autawa

Hello

I am planning a trip home in july, flying to manchester , alone with a 2 year old and a 1 year old! Has anyone done this before, any tips welcome!! and suggestions of best airlines for children. I have flown with singapore before and they were good, that was 2 adults though and just one child!

Thank you!
Lisa

Buzzy--Bee

Hello, Mrs Buzzy did this with 2 x 18 month olds, 5 years ago. She did it with Qantas and didn't have a very good experience. There's a couple of threads about her experiences here, read and enjoy -

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=405105

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=405635

BB

derab

the first thing i would suggest is to check out BA from whatever mid point you want to operate from. they have both the 0-5KG bassinet and the 3-9 KG bouncer in their arsenal, their B747 world traveller plus bulkhead seats have 2 bassinet positions in the centre aisles, so you might be able to book 4 seats and get the centre section of the front bulkhead to yourselves.
the BA attendants are quite "senior" but that does mean that they quite often know about the pitfalls of travelling with kids and play the "ageing auntie" act very well. the mary poppins effect so to say. when my girl was 18 months, as long as she didnt get into the business class area, she was treated like a princess, it certainly made our trip a lot easier, but that was back in the day BA flew all the way.

derab

Sorry about this, but I have just re-read your original post and realised that you are going to Manchester. OK.. Singapore Airlines and Emirates both go into Manchester and no matter what the pain of a long flight is, it must be better than a connection in LHR.. its hard, Singapore has the least amount of flights, just the 2. where with Emirates you have the Sydney stop, so its either 3 stops or 4. possibly somewhere in SE asia (Singapore or Bangkok) before you get to Dubai, My personal feeling is that you should look at Singapore and try to do it with the least layover, get the pain out of the way in one go. suck it up and accept the hassle its going to be. its 24 hours in your life and you have to see it that way. many a murder is prevented with that attitude.

Si19761

Only thing to watch with Singapore airlines os that Manchester to NZ only has a 1 hour transfer time to swap planes and terminals... if you go this route book special assistance or you will stand no chance. on the upside the fllight last weekend was badly delayed and connection was missed and Singapore automatically put those affected into the hotel for the 10 hours till the next flight so in terms of service you couldn't ask for better.

Air NZ is great for flying with babies and kids but unfortunatly that would mean a swap at LHR....

kiwi19

We also only have one hour to swap planes in Singapore, 2 adults and one 4 year old, I was hoping it would be the same terminal, do you think we will have enough time? Also if you have done this route before do we get off the plane in Munich, or stay on?
Thanks, I just want to be prepared!

Si19761

I think you normally stay on the plane in Munich, MIL flew this route last weekend, they were delayed due to plane problem so missed connection and were able to disembark in Munich. Normally wouldn't be an issue as they do plan lots of extra time for late takeoffs so if all goes to plan not unusual to land early....

Good luck

KayC

Last year I flew with Emirates although I wasn't alone they were brilliant with the children. I took empty bottles on for my little one and they just filled them up for me anytime at all. Also Dubai airport has complimentary pushchairs which come in very handy.

Good Luck! :-)