flying question

littleheaven · August 2014

i know some of you have flown with lo's and we're going to soon, but i'm so confused

we're flying united to fla in 40 days (woot!) and the flight is only 3 hours, so we decided to just do lap with her (wondering if i'm going to regret it)

but we plan on bringing our stroller and a car seat since we plan on renting a car

has anyone flown united and brought both of them? I get so confused very easily...but it sounds like i can gate check one for free, then i guess i'll have to pay to check the other? bil made it seem like i can check them both for free since they had done that once, but, that was a while ago, and not sure if it was united

if she's lap does she get to have a carry on too?

is that a silly question?

i really don't want to spend the money to rent a car seat...and i mean, who knows what's up with those

if i had gotten her a seat on the plane i could just use the car seat in the seat, but i don't know...i feel like the hassle of checking things and entertaining her for a few hours is better than plopping down the extra money for a seat...

i'm sure i'm making this a bigger deal than it is....

also just annoyed that i have to pay for baggage at all...we usually fly jet blue but i didn't like the times they had available....ugh

spainy17 · August 2014

Watching this since we fly in September...

...I didn't buy DD a seat for the flight either. Probably going to regret it.

this decaf life · August 2014

I think you're supposed to treat a checked carseat as if it went through a car crash because they're usually handled pretty rough. We're taking DD's carseat on our next vacation but only because she has her own seat.
DD has been a lap baby often and it's not fun but a 3 hour trip isn't too bad! I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Sanine · August 2014

I've flown a few different airlines with ds since he was born. I believe one of them was united (it may have been american airlines. I'm always getting the two mixed up. I was able to check both the car seat and stroller for free. I checked the car seat at check in and the stroller at the gate.

This is what I found from united airlines website. I'm on mobile so I'm not sure if the link will work. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/travel/baggage/infant.aspx

Good luck.

spainy17 · August 2014

See and mine always wants to sit in my lap... At church, at home, etc, especially when in a new place. I was afraid I would buy a ticket and bit even use three thing because she would sit in me and NY mother the whole time.

littleheaven · August 2014

now i'm so confused

she is all over the place and hard to sit still, but not all the time? like when we went to the circus or disney on ice, she was fine going between dh and i...

i was hoping that if we got a window seat it might distract her....or just doing something new like, being on the plane would keep her on us....

we're also going around her normal nap time, so i'm hoping that if we keep her up the whole time, she'll get sleepy and fall asleep on the plane....

ugh

the flights to fla aren't that cheap, so i'd rather not spend the money....but now not sure if it's worth it anymore

and not sure if we can even add a ticket since we already purchased ours....

we should have decided to drive...that way none of this would have been an issue...or really, i'm putting too much thought into these things

as for the united policy it looks like it states either one stroller for free or one car seat...not both? or is that if we check it with our luggage? both free at the gate?

jobiann · August 2014

We only had an hour flight and I so wish we would have purchased his own seat. The seats were narrow and it was just difficult to manage him. Maybe if we were in first class...but we were just in economy and it was not fun. Luckily it was a short trip. The only thing that saved us were snacks and my iPad with his favorite cartoons on it. J didn't sleep a wink on the plane, he did find some fun in pushing up and pulling down the window sunshade.

We flew United (just this June) and we were able to check a car seat and his stroller for absolutely free. We checked the car seat with one piece of luggage, but placed the stroller at the plane door and the stroller was there waiting for us at the plane door when we landed. It was super easy. See this page for a good reference in traveling with children. And this.

I'd call United and see if you can switch and get three seats together, just tell them you changed your mind and you wanted to give your toddler her own seat.

I was so hoping our flight wouldn't be full because I had heard United will accommodate a lap child and parent to an empty seat if they end up having the room. Our flight was packed, every seat was full, so we were not able to take advantage of that.

jobiann · August 2014

As far as luggage (with United), we checked a larger family bag and one other roller bag (he had intended to carry this bag on, but it was just too much to handle with the stroller too). DH carried on his backpack, I carried on a roller bag and a tote bag that served as my purse and a diaper bag. With United you technically get one carry on and one personal bag for free per person. See their website for dimension sizes. Diaper bags are also free, and count as the child's carry on. But trust me, I juggled two bags (a roller and a purse/diaper bag) and that was annoying enough, I'm so glad I decided not to pack a separate diaper bag from my purse.

So my advice is to not over pack for the plane ride. On the way to Denver I filled my tote to the brim with quiet toys, books, snacks, iPad, diapers, wipes, extra clothes, medicine, etc. On the way back I cleaned it out to just hold a few diapers, a slender wipe carrier, his sippy cup, a few small snack packs for him, a change of clothes for him, my iPad and my wallet. That was it. Everything else I shoved into one of the checked bags. It was much easier!

jobiann · August 2014

A few more hints....

We got this car seat bag and it was nice because it big strap on it so it was easy for my H to throw over his shoulder and carry.

I had a stroller bag too, but we didn't use it. It was a pretty rushed process to take J out of the stroller at the plane door and get it folded up so they could take it away to load it, so I just didn't waste time with the bag. We just used a small glorified umbrella stroller and it was PERFECT!!!

We also purchased a new cheap car seat for the trip so if it got damaged A) we wouldn't be out much money,

it was lightweight. This one from Wal-Mart.

If you any other questions, concerns, PM me or just ask! I'm happy to spread my advice from our Colorado Adventure with United and some rental car time! Oh, and room sharing...that was the first time we've ever done it and I wasn't honestly sure how it would go.

This was the bag I specially purchased for our trip to use as my purse/diaper bag. It was great!

GL!

littleheaven · August 2014

thanks @jobiann! have to talk to dh about getting her a seat...still not sure...

my mom wants to have a car seat for her car, so we actually have been looking at inexpensive ones to use for the trip and then for her when we get home...same brand, different model-the mickey one

(since we are going to wdw)....was also thinking about getting the bag for it too

we have a jogging stroller that we're taking with us to use in the parks...it was gifted to us, so we have to practice with it...i was just concerned that we would only be able to check one of the things for free....

i usually bring a purse and a backpack as my carry ons whenever we go anywhere, i currently have this purse which can fit a lot of stuff...like some diapers, wipes, sippy cups, snacks, etc....we plan on buying diapers and more wipes and tons more snacks once we get there...i'm not wasting packing space on those things...then the backpack i usually use in the parks with other stuff...she doesn't need to have a carry on, but was just thinking for packing purposes if she would/should have her backpack harness on the plane instead of packing it...

when we wanted to go to disney with her we really didn't think everything through....it'll definitely be an adventure! and i know i'm over thinking things...my sister would tell me to shut it and it'll be fine and to stop worrying...they've done it with 2 kids...but they were at the age where they had to be in seats...but they did check 2 car seats and umbrella strollers....

jobiann · August 2014

@littleheaven You'll have to do a Disney post when you get home. H and I are talking about taking J, but probably not for a few more years. I'd be most interested where you stay while down there. I'm very picky about my hotels but I hear staying actually in a Disney hotel can be very expensive...so we'd be most interested in staying at a neighborhood hotel that is close to the park.

littleheaven · August 2014

@jobiann we usually stay at the all star sports when we go, but this time we decided to stay in a nicer hotel, caribbean beach resort...there's more stuff for her to do there on down time...we don't normally do downtime, but i think we will now...

if you go at certain times of the year they have special offers...we're going during free dining...so the nicer hotel with the dining plan priced out the same as the cheaper hotel with the dinning plan...weird..so we went up...

i don' t have any advice for off park hotels, since the last time i did that was 2001, and SO much has changed since then

i will say that kids under 3 are free...so she'll have to eat off our plates...but we planned a bunch of buffets so she can have her own foods...

it can get pricey...but with the way she's been obsessed with mickey lately....and the fact that we haven't gone on vacay since i was pg...i feel you get a lot for your money...disney is what you make of it, and we try to make the most of it and get our moneys worth

i'll take notes and post A LOT about it when i get back....and i'm sure i'll be clogging up everyone's ig feed with tons of pics of her at the parks....

only 39 more days

BabyHope2013 · August 2014

Don't stress about the place ride there. You will get there and whether it's a horrible experience or an awesome experience---you will get there and forget about it till you have to go home. We flew with DS and didn't get a seat for him. I was super glad because he would rather sit on our laps or sleep laying on us than his car seat, especially if we are sitting next to him. There was a toddler on our plane ride home that was freaking out and didn't want to sit in the car seat. Since they bought her a seat the flight attendants would not let her sit in her dad's lap for take off. She was required to be strapped in and she screamed until we got up high enough in the air to sit in her dad's lap.

As for the luggage---bring as little as possible to have to juggle in the airport. We flew spirit and checked out stroller and carseat at the gate. *Highly recommend that car seat bag! Then we just had the diaper bag and carry-on suitcase. I felt like we were a circus with DH. I would have checked my car seat but was nervous from hearing stories from people who had theirs damaged that way.

Bring lots of activities and snacks for the plane ride and you will be fine!

lulamagoo · August 2014

You can check both for free.

Three hours with a lap child is 100% doable. We have a very active son and he has done 3+ hours recently. If it is 4+, I would definitely purchase a ticket.

You can always stand in the back and have a dance party as a last resort. There were a group of 5 kiddos in the back on our last flight from FL. Flights to and from FL are full of kiddos.

Best piece of advice, try to portray relaxed. Your LO will feed off of your energy.

RedGiant · August 2014

When we flew with DS it was last October, so he was about 9 months old. We flew from VA to Austin, TX, so I think it was about 3 hours as well. Since he was still nursing a lot then we just had him as a lap child and he nursed and napped for half the time, then was happy to play with the skymall magazine and walk the aisles with DH or me. There was another small toddler on the flight, and he also did some laps of the plane during fussy periods.

We flew United and checked the car seat and gate checked the stroller both for free. I found that wearing DS in a baby Bjorn (or other carrier) and getting a pat down was the easiest way to get through security. I was able to fold the stroller and put all the bags on the conveyor belt while wearing DS and then walk through and get swabbed/patted down quickly. I'm not sure how big your kid is, but if you have a carrier that has a high enough weight limit I would recommend considering wearing them through the security lines.

Now that he is bigger I would probably buy him a seat since I can barely get him to stay still these days. But if that isn't an option you'll figure it out.

Having something for her to suck on during take off and landing will help with popping her ears, maybe a sippy full of water?

And definitely make sure you have extra outfits and a zip top bag for dirty clothes handy...DS decided to not poop the two days in Austin until we were pulling into the rental car return lot at the airport, and he exploded poop all over the car seat and himself. That was an exciting diaper change on the parking lot ground and attempt to clean up the car seat before the flight. Kids will find the most exciting timing to do crazy things. At least you get a good story out of it.

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