Flying with kids, especially long haul, can be an extremely stressful experience that leaves the whole family feeling exhausted. To be able to enjoy yourself when you reach your destination, and make the flight as painless as possible, here are some helpful hints.
How to Book Your Flight
The first part of any holiday is booking the flight, but before you sit down to find the cheapest flight available, there are a couple of things that you will need to take into consideration. Book a flight that works around your child’s schedule and avoid flights that are late at night. Although these may be cheaper options, overtired children can be hard to control, and you do not want to start your journey on the wrong foot. When traveling as a family, it is also essential to ensure that the flight you have booked has seats available that will allow you all to sit together.
Pre-book Airport Parking
Do not leave anything to chance and minimize stress by pre-booking your airport parking. JFK Airport Parking allows you to pre-book online and complete all payments in advance. They also provide transport to and from the airport, so you do not have to think about a thing on the day of your travel.
Travel with Plenty of Snacks
Snacks can often be a great distraction when kids start to get fidgety or fractious. Ensure you have a steady stream of their favorite snacks up your sleeve for emergencies.
It is a good idea to feed the kids before they board the flight, so you do not need to wake them up when the meals come round. Eat just before you board, and you can start a good sleep routine as soon as you get on the plane.
Dress for Comfort
Flying is not the time to make a fashion statement or have your kids in their favorite spiderman costume. Make sure the kids are all wearing loose, comfortable clothes that they can easily sleep in.
Packing
Make sure you know your limitations on weight and dimensions before you start packing. It is a good idea to have one small bag with essentials such as travel documents, transport details, booking receipts, wallet, and smartphone, so all these items can be accessed quickly when needed.
For your main bag, make sure you have a change of clothes to hand and consider using a compression pack to create more space. A great tip is to always have wipes to hand to mop up spills, clean grubby hands, and give faces a quick wipe after meals.
Entertainment
Keeping the kids entertained is paramount, and you should make sure all devices are charged and have a spare battery pack to hand should the need arise. Do not forget to include headphones, the rest of the plane does not want to be listening to cartoons for the entire flight. Wireless Bluetooth headphones are a great option to avoid wires all over the place.
Download plenty of movies before you set off and make sure you have lots of apps with fun games that will keep the kids busy.
