Top 15 tips for traveling with kids from Airfare Watchdog
Since I’m about to become a new mom, I’m all ears for tips on how to travel — and especially fly — with young ones. Airfare Watchdog released its “Top Tips for Flying With Tots” list Wednesday and I’ll admit there’s great advice in there I haven’t heard yet. Note that the list of tips is the best advice compiled from their readers who were asked how to deal with kids during holiday travel.
Best tips? The two tips that stuck out the most to me were:
No. 6: Fly a kid-friendly airline such as Frontier, JetBlue, or Virgin with seat-back televisions. There’s almost always a channel with children’s programming.
No. 8: Never do early boarding. The less time on board, the better. Sitting around, twiddling thumbs (or using up all your games and activities before you even take off) while you wait for the plane to fill up will probably take longer than you think.
Wait a second, after Southwest announced that they were going to end pre-boarding for families, we heard from parents who wanted family pre-boarding. So now we’re back to do we or don’t we pre-board when flying with children.
One reader said that it was important just so that her family of four could sit together. But it also sounds practical to wait the way Airfare Watchdog put it. I imagine with all the gear that goes along with traveling with an infant, I’d want to pre-board just to get settled while I had more space around me.
Moms who travel with babies, you tell me. To pre-board or not to pre-board, that is the question.
Related stories and tips from the Los Angeles Times:
Family travel: How to travel with children
– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Photo: Gogo Kidz Travelmate]
5 Comments on “Top 15 tips for traveling with kids from Airfare Watchdog”
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October 17th, 2008 at 6:32 am
That’s great news that you have a baby on the way! Congratulations!
October 17th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I only preboard with kids if we are on the bulkhead Jen. I hate the bulkhead, but occasionally get seated there through miscommunication.
On a long flight (and aren’t they ALL long when you’re traveling with the short set?) you don’t want to risk not getting the overhead bin that is directly over your head.
You are going to need your stuff.
October 17th, 2008 at 11:40 am
one of the best articles about flying with kids is on Wejustgotback: http://www.wejustgotback.com/default.aspx?mod=under3_fly
congrats on becoming a new mom!
October 17th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Totally depends on how much gear you have and how long the flight is. Pre-boarding is totally necessary if you bring a car seat on board because you’ve bought a seat for your infant/toddler. It takes more effort than you’d think to secure the car seat. Also, toddlers can be really picky about food, so plan on bringing food, PLUS diapers, PLUS stuff to entertain the kid. Since they started charging for checked baggage, I’ve noticed the overhead bins are totally full, so it’s nice to get that pre-boarding advantage so your stuff isn’t in a bin five rows behind you.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Get mPassport! It goes on your mobile phone and if one of the kids gets sick when you’re overseas, you can quickly and easily find a doctor or pharmacy. I don’t leave the country without it.