Stokesy

Hi!

I have a 3 year old and another who will be 2 in March. I am wondering whether to go just before he is 2 to make massive saving on airfare. I realise him not having seat could be nightmare at meal time/sleep time etc but can not see him sitting in the blasted seat for much time - just running around the plane. so kinda thinking it will be waste of money anyway. and what if there's a spare seat anyway next to ours? would be gutted having forked out £500.

any advice from anyone who has done this journey with under 3s would be much appreciated. i may have to come back on my own with the kids as hubby may go back to work and i may stay out longer (as we have family there).

Also - does anyone know best sites for cheap airfares and is it best to book well in advance (going March/April time) or will they get cheaper nearer the time?

Thanks v much!

temptininnit

I think this has been covered before, have a search using the button above. I'm planning to drug our 2 year old and put him in the top locker for convenience.

tum

Is this also possible for a 5 year old

tum

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...young+children

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ying+day+night

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...lying+toddlers

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...lying+toddlers

Here are some threads about flying with kids

acbh2

On a serious note about drugging children...Piriton which is an antihistamine is something that you can safely give children when travelling as it helps get them to sleep and does'nt harm them (my SIL advised this and shes a GP). It works a treat for flights aswell as cars. Obviously check dosage before giving to them.
Andrea
xx

travelbug

Hi - although we haven't flown to Australia yet with our daughter - and by the time we do we will also have a new baby - we have done other long haul flights with our daughter - the last being when she was 2 1/2 years old.
I think the more you worry about the journey, the worse it is - as they're often fairly wellbehaved as long as you have plenty to keep them amused with. We always take things like stickers (which we allow her to stick all over the food tray/seat in front - and then pick off ourselves before we land), plenty of crayons/colouring books etc. Hopefully restrictions that have been in place will be lifted by the time you fly so you will be able to take plenty of things for them to do. Other than that - try and book a night flight going - so by the time you get on the plane its more likely that they'll fall asleep for the 1st part of the journey. Also, if you're lucky - you might get a spare seat beside you (which has happened to us once) - so although we didnt pay for the flight - our daughter did get her own seat....

Sara1970

Hi there - have done the flight to Oz a few times with our two at various ages, last summer when we went, my youngest had just turned two and having the extra seat was a definate plus for us rather than having one on our laps. Eating and sleeping being easier with the extra space . We had the four centre seats which meant that they were fairly contained sitting between us. They actually did really well, we had lots of little toys, activity books and the inflight kids entertainment helped.
As said already flying in the evening so they will be tired, see if the bulk head seats are available, then you get a bit more leg room, taking pjs so they can get for bed.
We booked our flights through ebookers - seemed to give the best deals at the time.
Sara

JenJen

Sorry to put a downer on any plans but from speakign to several friends who travel to and from Australia frequently and one of them has a friend who works for an airline it's a pretty HUGE gamble on wether or not there would be a seat next you i'd say the chances of there not being outweigh the other
SORRY

username 34

trust me - buy them a seat. We have a 3 year old and 2 year old - tried the sitting on lap once - NEVER AGAIN!!

micged

Personally I would definately book a separate seat. At some stage the child will have a long sleep and to have to hold them would be so uncomfortable. At least if they have their own seat you can put them down in it for a few hours even if they don't spend much time in it when they are awake.
If you phone the airlines/travel agents you can find out when each airline changes it's prices. We got a very good deal with Emirates during the summer who changed their prices a couple of weeks before the other airlines. I would definately recommend the Emirates flights, we had a choice of over a couple of hundred films (30 Disney - so if your child likes disney it's great). I came back by myself with the two kids. I got a 10.00pm flight out of Perth - the kids were asleep before we took off and slept for 9 hours. we landed in Dubai, had breakfast and then flew on to Manchester - they had a bit more sleep and then watched the films. They are 3 and 6. The 3 year old just watched Bug's Life a couple of times. If you select flights when you know they are likely to sleep a lot I think you will probably be fine. The staff are also very good if you need help. The kids meals were pretty awful though!
I hope it all goes well,
Michelle

temptininnit

My SIL's GP gave her fenegan (?) an antihistamine on prescription for the journey. He slept for the flight and normally he is a little thug.

He was under the recomended age for it but the GP said don't worry about that.

rebh

Am flying out in Nov with a 1 and 2 year old and could not face having the little one on my lap the whole way down (as she will be 19 months when we travel so not so little)

So have paid the extra and got her a seat as after doing the trip a few times felt this was the best thing for my husband and I.

Know its expensive but am hoping it will be worth ever penny.

Have tried giving them something to help them sleep before some times it works and sometimes it does not and then you have got a druged bad tempered tired child on your hands. If it does work at least you can try and get a couple of hours sleep yourself. Best thing to do is do what works best for your family.

After spending a couple of days on the telephone and looking at websites I found the Virgin Atlantic web site was the cheapest flights I could find at the time (even cheaper than China Eastern which was a ssurprise) Managed to get the tickets LHR-SYD-LHR for £495 plus taxes per adult but not sure what the child price was. I know this was a special offer at the time which has now finished but they may do another for the period you want to travel.

We have also been able to prpre bookur seats so I know we have the middle four seats together and will not be split into 2 and 2. Because I have paid for the extra seat have been able to book the little one a child meal so there will be no arguments over who gets what to eat as they both have the same and its also saved me having to think of meals to pack to take on board as she would of found the baby meal provided too young for her as she has grown out of most of that which would of been served.(Some airlines will only give you a baby meal for the toddler if a seat has not been purchased)

Hope this helps.

woogle

I read loads of advice on this before we came & was really not looking forward to the flight. With a 19month little girl & 3year old boy. We got her a seat as we thought it would be easier.
They were both well behaved on the flight to Singapore & other passengers sat near us all commented on how well behaved they were, which was nice. We were lucky,as only had an hour in between flights, so by the time we were off one, we were ready to be boarded on to the next. Little girl fell asleep on the runway & woke up just in time for landing in Oz - Perfect. Little boy fell asleep about half an hour before we were landing & screamed the plane down cos I had to wake him to put his seat belt on,& I do mean Screamed :scared: Poor kid. We were lucky that we had loads of spare seats round us on the second flight.

The only advice which I found of no use,was about the timing of flights,personally I think you've no chance of expecting kids this age to keep to their normal sleep times, why would they, mine were running round at all hours,& they'll be so far out time wise when they land,it won't make any difference. Just get the best flights that suit you & the kids will be fine

MarkandJulie

We flew UK - Aus with our twins just before they turned 2. We paid for them to have seats anyway and did not regret the expense! We were told by the airline (malaysia) that they always try to leave empty seats (if there are any) next to those with young children. On our one way UK-Aus trip after they turned 2 Singapore airlines told us the same thing and sure enough we did have a few empty seats near us which allowed the twins to really spread out (it's amazing how much room a 2 year old takes up when you are on the plane!

We were really worried about the long journey with such young children but it was great, no problems at all. They are now 5 years old and I don't think we would be brave enough to tackle a visit back to the UK for a few years yet. A 40 minute drive in the car to the beach is enough stress from them.

On the flights they slept for 90% of the journey. We didn't drug them, despite many people recommending this to us. To this day I can't understand it, how they slept for so long. The couple on the row behind us complimented on the behaviour of our children when we finally arrived in Singapore.

Wendy

Cheap flights from www.asda-travel.co.uk

Don't know about travelling with two year olds (thank God mine are past it )