Not sure which is the right thread to ask this on, but travelling with kids - looking at going away next year with a 3 year old and a 6 month old. Can I take our double buggy to the gate and then they put it in hold? And what’s the situation with car seats on coach transfers? We only have the Joie 360s so not possible to travel with them and I don’t particularly want to buy seats just for the holiday. If I go through a company eg Tui/Neilson, does anyone know if they provide them? The logistics are blowing my mind but I desperately need a holiday!
Most airlines I’ve flown with since having my daughter have allowed 2 special pieces of “baby luggage” so I’d assume you’d get one for each child. You can take the buggy up to the plane but as others have said you may not get it back until you’re at baggage collection. If you’re going to take car seats (which I would recommend tbh if you’re able rather than borrow because they typically don’t look after them in car hire companies, have seen them being properly chucked around) put them in a box or big bag and pad them out with loads of nappies/clothes for baby as there’s no size limit on these baby items so it’ll save you space in your luggage.
Some general tips for travelling with little ones:
- if you have a baby carrier, wear it on the plane (even if baby isn’t in it at the time) so you can be hands free with your 6mo. Useful for the flight but also on the other side if you’ve got a bit of a wait going through passport control
- again for your 6mo, consider asking if it’s possible to get an in flight bassinet. Not all airlines do it, and it’s usually first come first served, but if you get it it means you’re on the front row of the flight and it’s basically a little cot that attaches to the wall in front of your seat. It’s brilliant as a place for baby to sleep, plus it means as a family you get a bit more space. We were able to get it when my daughter was much younger on a longer flight
- for most airlines each child is allowed their own piece of hand luggage along with their checked in items so we tried to box a bit clever with all our hand luggage, eg in husbands was all techs stuff for us all, in mine was snacks/little toys/colouring etc, in daughters was spare clothes/nappies/calpol etc so we knew where each thing would be
- take an iPad, with a power bank/charging ability, and download films/tv shows to it in advance. We also got my daughter some headphones so she could watch whatever without it being too loud for us
- when going through passport control, make it known you have kids. Not all countries are the same but most we’ve visited have let us go through priority
- when actually considering accommodation etc, whilst yours are so young I’d definitely consider all inclusive. It’s more expensive of course but by the time you’ve factored in supermarket shopping and meals out, it will end up being cheaper and it means you’ll have lots of variety of food for the kids and drinks/ice creams available through most of the day
I’m sure I’ll think of more but that’s all I can remember right now!