Just Press Go Travel

We’ve now been to 19 states, 7 National Parks, 5 Disney trips, I don’t know how many flights, and a good number of road trips with my almost 2 year old. Below are my tips for navigating the airport.

Getting to the Airport

• The easiest is if you have a family member willing to drive you to the airport. We tend to have my mom drive one of our cars that we pre-loaded with our luggage, and that way we aren’t constantly installing/uninstalling car seats.
• Second easiest for us has been to drive ourselves to the airport – but drop off one of us at the terminal with the kid and half the luggage, then have the other parent park in the lot and shuttle with the rest of the luggage.
  • For example: My husband drops me off at the terminal with kid, stroller, carry on suitcase, our bag that can go on the carry-on suitcase, and potentially at least one checked bag for me to check while he takes the car to airport parking with the car seat, pack n play, and potentially one more checked suitcase.
• We have not personally attempted an uber or car service. Personal take, it would be easier to use a car service that offers car seats than to try to find either an uber that has a car seat, or to have to install/uninstall your car seat in the uber. Easier said than done, but you have to do what works best for your family – especially if going on a prolonged vacation and you don’t want to park at the airport.

Arrival & Security

• Give yourself time to do all.the.things. Check your bags. Get through security. Get a snack. Go to the bathroom. Fill up your water bottles. LET YOUR KID RUN AROUND AND NOT GO STRAIGHT FROM CAR SEAT TO STROLLER TO CAR SEAT.
• Ice is not considered a liquid. If you like to travel with water, fill up your bottle at home with ice to get through security and then fill your bottle with water at a bottle refill station once you are past security.
• If traveling with breast milk, you’ll need to let TSA know – they will test your liquids after you go through the body scan.
• If traveling with small children you can take snacks, pouches, toddler drinks, etc. through security. Again, you’ll want to let TSA know about this as you put your bags through the scanner.
• If traveling with a car seat, it will need to be taken out of your carrying bag or if you are using a dolly or suitcase to get it through the airport, you’ll need to detach, to put through the scanner.
• Strollers will need to either be folded to go through the scanner, or go through additional screening.
• If your baby is willing to be worn, you can baby wear with a soft-sided carrier through security. Highly recommend this.
• Check out the TSA Cares website if you have more questions about getting through security with children.

Airport Time

• Seriously. As stated above, let your kid(s) run around. One parent stays with the bags, the other chases. Then swap. Make sure to use your time in the airport to wear your kid out before you get on the plane.
• Double check your bags that you have snacks for the plane. Depending on your air carrier, the offerings may be minimal or an additional cost.
• Fill water bottles, which should be ice-cold since you followed the above tip!
• Use the bathroom. 
• Always do a diaper change before getting on the plane. I recently saw a tip to use pullups for flights if your child is taller – we haven’t tried this out yet, but I think we will for the next flight, as my son is getting a bit tall/long for airplane changing tables. 

Boarding

• If you are flying Southwest with a child under 6, take advantage of family boarding. This is not the first group to board, but it isn’t last. It will allow you to get seats together and extra time to get settled while the B & C groups board.
• We have found on Southwest we love to sit in the last rows of the plane. 
  • It allows us time to get settled as others board, and it allows us time to gather our belongings when the plane lands. 
  • We also have less time waiting for luggage by the time we get off the plane. 
  • Flight attendants have been more able to help us at times, if needed.
  • More likely to have empty seats around us.
• If you are flying other air carriers – send one parent to board in the regular boarding process to get the seats situated, other parent hangs back with kids to let them run around. If you have an assigned seat, you can prevent your kid(s) from an extra potential 45 minutes of sitting on the airplane before taxi and takeoff.
• Don’t be ashamed to take help if it is offered to you. Parents gotta support parents.
• If you are flying with a little that is not walking, we found that babywearing to board was the easiest, as it gave us extra hands to get our belongings on board and to our seats.
• Keep a stroller fan with you in case there are any issues with the a/c on your flight to keep your kiddo(s) cool, especially if you are traveling in the warmer months and the a/c is off when you board.
  • This is why I reference a stroller fan on my favorite travel items blog and to pack it in a carry on in my packing blog.
• Have your snacks and beverages easily accessible, especially for takeoff to help littles with their ears. Same with descent. If you have a really little, binkies also work.

Layovers

• When we had an infant, we opted for only non-stops with no layovers.
• With a toddler, we have started opting for layovers, depending on destination. We did direct flights from STL to LGB and STL to SAN, but opted for a layover when going from STL to PDX.
• Pros:
  • Breaks the trip up to allow for movement and change of scenery
  • Reload of snacks, have a meal
  • Easier bathrooms 
• Cons
  • Added time to trip
  • Potential to lose luggage
  • Must go through boarding/deplaning twice
  • More chance for delays
  • If your child struggles with their ears popping, you’ll have to go through that at least twice.

Getting out of the Airport

• We like to deplane and immediately go to the bathroom for fresh diapers and a restroom break. This delays our arrival to the baggage claim in hopes that we won’t have to wait long at baggage claim.
• A new challenge in my parenting era is transportation. We primarily rent cars when we travel and it’s a toss-up whether an airport has rental car facilities on site or if you must take a shuttle of some sort.  We learned the hard way – if you have the choice to choose between an airport that has a rental car center on site vs offsite – choose the one with the onsite center! For example, if you are going somewhere in the Pacific Northwest – check the travel time and cost differences between SEA and PDX. It may make more sense to fly into PDX as it tends to be more affordable and the rental car centers are onsite.

Getting around with a Kiddo

• Note: Every family has their preferences, this is just what mine does.
• We always fly with a car seat, unless we are going to Walt Disney World in Florida. 
• We rent a car everywhere we go, apart from Walt Disney World in Florida.
• If you choose not to bring your car seat, you have a few options:
  • Uber with Car Seat – this may take a while, and you don’t know the condition of the car seat
  • Rent a car and use the car seats from the rental company – again, these may or may not be in good condition and subject to availability
  • Rent via companies like BabyQuip
  • Use car service
  • Depending on your destination – public transportation!
• If you have questions about whether or not to travel with a car seat or finding the travel car seat that may be best for your family – I recommend checking out Safe in the Seat.

Ready for your own flight?

Reach out to melanie@simplyperfectvacations.com to start booking your next vacation!