Hopefully you read Part One in my little rant on air travel. If not, here's the link so you can understand how to pack and save some stress and money. I want to add that this blog post assumes that you are back in coach, not in first-class (or even business).
Now that we are packed for the vacation/trip, we are ready to tackle the task of carry-on items. For adults traveling without children, this is actually pretty easy. Make sure your carry-on luggage fits into that weird little metal tube structure, and then you still get to carry on one more bag (think laptop or diaper bag size). Basically you get one item to put in the overhead compartment (luggage) and something small enough to fit under that small space underneath the seat in front of you, where your legs should go.
If you are traveling with children, this changes everything. Not only do you need to keep yourself entertained for a couple of hours (minimum), you need to entertain a child (I'm talking toddler through pre-teen). Infants and teenagers are entirely different monsters to tackle. I have experience with infants; as long as you keep them clean, warm and fed they are pretty content until the plane descends. (Actually, that probably works with teenagers too.)
The good thing is once your child is over 2, you have to pay for a seat, which entitles them to the same luggage and carry-on status. (Ok, so only the status is the good news; I hate paying full price for my kids to have a seat.) They have all different sizes now when it comes to back-packs, so get your child a back-pack that they can safely carry (for the most part, because more than likely you will end up carrying that too).
Here is the difficult part:
Knowing what items (plural!) will keep them entertained.
Here's the answer:
Nothing you put in the back-pack will keep them entertained for the entire flight. Variety is the key.
Batteries die, books get old, crayons break, etc. The solution is to cram enough different things into that back-pack to keep them entertained for short periods of time. However, you also want to think about weight. If it weighs too much, they won't be able to carry it. Also plan on, at some point, you will be carrying the back-pack and/or the toddler.
If you are on a direct flight, don't expect in-flight movies (at least for free). I'm glad I prepared for the worst, because I assumed because we were on a San Diego to Boston flight, there would be movies. Maybe it was just Alaska Airlines or the type of plane we were on, but I distinctly remember at some point I've been on planes with monitors built into the seats or the funky monitors that pop out magically from the plane's ceiling.
Now they have personal movie players for $10. If they had this option for an international flight, I would snatch one up. However for a five hour flight, and some worst-case-scenario planning, we did fine without one.
Another note: the in-flight extras (movies, alcoholic drinks and meals) must be paid for with credit or debit cards. They don't except cash. Not many people carry cash anymore anyway, but I figured I would throw that out there just in case someone needed the information.
Princess had her Kurio, Little Dude had his LeapPad, and plenty of books, coloring activities and snacks to keep them entertained for about 2 hours. Knowing this, I brought along my laptop and several DVDs they could agree to watch together. The idea was that I brought the movie out when they had exhausted all of their other activities. This gave me two hours of peace and quiet. (If you plan on buying a DVD player, make sure you check battery length. I gave up on this route, because most inexpensive players only had a battery life of 2 hours or less. There are players with 4 and 6 hour playing times, however they can cost more than my laptop, so keep that in mind).
Interesting note: most airports have now converted into an electronic outlet heaven. That sounds weird, however I think they realize that people can and will be stuck there for hours. What is a way to keep people entertained (and reasonably calm) for hours and hours? Let them check their emails, search the internet, play their gameplayers, etc.
Airports now have outlets all over the place so people can charge their electronic devices. Both the Boston and San Diego airports have converted entire rows of chairs so they somehow contain an outlet built in to the underside of the chair. Remember to pack your power cords for every device you are bringing among your carry-on items!
The next part is food.
Remember the good old days when you would get fed on the plane?
Those are over. Drastically over.
You don't get a full can of soda/juice anymore, and the looks you get if you ask for one....wow! You will have to pay anywhere from $5-$10 for a snack/meal if you want one. If you are vegetarian or vegan, and they forget the fruit plate, your only other option is a cracker/hummus option which wasn't awful. The kids have an option that, while it came with a wide variety of things, it really isn't that healthy at all (it contained: Pirate's Booty white cheddar puffs, turkey jerky stick, an applesauce squeeze pouch, some graham cracker sandwich thing, jelly beans and an activity).
The other thing to keep in mind is they only pack a limited amount of each selection. So if you are sitting in the back and you need something specific, you may be screwed. I figured all this out on the first flight and vowed never to make this mistake again.
Here's a few food tips:
First thing is to pack snacks that you are able to take on the flight; past security. This is: trail mix, snack bars, fruit roll-ups, etc. I think I read somewhere that you can't take gel or gel-like substances, so I would think peanut butter, jell-o, pudding, hummus, will not get past security.
Second thing is if you are lucky enough to be in an airport that has chain restaurants (Wendy's, Sbarro, etc) get your meal there. It's most likely, cheaper than the in-flight meal, better tasting and you have guaranteed knowledge about your next meal. If you have a long flight and/or a short layover, grab an extra salad, sandwich or something that will keep for a couple of hours. Little Dude may eat 4-6 nuggets in a sitting, but I bought the 10 pack and it was awesome! He spent the next 2 hours grazing, which kept him entertained and me sane.
I also found out, at least in this airport, that at the chain restaurants....they offer bottles of water. Bottles of water that cost less than $5! Wendy's at the Boston airport had bottles of water for $1, yes a freaking dollar! I bought 4.
My final tip or suggestion is probably the most important one when traveling with children, no matter the age. It's probably important even for adults traveling by themselves!
Bring an extra set of clothes in your carry on baggage! I have now been on three flights with my kids where I either told myself I wouldn't need the extra clothes or just forgot to pack them. On all three of the those flights I could have used an extra set of clothes!
Count on your children having some sort of accident that will go beyond napkin clean-up. It could be spilling just one of those 4 ounce courtesy beverages in such an interesting fashion, that somehow everyone in the row needs a new shirt and pants.
If you have a younger toddler, it could be a potty accident. Nervous kids have to pee, trying to get them to hold it is not an easy task, and more than likely, despite their best efforts, they won't make it. They don't appreciate having to wear their mother's hoodie as a shirt because they are already wearing their hoodie as pants.
Infants...I'm not sure where to start with them. Spit-up, overflowing diapers, spilling formula/milk, breast milk leaking, etc. You may want to include a couple of extra changes of clothes when traveling with an infant, for you and them, just to be safe!
Also, for infants, plan on carrying double the diapers you think you need. One layover gone wrong will use up those diapers faster than you can possibly imagine. Do not assume you can buy diapers at the airport, because you can't. I've only had one airport (Chicago O'Hare) direct me to a customer service area that was able to give me a few extra diapers.
If you over-prepare for the worst, then you will either be prepared for whatever the airlines AND your children can throw at you, or delightfully surprised that everything went just fine!
Stay tuned for my final segment dealing with airport and plane etiquette. Basically, don't be THAT person!
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