Traveling with small children 3. - Flying: the biggest money?

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Traveling with small children 3. - Flying: the biggest money?
Traveling with small children 3. - Flying: the biggest money?
Anonim

Let's be prepared that when we turn down our aunt's lunch invitation to drink bean soup due to a trip, the beloved woman - after asking three times if we are really taking the child - will take to heart because of the long flight. And if we started spreading the word that we were going wild camping for two months with a pair of one-and-a-half-year-old twins in Borneo, most of our friends would not be worried about diseases and crocodiles, but about the length of the flight.

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tk3s 20070629 zaf o23 002

Kids really can't stand a flight longer than two hours? Will the time difference throw off their schedule and make them unable to eat lunch until graduation? And does a plane ticket overseas or to Asia really cost hundreds of thousands of forints? Not necessarily.

However, it cannot be denied that when we travel with children, our perspectives definitely change: while previously in our enthusiasm for cheap plane tickets we easily overcame a night at the airport, now, in addition to the price, the company, how many transfers, and what time of day we leave.

Airline booking

The price: may not be the cheapest airline with a child that is without a child. We do not have to pay full price for children under the age of two traveling on an adult's lap, so it is sometimes cheaper to transport a small child with traditional airlines than to buy an ice cream at the store.(Anna traveled Reykjavík-London for 1 Euro 29 cents). On the other hand, the pencil of the low-cost carriers is thick: the companies operating in Hungary usually charge an amount between 24-30 Euros per direction. The child cannot take a separate package for this price, but even the hairy-hearted wood-benchers allow us to leave a stroller for free. For children older than two years, we have to buy their own seat, which is usually not much cheaper than traveling as an adult.

How much we end up paying for the plane ticket depends on many factors. It is becoming rarer when you can get low-cost tickets within Europe for even a few thousand forints - if the time and destination matter, you usually have to spend at least twenty thousand forints for the round trip. The three largest low-cost airlines operating in Hungary are EasyJet, RyanAir and Wizzair. In the case of overseas destinations, the starting price is around one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand forints - let's not forget, however, that the cheapness of a well-chosen destination country can more than compensate for the price of the plane ticket.

Ticket type: of course, children tend to get sick before traveling, in which case the entire amount may be forfeited. Therefore, when changing tickets, it is worth taking out insurance that reimburses the price of the flight ticket canceled for he alth reasons to the whole family.

There are flight tickets that can be flexibly changed and refunded, but they are usually very expensive. However, some companies still offer them at affordable prices - it is worth checking out the offers of more "exotic" companies such as EgyptAir or Aeroflot. We should also keep in mind that Vienna and Bratislava are just a stone's throw away, it is worth browsing through the flights departing from here.

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tk3s 0070903 bc 135

Websites that collect all the offers and then sort them according to price, number of transfers or other aspects are useful - it's a matter of taste, which one we choose, my personal favorite is Expedia.com and Momondo.com. If you are afraid of the service level of Latvian, Uzbek or Pakistani airlines, you can read the experiences of other travelers on Airlineequality.com.

The seat: if we cannot reserve it in advance, let's get in before the other passengers. Many low-cost restaurants only offer this option for money, but in practice no one says anything if we stand at the front of the line with a small child. It seems selfish, but all passengers are better off if we don't stress the child and the whole family stays together on the plane.

If the seat can be reserved when changing the ticket, especially on long journeys, it is worth the so-called We choose a "bulkhead seat", where there is not a row of seats, but a dividing wall in front of us. On the one hand, there is more space here, and on the other hand, the major airlines also provide baskets that can be mounted on the wall, in which smaller babies can sleep comfortably. When booking, airlines usually help us get the best seat with a small child, but if they don't, Seatexpert.com or Seatguru.com will tell you which sites are best on a specific machine type.

The time of day: while it is a minor inconvenience for an adult to have tea at the Riyadh airport between three in the morning and seven in the morning, the same thing ruins a child's night. It is worth not disrupting the schedule of a very small child and to make the journeys within Europe during the day (not at dawn or at night); For longer journeys and in terms of overcoming jet lag, it is especially beneficial to spend the night on the plane.

What should we put in hand luggage?

The stroller can be used until boarding the plane. Since the stroller is usually screened, we have to take the child out of it during the security check and take off every blanket, jacket, sweater, and musical giraffe stuck on it

Pack plenty of the child's favorite snacks and baby food in the "usual" travel package (things needed for changing diapers, spare clothes, favorite stuffed animal, etc.). Many companies also give it away for free, but of course it is not certain that the beef with carrots recommended by the flight attendant will suit our child's delicate taste

If our child likes water, we can fill up at the cabin attendants at any time. However, if he only drinks compote, pack plenty of it - the air in the passenger compartment is very dry, and thus children get thirsty sooner. (When we travel alone, the half-dec apple juice in the bottom of the plastic bottle left in our bag is considered a deadly weapon in the eyes of security, but if we are with children, we can bring practically any liquid on the plane. But we may have to open it and taste it.)

Entertainment set: if you bring a laptop or tablet, it is worth downloading the child's favorite stories and music. Since you can't even fit a pin in your carry-on luggage, let's be thoughtful about the other toys: a book, a few stickers, paper, pens, and small objects in small boxes can be more than enough

The flight

There are many people who see babies as siren-sounding monsters as a result of bad memory trips (or out of their gut), and would prefer not to let them on the plane. Although I have flown quite a lot, I only have one such unpleasant memory, and I never understood this attitude: a small child can't just go on vacation, can he go to his uncle's wedding? And can you take the train for that? Or by tram? And shouldn't we ban the use of the plane for those who are overweight and occupy a seat and a half; listens to metal music at an eardrum-splitting volume; or does he get very drunk in his fear of flying and invites his fellow passengers to dance together with loud applause? (Cases that have occurred.)

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142870379

Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, babies do not cry because a mechanism in them indicates that they are on a plane and that is bad for them, but because they are hungry, thirsty, tired or bored. However, these things can be helped, and it is the parent's duty to do everything possible to ensure that their child feels comfortable on the plane. That's why:

When taking off and landing, be extra careful to catch their attention. It's worth feeding the smaller ones, because swallowing makes it easier for their ears to pop out

We should have enough food and drinks so we don't get into trouble on the plane

Please feel free to ask the stewardesses for help, even in putting you in a place where there is a free seat next to us

The older a child is, the more our main task is to entertain them. The good news is that children do not differentiate between the world and their toys: everything can be interesting to them. Let's try to look around with such eyes: flip through the magazines and show photos of Vladimir Putin, the foxes venturing into the city or the new trolleybuses. Let's play with the moving armrest and the fold-down side table, visit the other children traveling on the plane and exchange toys, and if necessary, walk along the aisle separating the seats with them a hundred times

Anna never cried for more than a few minutes, and she slept through the 9 hours of flights to Thailand. Of course, we may not be so lucky next time, but it is a fact that there are many other babies besides him who do not make the lives of their fellow passengers miserable, but no one notices or notes them.

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