j19fmm

Was trying to think of something witty....can't.You think the socks would be a put off? Damn!

bourbon-biscuit

just back from the long haul myself- we wore comfy bottoms and a t-shirt plus a warmer layer. We put the kids in the same. As soon as you get on the plane it's nice to get shoes off and some thick, warm socks on.

In our hand luggage we packed clean underwear, a wash bag including moisturiser, lipbalm and a pack of lovely t tree wet wipes. We all changed underwear, did teeth, hair and had a wash at both airports (our journey was three plane legs plus a long coach leg). We also had cereal bars that the kids liked as we anticipated them not being hungry when meals were served and being hungry when they weren't! We also bought inflatable neck pillows and these were really great- slept much better for having them, as did kids. I loaded my ipod up and put a talking book on too as you get to a point where you really can't bear any more tv but need entertaining.

But most important of all if you're in a risk category or just worry about it- flight socks. Feel yucky on but no puffy ankles or DVT, so well worth it! I take 1/4 an aspirin a day or so before I fly too for same reason.

To stay comfy on a long haul (well, comfyish) eat lightly and drink heaps of water and juice but lay off the alcohol. Check the kids are drinking too.

Have a good flight

crap coffee

Korean Air provides two different moitruriserS for hands, and face in toilet. they are very good quality Korean moisturiser called "Cham-Zon". as being a fussy a person, am not very keen on using somebody else's FREE crap moisturiser/soap (I'd rather not use) however I was quite happy to use them frequently. if you can prepare a small bottle of face spray for dehydration (indeed I used it quite often while flying) + lip balm and moisture wipes, you will be comfortable enough. That's all you need really. I found the cabin was way too warm and very dry as they keep 24°C inside. I mean Korean Air. most of the time FAs seem to wear short sleeves. If you feel cold, you can always ask another blanket. so I woudn't take too many clothes or toiletries with me unless you have kids

also don't forget a small bottle of antibacterial hand sanitiser - you need it before eating food

& a couple of disposable gloves - you'd better use them when you go to the toilet - I've seen FAs don't touch bathroom doors - they do wear gloves

Ear plugs - It's very imortant!!!! I always prepare mine but if you ask, they will give you one. well. You can't just say Shut the f*** up to someone next you or behind you when they keep talking in other languages (ex: Chinese :curse - yes! I was bloody annoyed by loads of Chinese people around last time on Korean Air! subsequnetly I had to give up sleeping through the night. What can you do about it?! I even asked FA to change my sit! (not sure why full of Chinese? on Korean Air?)

teebrown

Yes we did the Asprin thing, it's suppose to thin the blood and discourage DVT, I also tried the NZ Jet Lag tablets, but don't think they worked, as I still was jet lagged for a week afterwards.

CarolineSwan

just ordered lovely sanctuary spa travel bottles for the journey, i think if i look like crap i may aswell smell good lol.... is there a limit to what your allowed to take , the bottles are 50 ml or 75 ml size but are you limited to how many you can take ( only asking as my friend said yesterday your only allowed 200 ml in total , i do think she was talking crap lol but just checking) also i read somewhere that they take your toilitries of you now some times .. has this happened to anyone if the are small sample bottles???

teebrown

We did have items taken off us, but that was at the hight of the security scare, to be totally sure, I would look at the airline website and the airport website where you will be flying from and get it from the horses mouth, so to speak.

Good luck

Am Loolah

I would echo what others have said, the inflatable neck pillows are good and the flight socks, and you can buy a facial spritzer which can be nice.

Personally I thought the flight socks complimented my outfit of tiara, wand and fairy wings handsomely.

CarolineSwan

i can just see you now

pumpkinlou

This is a fab thread as I have been mulling this over myself, as we fly in just over 4 weeks

Can anyone offer any advice as to what sort of luggage you used/plan to use. haven't bought any yet. There's me, OH and 2 and 4 year old daughters, plus buggy. It's really the cabin luggage. Just wondered if those of you esp. with little ones had any advice re little cases with wheels, or just a couple of holdalls or backpacks. So much going on in my head I can't make a simple decision aaaaaarrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Panicking Pumpkin

j19fmm

Hey Pumpkin, my 2 little loves each have their own backpack (youngest was 4 the first time) I put lots of little gifts and toys, colouring stuff and paper. I also put their change of clothes in it. They also had small suitcases to check in, ones with wheels that they could pull around the terminal.Not sure how your littlest will do but they do seem to enjoy carrying their own stuff! Nowadays its more of the DSLite and books!
I always take a backpack/daysack so that my hands are free for suitcase on wheels!
Got a set of 3 suitcases from Argos pretty cheap and they've done 3 trips back and forth so far - trip number 4 next month!

teebrown

All the advice i would offer is don't put all the clothes for one person in one suitcase, spread them all out equally, just in case one goes missing. Also we prefer the holdalls on wheels to pack, they just seems to squash down really flat when unpacked.

good luck

Kimi-Deacon

We flew out about 11 days ago, we flew with Malaysian Airlines ( would recommend them) we were 6kg over weight, when we checked in at LHR the woman on the desk commented on the weight but didn't make us pay.

In Malaysia when we checked in for the flight to Auckland they never said a word. When we flew from Auckland to welly everything was ok until we got to the gate and then the woman on the gate stopped me and wanted to weigh my hand luggage, she just picked it up, glared at me and said thats ok, also while we were at the gate they made an announcement that only one piece of hand luggage was allowed, yet on the international flight, i was allowed my handbag and a small cabin size case, so be aware that you might have to check in extra luggage on internal flights.

I think if you fly with the same airline all the way, they dont worry so much. i used a squashy bag on wheels to check in to the hold, as i found this held more than my suitcase, if you are concerned about weight i would go for the holdall on wheels as they weigh less initially.

Any way enough of the ramblings, have a Safe Journey PumpkinLou, im sure you will love welly, the weather has gotten better since we arrived, so you should arrive in time for the sunshine.

Steph.

pumpkinlou

Thanks for the advice. Have looked at the holdalls on wheels, they look really good. Have got a backpack, so will check out luggage for the girls.

ta

xxxxxx

jojobooster

One of my kids froze on the flight from LAX to Auckland inspite of layers and a blanket. She went blue and needed oxygen, though recovered quickly enough. So I would pack loads of extra layers/ thermals if we did it again

CarolineSwan

hi

we have to large suit cases that we bought for florida this year as we had out baby's stuff to get in it, we will use those but i ordered 4 wheelie holdolls from argos this week. they arrived yesterday and they look huge lol they hold 121 litres and they were less than a tenner.. just type in wheel luggage in argos searcg and they are the ones than cost 9.97 . i just dont see the point of spending fortunes as i hope i dont use them all again.. as for hand luggage i have a bag from morgan that i won on ebay this year for like 7 quid and you can fit lots in it , i think they originaly from avon, i paid 5 quid for it new just type morgan flight bag into search engine. OH has bought a laptop case thing for his, but it not the usual kind the lap top fits in a padded bit on bottom then lots of room for all his rubbish it was 35 quid but worth it as it will get used alot so think i will get one for me to and let lucy have the morgan one as will have lots of nappys for her to pack etc

anyway hope some of this helps

oh and with the temp thing i always pack lucys wee fleece blanket to keep her warm and it folds down to nothing really ,
caroline