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Airlines Actually Help Keep Your Kid Quiet? Tickets Please!


On a flight to Michigan several months ago, Dana and I brought onboard food, toys, games, blankets, pillows, baby syringes filled with baby horse tranquilizers -- anything we thought might keep Emmeline calm during the four-hour flight. The only thing the airline did to help out was lose our luggage.

Turns out we've been flying the wrong airline (have fun with that bankruptcy, United!). Several international carriers are offering everything from puppets to puzzles to interactive televisions and children's programming to help make long flights easier for kids -- and the passengers around them.

Even the worst carriers (is it that obvious I hate United?) are getting into the act by including kids show on their miniature TV screens.

Where the hell were these perks when I was a kid? Sure, I occasionally caught a glimpse inside a cockpit, but I would have foregone the flashing lights, countless switches and crazy questions about Turkish prisons for the chance to pre-order my own meal and play Nintendo during a cross-country flight. That does it. We're definitely switching airlines.


Comments

 

Conniemomma said:

International airlines are great! I flew this past february with my (at the time) 10 month old to Austria. The flight from the US to Europe was a US sponsered flight. It was horrible and they really didn't seem to care about anything regarding my child except the possible law suit that I might bring forth if my child fell out of their bassinet (they kept checking to make sure that I had him zipped into it properly). HOWEVER, once we were in Europe our flight experiences were much different. In the hour long flight on Austrian Air from Frankfurt to Vienna, we were provided with several age appropriate toys, a spare bottle, and a blanket. On the way back to the states we flew a Lufthansa flight and my son was given a wrist rattle, a child's meal, and there were appropriate things for him to watch while we flew. Of course the european lines seem a little more expensive... but just the concern and acknowledgement that I was a single woman traveling with an infact was worth it. I really wish that the domestic lines would follow suit.

April 10, 2007 2:05 PM
 

Sandra said:

I like Southwest because children 5 and under pre-board, and there is no assigned seating.  Which means we can sit up front and have that extra bit of space for an active toddler if needed.

April 10, 2007 2:26 PM
 

Airlines Actually Help Keep Your Kid Quiet?… said:

April 10, 2007 3:07 PM
 

laura said:

i recently flew a domestic one and a half hour flight and my son hated it (22 months old). The airline staff didnt acknowledge or do anything even though his sad screams could be heard through the entire plane. Thankfully we had great and understanding passengers around us, one even passed a lollipop down the aisle for him to suck on to help him with his ear pain. i hated the experience, partly because i am a bad flyer but mostly because my son hated it and was in pain, with us all crying it would have been nice if not decent for a staff member to ask " hey is there anything i can do for you?" we will road trip where we can from now on.

April 11, 2007 12:18 AM
 

Mama22Boys said:

Fortunately we've never had full blow-outs when we travel with our 2 boys, but I agree.   It would be polite of the airlines to offer some assistance or be proactive with assisting their young passengers.   Some of the planes I've flown does not even come with changing tables in the bathroom.   We had to change our baby on the toilet seat ... not fun!

April 15, 2007 2:13 AM
 

WriglyB said:

What role of the Internet in the modern world?

[url=http://deu10.byethost7.com]We shall talk about [/url]

April 22, 2007 4:09 AM
 

Shamane666 said:

What role of the Forex in the modern world?

http://free.hostultra.com/~mummy21/

May 10, 2007 6:41 AM

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