets ahead of time but make sure that as soon as you board the aircraft you ask for a bassinet – there are limited numbers on board.
A bassinet is also useful because children under 2 years old don't get their own seat and if you don’t have a bassinet then your little one will have to sit on your lap for the entire flight (unless you are lucky and there is an empty seat beside you!).
Remember that if your child is under 2 they'll have to sit on your lap for takeoff and landing and whenever the seatbelt signs are on – ensure that you are given an additional seat belt which fastens to your seat belt and secures your little one.
Which Cabin - Business, Premium Economy, Economy?
When booking, and if you can afford it, you may well be considering booking business class (or first!!) but we’ve found that certainly business class offers no advantage for the flying family and in many ways has disadvantages.
On some of the larger airlines, the business class seats are individual and have high dividers between seats – ideal for the business traveller, less than ideal for the family traveller, also the seats don't all face in the same direction, some face to the front of the aircraft, some to the rear.
We would suggest trying to get a seat in a premium economy cabin. The cabin is often smaller than the main economy cabins, there's more space between seats than in the standard economy cabin but the seats are still in rows and all point in the same direction; so you can all sit together and keep an eye on the children but also everyone has a bit more space.
What else to book early?
If you'll be travelling to the airport by car, it’s always good to book your airport parking ahead of time; you'll often get a discounted rate whichever type of parking you choose. Also, it’s well worth looking at the valet parking options which if booked far enough in advance may be surprisingly reasonably priced.
Valet parking is so convenient, all you need to do is arrive outside your terminal, unload all your bags and a driver will take your car and park it for you – on your return the car is brought back to the terminal for you. This means that you don’t have to wait around in the long stay parking for a bus, lugging children and bags around and on your return your exhausted children can be put straight back in the car for the journey home – no more messing about waiting for transfer buses!
If possible ensure that you pre-order a meal for your child, you may be able to choose a special child’s meal, of course on low cost and some short haul flights meals are not provided as part of the ticket price so it may be best to take something with you.
If you're renting a car at your destination, all reputable car rental companies will also rent you a child car seat – we have found that these can vary in quality so for peace of mind you might prefer to take your own car seat with you. For older children there are rucksack/booster seat combinations available which might be a good solution.
This article is continued in Part 2
Copyright: Kinderpods 2010
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