Luxury Family Air Travel Tips
Vacation Plans with a Baby or Child? Make the Plane Part of the Fun
Children can be part of a luxury vacation, including long airplane trips. 10 tips help make air travel with babies and young kids the luxury that air travel should be.
Luxury travel isn't solely about the destination. Traveling in luxury is an important part of an upscale family vacation as well. A week in Florence is one thing; 13 hours crammed (with unhappy children) in the maximum-capacity coach section of a plane is quite another.
Business and first class seats on transatlantic flights go a long way towards easing the annoyance element of travel, but the prices can be hard to justify when traveling as a family. Even when families do fly business or first class, parents need additional resources. Travel with a baby or young child, and you'll need more than comfortable seats to get through the trip relatively unfrazzled. There are other ways in which to bring luxury to family air travel; plan ahead, and flying with a baby or child can be (almost) easy.
Luxury Family Air Travel Tips
- Tip One - Take a high quality portable DVD player. Don't cheap out and buy one with poor sound quality, or whose battery life won't get your child through a feature-length DVD.
- Tip Two - If feasible, bring a newly released DVD as a surprise option (or even an older movie that the child simply hasn't seen yet). A "new to me" DVD will keep children more engaged than that Spongebob series they've seen a million times already.
- Tip Three - Take a redeye. Babies and children will sleep much longer, and better, if they're following their circadian rhythm. Help toddlers get comfortable, and let them see that the adults on the plane are also planning to sleep.
- Tip Four - Remember to bring favorite sleep objects, like a special blanket or stuffed animal. As much as possible, mimic the sleep routine the baby or child is used to.
- Tip Five - If flying in the morning, wake the baby or young children up early. They'll be cranky at first, but there's a better chance of working a nap into the airplane trip.
- Tip Six - It bears repeating: First class and business class seats on airplanes are key to luxury travel. The seats are much more comfortable, the food is better (although still not always child-friendly), and the flight attendants seem to put an extra bit of friendliness into their approach to kids up in business and first class.
- Tip Seven - Don't fill your limited carry-on space with baby necessities for your destination, such as diapers and formula. Plan ahead, and order from BabiesTravelLite. This reliable company will ship virtually any baby product, virtually anywhere in the world. Order 2 weeks ahead (at least) and all baby and young child supplies will be waiting at the hotel or resort upon guest arrival.
- Tip Eight - For older children, pack a new, small electronic gadget to present when the kids get restless. Tamagotchis are perennially popular, as are DigiPets and Virtual Pets. For the comfort and ease of other plane passengers, make sure to put the sound off prior to playing.
- Tip Nine - Candy isn't as entertaining as it's purported to be. One pack of M&Ms, made to last, is better than a constant influx of sugar. The food usually doesn't stop coming with first and business class tickets, anyway. From warm nuts after takeoff, to warm cookies and milk just prior to landing, children will be given plenty of food on the airplane.
- Tip Ten - There is some debate regarding the ethics of doping up young children on Benadryl for long airplane trips. No judgments here, but be forewarned; some babies and kids don't fall asleep after a dose of cold medicine. Parents of this subset can find themselves with very active, almost hyper children, who are resisting the confines of the plane. If plans are to drug a baby or toddler into sleeping through the flight, test out the effect of the cold medicine prior to travel.
Luxury vacations don't have to preclude taking children along for the trip. Plan ahead, and family air travel can be - almost - relaxing and fun.
Related, on Suite 101:
Airline Travel Satisfaction is Low
JetBlue Airways - Pros and Cons
Family Friendly NYC Vacations Tips
Luxury Family Vacations in Hawaii
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