Traveling with children can be Hell on two fronts; it makes your life miserable, as well as everyone else’s’ within ear shot of your wailing goober. While this can be slightly tolerable for short flights, what about the long hauls? Is there any way to minimize this hell over an extended period of time?
This question was addressed yesterday in a helpful column in The Independent (UK). A mother on the way to New Zealand asked for help in “easing the pain” and was given some decent advice about minimizing jet leg, and the best place to stop en route to break up the journey. It turns out that the Changi Airport in Singapore boasts two small playgrounds, a movie theater, swimming pool, gardens, and in-terminal hotels that charge cheap, hourly rates.
The author also highly recommends Singapore Airlines for such a journey. In addition to a staff trained to sooth and coddle babies (I kid you not), the airlines also allows families to pre-book the bulkhead seats while making reservations.
I don’t know about you, but the more child-friendly an airline becomes, the less likely I will want to fly on it without a child.