Top 7 Tips for Baby’s First Flight
My little sister is taking her first flight with her 5 month old daughter next week by herself. After two years writing a blog about traveling with babies and kids, I have so much to tell her. Of course, that is also the problem. There is so much information about travel with kids that it can be overwhelming for new parents. Many give up before they even get started.
Recognizing that new parents don’t have much free time, I’ve distilled my in-the-trenches travel experiences into 7 basic tips for your baby’s first flight. These tips will serve you well if you are taking a domestic trip to a standard destination – a beach vacation, grandma’s house, Disney World, etc. If you are interested in planning for more complicated trips (including international travel), stay tuned for a more comprehensive beginner’s guide in the works.
So, without further ado, here are Trips with Tykes’ Top 7 Tips for Baby’s First Flight!
TIP 1: Know Your Airline
Not all airlines are created equal these days. Policies and practices among the US carriers can vary considerably, from checked bag fees, ease of securing seats together as a family, being able to purchase food in-flight, etc.
Depending on where you are located and where you are going, you may have only one or two choices of airlines for baby’s first flight. That is fine, as long as you know what to expect aboard the airline you do book. Check the airline’s website and make sure to read the sections about 1) Travel with Children (if the airline has one – not all do!) and 2) Baggage policies. This will cover 90% of the surprises you may encounter when traveling with kids.
If you do have more than a few airline choices, then may I recommend rewarding the airlines that work harder for traveling families with your business? Confused about which airlines to consider? Check out my post Best and Worst Domestic Airlines to Fly with Kids.
And when traveling with a baby for the first time, I’d avoid the ultra discount carriers unless you are used to traveling on them regularly. These airlines include Spirit, Frontier, and Allegiant in the United States and RyanAir, EasyJet, and others in Europe. There are simply too many traps for the unwary.
Our first flight with V, age 3 months. SFO to JFK.
TIP 2: Pick Flights Where You & Your Baby are Likely to be at Your Best
This tip may seen quite obvious — if you pick flights where you and baby are likely to be at your best, then your chances for a successful flight are much greater. But I see many new parents ignore this simple tip in the interests of a few bucks. I’m a big fan of traveling on the cheap, but when you have a new baby, you sometimes need to pay a bit more for an improved travel experience. This is particularly true on your first flight with a baby. Set the stage for travel success.
Before you book any trip with your new baby, think about your child’s daily routine. Try as best you can to book flights that work WITH that routine rather than disrupt it. For infants who have settled into a two-nap-a-day schedule (this usually happens somewhere between 4-6 months), I happen to think a 10 am flight is a perfect choice for a baby’s first flight. You wake up at a normal hour, get to the airport, and time takeoff to coincide with a morning nap. If your baby is colicky or fussy, avoid flights at times where baby is likely to be at his worst — evening flights (6 pm is not called the “witching hour” for nothing), redeyes, etc.
TIP 3: Don’t Overpack…
One of the hardest things about having a new baby is all the gear that comes along with this little person. The reality is that babies don’t really need much. Resist the urge to pack everything and the kitchen sink on your first trip. You will only be frustrated and tired from carrying all of it on parking and rental car shuttles, through security checkpoints, and on airport trains.
Worried you won’t have the essential gear you need at your destination? Consider shipping duplicate baby gear items ahead. It is always a good idea to have an extra Pack n Play and car seat at grandma’s house. Both of our kids have been bouncy seat fanatics, so we found the cheapest $25 bouncy seat Amazon.com had to offer and made sure it was waiting at grandma’s house before our first visit. And remember: if you forget something essential, chances are you can buy it at your destination.
TIP 4: … But DO Overpack the Following in Your Carry-On: Diapers, Formula, & Food
I always encourage traveling parents to do their best to travel light. But there are three ESSENTIAL items on which you simply can’t risk being short: diapers, formula & food. These baby items simply aren’t available for purchase in the vast majority of airports. Babies mysteriously seem to go through more of these items during travel days anyway. Add in a flight delay or cancellation and you could run through your entire supply. Consider how much food, formula, and diapers you will need for your trip and double it. You’ll thank me later.
If your baby is breastfed, congratulations! You just freed up some space in the carryon. Although you might be wary to nurse in public places like planes, be aware that most airlines are quite supportive of nursing moms and it is much easier and more portable to breastfeed.
Some airports have nurseries where you can easily change & feed. Taken at SFO Terminal 3, Boarding Area E (United gates)
TIP 5: Use the TSA Family Lines
If you haven’t flown regularly in the past few years, you might not be aware that many more airports now offer a separate security screening lines for families. Sometimes these family lines have absolutely no line at all. I’ve saved hours of my life that would otherwise have been wasted in TSA lines by using the family lanes.
A few tips for TSA when you do breeze right through that short family line. First, remember that liquids in excess of 3.4 oz (prepared formula, milk/juice, etc.) may need special screening. Have them ready in a separate ziplock. Second, I have good news for those of you who hate or fear the newer body scanners (a.k.a. the “nude-o-scopes”). You don’t have to go through them with a baby! You will get sent through the standard metal detectors with an infant in arms.
Finally, be aware that you will have to take your little one out of his or her stroller (and probably also most baby carriers) to go through the TSA checkpoint. This is a big pain if you happen to have a sleeping baby. I always try to keep my little one awake until we get through security, if at all possible.
TIP 6: While On-Board, Change It Up
Babies aren’t known for their long attention spans, so your best bet for surviving and thriving on the flight itself is being prepared with new things to do. Depending on the age of your baby, bring a variety of toys or items for him to look at or manipulate. Some of these should be new, and none of them should make serious noise so as not to disturb other passengers (rattles are okay, but nothing with music or bright lights). Sometimes simple is best. At 6 months old, our daughter entertained herself for 15+ minutes on one of our flights by meticulously tearing up our copy of the New York Times.
It is often helpful to get up and walk the aisles with a baby who is squirmy. You can often rock a fussy baby right to sleep this way if you put him or her in a carrier. Just be considerate of other passengers and try to stay out of the flight attendants’ way in the galleys.
Some planes have changing tables in one or more bathrooms. Others don’t. See my post on Changing Table Challenges for more tips.
TIP 7: Relax – You Can Do It!
Millions of traveling parents have flown with babies before you and lived to tell the tale. Your baby may fuss or cry at times, but most of your fellow passengers will be understanding if you are doing your best to address the situation. If things go wrong during your travels, stay calm and ask for help. Gate agents and flight attendants will be more willing to help you solve a problem if you are kind and in control.
Questions about traveling with kids? Other tips to share? Please comment!
When it comes to car seats and airplanes, I’ve been lucky. I’ve flown close to 100 flight segments with my children and have brought a car seat aboard for easily more than a dozen of those flights. I’ve never once been questioned or challenged by a member of any flight crew.
Every few months, a story makes the news about car seats on airplanes. Usually, a traveling family has been ordered by flight attendants to use a car seat improperly, or not to use it at all. The facts are often sketchy and I must admit that even I discounted some of these stories as the product of journalistic “enthusiasm” or just as the result of simple misunderstanding due to the inexperience of some families who don’t fly that often.
But when the story happens to someone you know and to someone who is a frequent flyer, you begin to seriously consider that the problem is more widespread than you thought. Yesterday, the husband of a college friend of mine was aboard American Airlines Flight 3407 with their 15 month old son. This flight is operated by Envoy Airlines, the American subsidiary regional carrier formerly known as American Eagle. He had purchased a seat for their toddler so that he could bring a car seat aboard and secure him in it for the flight. (As an aside, kudos to them for being so responsible! Although I have occasionally flown with lap children on planes, statistics show that infants and toddlers in car seats are definitely safer in their own seat strapped into a car seat than in arms.) But my friend and her husband had done more than that, making sure to book a window seat as they know that car seats need to be installed by the window so as not to block egress for other passengers. These parents flew frequently (my friend will qualify for American’s Executive Platinum status this year) and knew the rules. I reached out to them directly to get the story.
When my friend’s husband got on the flight, no one said anything to him or checked the seat for the FAA approval sticker, as had occasionally happened to them in the past. He installed the seat in the window seat and buckled his son in. Once the doors were closed and the plane pushed back, the flight attendant came over and told him that his son couldn’t sit in his car seat. My friend’s husband held firm, insisting that his car seat was permitted as he had purchased the extra seat and was using an FAA approved seat. He pointed to the label on the side. The flight attendant said that the label was too far away and that he would have to take his son out of the seat and uninstall it so she could see it. He did just that.
After seeing the label (which says that it’s approved for use on airplanes — see the photo below), the flight attendant stated that car seats aren’t allowed during take off and landing. My friend’s husband continued to challenge her and asked to speak to other crew members or a supervisor. The pilot then came over and told him that the flight attendant was right. He told him that his son could not sit in the seat during take off and landing (statistically the most dangerous part of the flight), but that the crew “didn’t care” where he put his son during the in-flight portion of the trip. My friend’s husband tried to argue and reason with them, finally asking for their names. The crew refused to give their names.
They told him he could either hold his son in his lap for takeoff and landing or they would turn the plane around and throw him off. By this time, the flight was already seriously delayed, having been nearly two hours late in boarding. Having been publicly challenged and embarrassed, not wanting to further inconvenience others, and not seeing any other recourse, he relented and agreed to hold his son for takeoff and landing.
As soon as the flight landed, my friend and her husband started trying to get answers. They tweeted to American directly. They enlisted the help of some big names in social media to get the word out and encourage American to take their complaint seriously — The Baby Guy and The Car Seat Lady.
Here’s The Baby Guy’s post that is making the rounds on Facebook:
My friend has yet to receive a response from American Airlines about the incident, other than an email saying that they were sorry her husband and son were “disappointed” with the experience and they are looking into it. I hope American responds quickly and immediately works to make sure all its flight attendants and pilots adhere to American’s own policies permitting car seat use in exactly this type of scenario.
This is an important battle for traveling parents that airlines need to fix. After sharing an early version of this story on my blog’s Facebook page, several fellow family travel bloggers (Andrea at Passports & Pushchairs and Sarah at Solo Mom Takes Flight) chimed in and reported that they too had personal experience with erroneous flight crew instructions about car seat use. There is really no excuse. Kids fly every day on nearly every plane. I’ve seen hundreds of car seats on planes in my traveling life. Flight attendants and pilots (who fly exponentially more than I ever could) should know the car seat rules. Airlines should do everything in their power to support, rather than to shame and punish, parents who choose to fly with their children in the safest manner possible.
I’ve recently been spending a bit more time on social media following other travel bloggers in areas that interest me – travel with kids, Disney fandom, and frequent flyer miles & points.
There have been lots of new entries into the travel blogging world since I last updated my blogroll on the right hand side of this site (scroll down to the end of the right column to find my recommended sites). And there are lots of travel bloggers who have been out there for years but that I never stumbled upon until now.
So, consider my blogroll updated as of June 2014! I’m sure there are some great sites I’ve forgotten in the process of this update, but so be it. If you are looking for some new and some not-so-new-but-new-to-me blogs to follow, check out the updated list of sites I recommend on the right.
With school almost out and summer travel upon us, lots of bloggers are talking about travel with kids. The usual family travel blogs are as active as ever, but it’s especially encouraging to see some of my favorite miles and points travel bloggers talking about their kids a bit more, as well as seeing a few more of them join us in the parenting trenches with new babies!
Here is a roundup of some of the best family travel stories and news on the web this week.
- “Family Travel for Real Life” is On! via The Deal Mommy: The biggest news of the week is that family travel blogger The Deal Mommy and her friends will be hosting a conference on August 23 near Dulles Airport to discuss family travel and how families can make the most of miles and points. I’m unlikely to be able to attend due to distance (and the fact that my daughter starts kindergarten that same week), but I’d highly recommend that others who live nearby give this a serious look. And I certainly wish this conference all the success in the world so it can be a repeat player in the traveling community and I can attend some day!
- Do You Use a Car Seat for Your Baby in Cabs When Traveling via MommyPoints: Practical advice about cabs and car seats that I happen to agree with wholeheartedly!
- I’m Not Gone… I Just Have Two Kids via Points & Pixie Dust: One traveling mom blogger offers a realistic take on the challenges of balancing a travel blog and real-life parenting.
- Discussion: Medicating Babies Before Flying via Just Another Points Traveler: I couldn’t agree more with this new mom that you should NOT drug your baby when flying.
- Traveling with a Baby: Our 7 Best Diaper Tips via Hint Mama & FamiliesGo!: 7 great tips for dealing with less-than-ideal diaper changing scenarios on the plane and on the road.
Bloggers who write about family travel and travel with kids: Have a story or blog post that I can feature on future Fridays? Please tweet me your tips: @tripswithtykes.
Southwest Airlines is having its big fall sale right now, so I’ve been looking for excuses to book some Southwest flights this week. One trip on my radar was a trip back home to Alabama, so I was relieved to finally spot some good fares from SFO to ATL on Southwest.
Our littlest one is approaching the age where flying with him as a lap child will be tough, especially on cross-country flights. He’s crawling now, and once babies get mobile, all bets are off for being able to contain them in your lap on a flight (click here to see my tips for deciding whether to buy a seat or carry your infant as a lap child). We decided we needed to get him a seat on this trip. This is the first time that we were booking FOUR airplane tickets for our family, and I cringed at the thought of what the credit card statement was going to look like in a few weeks.
Before I booked, I racked my brain for ways to save just a bit more on this flight so I could justify buying a seat for Baby C. And then I remembered it! I have a bit of a Diet Coke habit, and I have gotten in the habit of saving My Coke Rewards codes. Those codes convert to Coke points that you can redeem for coupons, sweepstakes entries, merchandise and other prizes.
As it just so happens, Southwest is currently offering a coupon code on MyCokeRewards.com. For 100 Coke points, you can get $20 off of a Southwest Airlines Wanna Getaway fare (fine print available here). Because the coupon is good on every Southwest Airlines Wanna Getaway fare you book on the same reservation up to 8 people, the savings for families can really add up.
If you are just starting with My Coke Rewards, 100 Coke points isn’t that hard to amass – you earn that much with 4 32-packs that you can buy at Costco or 10 12-packs that you can get at any grocery store. I usually have that many packs sitting in my basement! 😉 And Coke often runs double point promotions on certain types of packages or bottles.
Our family of four saved $80 on our flights to Atlanta this summer with this deal. This put a serious dent in the cost of that fourth ticket and we’ll have a much more enjoyable flight as a result. There are so few travel deals that end up being better for families than singles and couples, so I thought I’d share this tip with those of you who travel as a family.
Alabama in August, here we come!
(Note: If you have a Diet Coke problem like I do, it is well worth redeeming and tracking My Coke Rewards points. They are often not worth much, but good travel deals pop up here and there, including Hilton points. Follow the FlyerTalk thread on My Coke Rewards for more information, including the occasional free points codes that other readers will share.)
10 Tips & Tricks for Visiting Hong Kong Disneyland
My husband, 5 year old daughter, and I recently spent 6 days in Hong Kong. Since we are Disney fans (as you can probably tell by all my Disney posts on the blog), we spent quite a bit of time exploring Hong Kong Disneyland during our visit.
Before our trip, I had quite a difficult time finding English-language information about this park (with the exception of these 5 great Hong Kong Disneyland trip planning sites). I’m used to meticulously planning my Disney vacations using programs like Ridemax, carefully researching the best ways to avoid the crowds and get the most attractions and experiences squeezed into the day. With so little information out there about Hong Kong Disneyland, I simply couldn’t do the same level of planning. Many of the reviews I read claimed that the park was never very crowded and stated that you could see everything there was to see in a single day.
I’m here to tell you that the conventional wisdom about Hong Kong Disneyland is not exactly right! The park can be very empty at times, but we also saw firsthand that there are days and times where the lines can rival a busy day in Anaheim. We spent a full day plus two evenings in the park and still couldn’t see it all.
Here are 10 tips and tricks that we learned while visiting that will hopefully make your Hong Kong Disneyland trip planning easier.
1) Visit Hong Kong Disneyland on a weekday
If you are in Hong Kong for a few days, do everything in your power to time your visit to Hong Kong Disneyland on a weekday. We managed to time our full day in the park on a Thursday, and we experienced minimal lines almost the entire day. When we returned to the park for a half day on Saturday, however, the lines had more than quadrupled. As is the case in Anaheim, lots of locals have annual passes and you should expect the park to be packed on weekends. Don’t get caught up in these lines if you can help it.
2) Arrive at park opening (a.k.a. “rope drop”)
We arrived to find Fantasyland completely empty at park opening time.
This wisdom holds true for all Disney parks, but it is even more true in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is like New York — stay up late at night and start the next morning late. Consequently, Hong Kong Disneyland doesn’t open until 10 am most days. But apparently 10 am is still too early for most Hong Kong residents, because the park was close to empty at rope drop. We walked on ride after ride for the first two hours the park was open. It really didn’t get busy most days until around lunchtime. And 3:00-5:00 seemed to be the busiest time of the day. So, if you can start your day earlier than the locals, you can really avoid the crowds.
3) Don’t be distracted by the characters!
We still made plenty of time to meet Disney characters galore… but we timed our visits strategically.
My family loves character meet-and-greets as much as any Disney fan, and we always make sure to schedule time to meet Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the crew. Character meet-and-greets seem to be especially popular in Hong Kong Disneyland. They are so popular that everyone who arrives early to the park seems to stop for the first character they see. At rope drop, we saw lines already 50+ people deep for Mickey and Duffy in Main Street. We were sorely tempted to stop too, but we instead made a beeline for Fantasyland only to find it was completely empty. We had a chance to see Mickey at our character dining earlier that morning, and we were better able to use the time for rides before everyone else had delved deeper into the park. And we made sure to visit characters at other moments later in the day, when all the lines for everything were long.
4) Consider walking (if you are staying at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel)
As you can see by the map, the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is not that much further from the park entrance than the Public Transport Interchange where the hotel shuttles drop off.
We found the layout of Hong Kong Disneyland a bit odd, as the park entrance is located down a long promenade. As a result, you have to walk quite a bit to reach the park entrance. Guests from the two Disney hotels are dropped off by shuttles at one end of this promenade and walk past the Disneyland subway station and a large fountain before getting to the park. We thought this was strangely inefficient — to shuttle guests just to have them also walk 5-10 minutes to the actual entrance.
If you are staying at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, it may make sense for you to skip the shuttles, at least during the busiest times. You can instead walk to the park from the hotel. The walk is only about double the length of that long walk down the promenade from where the shuttles pick up and drop off. We found we could make it between the park and the hotel in about 12 minutes.
Note, however, that the Disney Hollywood Hotel is a much further walk. Guests there need to be prepared to use the shuttles. And note that a brisk 12 minute walk probably won’t be a good choice for you unless your child is still in a stroller or old enough to walk long distances. It was too much for our 5 year old, so she rode on dad’s shoulders quite a bit. But this can be a great alternative for certain times when there are waits for the shuttles, such as at park closing.
5) Don’t wait to ride Autopia
Every Disney park has it… an attraction that is wildly popular but that has such low capacity that the lines build up and only get worse as the day goes on. In Anaheim, that ride is Peter Pan’s Flight. In Hong Kong Disneyland, it is Autopia. The ride holds many fewer drivers than the attraction does in the United States parks. Ride it within an hour of morning rope drop or don’t ride it at all. We saw wait times of 40+ minutes even at the end of the night on a weekday. That’s way too long for a ride that I don’t really like that much anyway.
6) Fastpass Winnie the Pooh
Excited to ride her favorite Hong Kong Disneyland ride, with Fastpass at the ready!
Just as in Tokyo Disneyland, Winnie the Pooh is one of the most popular attractions. Luckily, Hong Kong Disneyland offers Fastpass for the attraction, which allows you to cut all but about the last 3-5 minutes of waiting time on the ride. Since Hong Kong Disneyland doesn’t offer many rides with Fastpasses (when we were there, only Space Mountain and Winnie the Pooh were offering Fastpass), you can easily grab multiple Fastpasses for this ride throughout the day and ride it many times with minimal waiting. This is probably my daughter’s favorite ride at the moment, and we were able to ride it 5 times during our stay.
7) See the shows
We thought Festival of the Lion King was a breathtaking and entertaining show.
We made a point to see both of the live action shows that were playing at Hong Kong Disneyland, and I’m so glad we did. We usually avoid the shows when we visit Disney parks, opting instead to ride certain rides multiple times. But the shows at Hong Kong Disneyland were worth it.
We thought the Festival of the Lion King was probably the best theme park show we had ever seen. It had excellent talent and was just visually exciting, with moving floats presented in a theater in the round.
We also really enjoyed The Golden Mickeys, a musical revue of some great Disney classics. The “story” between the musical numbers was presented in Cantonese with English subtitles so it felt truly like a local experience. Our daughter loved singing along to some Disney classics and being exposed to some of Disney’s more obscure movies too.
8) Be prepared for PhotoPass to be different than back home
Hong Kong Disneyland very recently introduced Disney’s PhotoPass service to the park. I was so excited when I heard this news just a few weeks before leaving on our trip, as my family always buys PhotoPass on our Disney vacations.
I was less thrilled after we took a few photos with a PhotoPass photographer the first evening in the park and were given slips of paper rather than a PhotoPass card with a scannable bar code. We were told we had to redeem those slips by the end of the day, rather than wait until the end of our vacation to buy PhotoPass to cover multiple days, as is the case in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
If you are used to PhotoPass from the United States parks, be aware that it works differently in Hong Kong (at least for now – perhaps it will evolve as they roll out more technology there). For now, you need to keep track of your photo slips and redeem photos the same day you take them. The single day PhotoPass option is offered at HKD $398 (about $51 USD). It is still quite a bit cheaper than in Disneyland or Walt Disney World, but it should be as it is only a one day pass. Your best bet if you are visiting the park for multiple days is to pick your longest day to be your PhotoPass day and try to get as many photos as you can that day so you only need to buy the PhotoPass once. Use your own camera on other days — cast members are always happy to take photos for you.
9) Have your kids collect stickers!
Proudly displaying her Hong Kong Disneyland sticker haul back home.
One of the unique aspects of Hong Kong Disneyland is that all the cast members have stickers in their pockets that they love giving away to kids. Our redheaded daughter charmed quite a few cast members and came away with nothing short of a sticker haul. She loved going on the hunt each day for ones that were not yet in her collection.
10) Give yourself more than one day to see Hong Kong Disneyland (especially if you are a Disney fan)
The addition of these three new lands the last few years has expanded the Hong Kong Disneyland attractions considerably.
The conventional wisdom is that Hong Kong Disneyland is a one day park, but I think this advice is outdated. With three new lands having opened in the past few years (Grizzly Gulch, Mystic Point, and Toy Story Land), it has enough to keep even a moderate Disney fan busy for more than one day. If you want to have time to truly explore the shopping, shows, restaurants, and character meet-and-greets (rather than just ride each attraction once and move on) you will need more than one day. The park still doesn’t offer as much as Anaheim or the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, but it is a full-fledged theme park with plenty to offer.
On our recent trip to Hong Kong, one poignant experience really stood out to me that crystallizes why my husband and I have decided to travel so much with our kids.
While we were waiting to board a shuttle from the Disneyland Hotel to the park one afternoon (Virginia was dressed in her Belle finest after a visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique), Virginia spotted a little girl about her age dressed in a Snow White gown. She and this other little girl eyed each other for a half-second and then immediately decided that they were best friends, despite being completely unable to communicate with each other. They were kindred spirits, language-barrier notwithstanding. We were able to exchange a few words with the girl’s mother, who knew a bit of English. We learned that the family was visiting from Shanghai. The girls shared a giggly ride on our shuttle bus to the park entrance, where we assumed they would part ways.
After we arrived at the park, the girls had other ideas! They grabbed hands and began walking to the front gates together. We followed (snapping photos to capture the cuteness), along with the little girl’s mother and other family members traveling with her. The two just didn’t want to say goodbye.
Snow White and Belle (from Shanghai and California, respectively) march toward Hong Kong Disneyland
Fast friends at Hong Kong Disneyland
We entered the park with our new friends from Shanghai, where the girls posed for photos in front of the traditional Disneyland Railroad station spot. We finally managed to convince our daughter to bid her new friend farewell so we could go ride some rides. It was almost a tearful parting, but the girls finally hugged and waved goodbye.
Belle and Snow White at Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad Station
In the two days that followed, we took a break from Disney and decided to explore other parts of Hong Kong. On our last morning in Hong Kong, our family went to Ngong Ping 360 in order to take the cable car to see the famous Buddha statue there. As we were waiting in the ticketing area, the very same little girl appeared right in front of me, smiling and beaming at Virginia!
The two of them could not believe their good luck at having a second chance meeting. As further luck would have it, the cable cars had been stopped because of inclement weather, so they had a chance to sit and play with each other for about 15 minutes while we waited for the weather to pass.
Friends Meet Again At Ngong Ping 360
The girls share the universal language of an iPhone game at Ngong Ping 360
The instant friendship between these two little girls was so pure and easy. It reminds me how alike all of us are, no matter where we are from or what language we speak. And this is one major reason we travel — to remind ourselves and teach our children this simple fact.
Maybe Mr. Disney was onto something when he told us “it’s a small world after all.”
Back from Hong Kong!
My husband, daughter, and I returned late Saturday night from our 6 day adventure in Hong Kong. Here are a few photo highlights of the trip. Lots of future reviews and trip reports to follow.
Highlights from our non-Disney Hong Kong Travels: Peak Tram, Ngong Ping 360, Tea at the British Peninsula Hotel, and more.
Highlights from Hong Kong Disneyland
Best and Worst Domestic Airlines to Fly with Kids
I’m often asked by fellow parents: “What is the best airline to fly with kids?” The accurate answer is that it depends!
A lot depends on where you are based. If you are at a hub for a particular airline, that airlines may well have nicer planes on more of its routes, better flight time availability, and more amenities in the airport that will matter to you.
The same goes for where you are going. If you are going to a small town in the South (I fly to a lot of them!), for example, you are probably going to be stuck on a tiny prop plane run by a commuter carrier with a high likelihood of flight cancellation, no matter WHICH airline you fly. Can’t exactly blame that on the airline.
But I really do believe some airlines — no matter what route and what airports are involved — do better and try harder for families. Here’s my list for 2014.
1) Virgin America
Pros: Newer planes, young & friendly flight attendants, good in-flight entertainment, decent food options, changing tables for your infants on all planes, one of the few airlines that still pre-boards kids 5 & under.
Cons: Limited nationwide service (only to bigger cities), limited flight schedules to some destinations so delays can be lengthier as fewer flight options are available.
2) Southwest
Pros: Frequent service to a number of large and small markets, reasonable fares, free checked bags, no change fees, upbeat flight attendants, reasonably-priced WiFi and new free streaming TV service, families board between groups A & B.
Cons: Boarding cattle calls, lack of meals, hard to find non-stops when traveling cross-country.
(Want to fly Southwest on your family’s next flight? Check out my Complete Guide to Flying Southwest With Kids!)
3) JetBlue
Pros: Free first checked bag, good in-flight entertainment, cool unlimited snacks (Terra Blues!), changing tables for your infants on all planes.
Cons: Lack of nationwide coverage (focus is on Northeast corridor and Florida/Caribbean destinations), planes starting to show their age.
4) Alaska
Pros: Reasonable fares (including a growing list of Hawaii options), upbeat flight attendants, MileagePlan frequent flyer program partners with a variety of airlines in different alliances, customer-service agents are US based and empowered to help (meaning they can accommodate families better).
Cons: Lack of nationwide coverage (only the West Coast & Hawaii are well-served), older planes, in-flight entertainment requires renting an extra device (more to juggle in your seat).
5) Delta
Pros: Newer planes on some routes (ATL), many flight attendants with a lot of Southern charm, consistent WiFi service
Cons: Older and cramped planes on other routes (MSP/SLC), inconsistent pre-boarding of families (technically pre-boarding is not allowed unless you have a car seat), highly criticized frequent flyer program, ATL mega-hub is misplaced for making certain geographic connections from the West Coast.
6) United
Pros: Truly nationwide coverage, fleet being upgraded in some places (including more Dreamliner coverage than other airlines), fairly good mileage redemption options in comparison to the domestic competition (particularly for Asia).
Cons: Very slow in rolling out WiFi to its fleet, seriously old planes on some routes, airline staff unhappy with current management and that can translate into spotty service to customers.
7) American/US Airways
Pros: Truly nationwide coverage, fleet being upgraded, better mid-continent connections at DFW mega-hub, merger of two airlines means you can combine your miles for better redemptions
Cons: Many old planes (especially on US Airways), seat cramping only going to get worse, difficulty in securing seats together with your child
Conclusions
I recommend families do their research before just booking the airfare that is a few bucks cheaper than the other choices on their next trip. Given how much variety there is between these carriers on policies that may really matter to you if you are traveling with kids, it might be worth booking a slightly more expensive fare if the airline is a better fit for your family.
Note: This post is an adaptation of some rankings that I did in 2013, which were focused on which airlines were better for SFO-based flyers. These rankings are different, as I’ve now focused on the policies that make the airline good choices for families nationwide. So, you’ll notice that a few of these airlines have moved up or down in the rankings.
Sunday Snapshots: Disney Memories, Part 2
As I mentioned last week, we are headed to Hong Kong Disneyland in a few days. This will be Virginia’s first visit to any Disney park other than Disneyland and our first trip to Hong Kong Disneyland as well. Here are a few of her Disney memories thus far:
V’s first time meeting Mickey Mouse. First Trip to Disneyland, February 2011.
V meeting Minnie Mouse on Disneyland trip #2, December 2011.
Virginia & Pluto, 3rd trip to Disneyland, September 2012
And we can’t forget the Aulani! March 2013.
Trips with Tykes 