Galley Gossip: More flight attendant pet peeves – the summer edition

by Heather Poole on

It’s summer and school’s out! Time to take that family vacation you’ve been waiting for all year. What does this mean for flight attendants? Full flights, lots of kids, and a terrible time trying to commute to work. It also means a whole new set of flight attendant pet peeves…..

1. Deodorant – Need I say more?
2. Boarding – Just because you have kids does not entitle you to board first, especially when the ages of those kids fall into the double digits. Oh I know it takes a little longer to get settled in due to the Winnebago sized stroller piled high with who-knows-what, but airlines strive for on-time departures and the fastest way to get the airplane out is to board from back to front. Sit tight and wait for your row to be called.
3. Car seats – There are dozens of different models to choose from each year, so unless your flight attendant has a child that owns the exact same car seat, he/she will be just as clueless as to how to secure the seat properly. Review the installation instructions before you board and make sure you’re not blocking other passengers from the aisle before spending a good fifteen minutes strapping it to the seat.
4. Blankets – It’s hot as a mother out there, but don’t come on board an aircraft half dressed and then get angry at me when I’m unable to find you a blanket. Most domestic flights don’t even offer blankets anymore, and if they do, there are only a handful to pass out. Bring a sweatshirt next time.
5. Snacks – Traveling today is much like being on an episode of Survivor in that you must come prepared for the worst. Sure, you may not be hungry when the snack cart rolls by, but if there’s even the slightest chance you might get the munchies an hour before arrival, buy the snack! Don’t wait until it’s too late. We do run out of food. Or just bring your own snacks next time. I do.

6. Kids – I know it’s a long flight, and yes, your little stinker is adorable, and I really don’t mind that he’s standing in the aisle when the seat belt sign is off, but please, please, please, when you see us trying to get the service done, keep little Johnny in his seat. Do you really want me to fall on top of him? Or accidentally kick him down the aisle?
7. Parents – You’re sitting in first class while the kids are in coach. I get it, you’re worried, makes perfect sense, but don’t keep asking me to move a one-hundred-and-fifty pound beverage cart so you can continuously check up on them. And don’t you dare take first class service items back to coach. If you’re worried that much and you’d like to share your experience, try sitting beside them next time.
8. Call lights – They’re there for a reason, which means it’s okay to use them. But ringing the flight attendant call button fifteen times on a two hour flight is just not acceptable, even if the person ringing that bell is under two feet tall. Lights and sounds are used as a means of communication between crew members, so if the call light is being abused don’t be surprised if a flight attendant arrives at your row holding a fire extinguisher. If you’re a parent, quick – learn how to turn the call light off!
9. Deplaning– The captain makes an announcement to prepare for landing about twenty minutes prior to touch down. How about using this time to get the princess dressed and the toys packed – instead of waiting until everyone has deplaned except for the crew. There’s nothing worse than arriving to a city late at night with only an eight hour layover and while the cleaners wait to board, mommy is just tying the shoes while daddy is checking every seat back in sight.
10. UM’s: There’s been a lot in the news about airlines losing unaccompanied minors, but what about parents who show up 45 minutes late? Or not at all! It’s happened. I, myself, got stuck at baggage claim with a kid who looked to be about 10 years-old. I would have asked him his age, but he didn’t speak English, so we just stood there smiling at each other – for 45 minutes.

Photos courtesy of: (suitcase) Ksfc84, (Monkey) Rob, (Airplane) Woodleywonderworks

Galley Gossip: Passenger of the month – Lorna Brett Howard

by Heather Poole on

Name: Lorna Brett Howard

Occupation? Toy maker, Penelope Peapod, feminist political activist

I went to the Penelope Peapod website and couldn’t help but think a doll that size would fit perfectly inside a travel bag! So where do I get one? Penelope Peapod is a take along toy, a doll in a wicker basket handbag that turns into a bassinet. The “handbag” can hold other things so perfect for travel and then Mom does not have to carry their daughter’s toys, as so always happens. You can order a Penelope Peapod at http://www.penelopepeapod.com/Home If someone writes Heather Poole sent me in the “notes/comment” section I will send them a free outfit and blanket set….after all, half the fun is changing her clothes!

That’s so nice of you! Thank you. I’ll be ordering two. You mentioned on the flight that you travel often with your child. How often is often and what’s your secret to making sure everything goes smoothly?I have been in a commuter-marriage for five years and my son is four. We travel every week, Sundays, to and from New York to Chicago. Hauling a baby through security is hard, toddlers worse. At four, it is easier now. The secret is, of course, organization. Having the right snacks (non-sticky, easy to eat) and distractions, books, figures to play with….and I must admit, a portable DVD player. Once an older man lectured me on how bad it was for kids to watch too much TV/movies and asked why I didn’t just read to my son on the plane. I gave him a kind smile and said I did and left it at that. I wanted to ask him if he ever had traveled with his children every week but then I thought, of course not. He had no clue. JUNE CLEAVER IS DEAD I wanted to say. And I am sure June did not have to get on a plane every week.

Yeah, I remember seeing a kid watching a DVD at a nice restaurant years ago and thinking, I’d never do that. I have since learned never say never. Now when I travel with my son we never leave home without the ipod with the screen for watching Handy Manny, Curious George, Caillou…you get the picture. Number one travel tip for parents? Have a bloody mary, just one, when you get on the plane! Ha, just kidding…sort of. I would say to keep calm even when they fuss as it just makes it worse. Check whatever you can and have lots of distractions. Sometimes a brand new book or little toy goes a long way.

When my son was between the age of 3 months and two years, I couldn’t live without my Sit-N-Stroll. What’s your favorite travel item when traveling with your son? I had a Sit-N-Stroll and it was great. It was difficult to get down the aisle sometimes, depending on the type of aircraft we were on and how wide the aisles there were, they have become more narrow as the seats have become wider and more comfortable. Other than that, a good organized bag with everything easy to find – that fits under the seat in front is essential.

The Sit-N-Stroll only fits down the aisle on a widebody aircraft. I hear you on the organized bag. I bought an expensive diaper bag and ended up never using it because the Diaper Dude was much easier to travel with due to all the pockets and the messenger style, allowing hands to be free. How many miles have you flown this year? I don’t know! Every Sunday back and forth, haven’t added up. In addition, we travel a lot for vacations. So my son is a platinum member already and he knows all the clues – buckle up for safety, no portable electronic devices until the captain says so!

Much respect! Last flight? May 10th

Check it or Carry on? I try not to check anything because then you have to wait, and at O’Hare and LaGuardia it can take a while. But sometimes it is better to check when you have too much to haul from Gate One Million, which is always where we seem to land in O’Hare…I don’t think I have ever been at Gate 1!

Window or Aisle? Window for my son for sure.

Something to Drink? He always has a Sprite, a flying treat.

Beef or Chicken? We are both vegetarians so we rarely eat the food offered.

What exactly is in your carry on bag? A “milky”, a juice, cheddar bunnies, raisins, fruit roll ups (a bit sticky), two books, a few airplanes, my son’s “lamby” which he can’t fly without, wipes, DVD player and few DVDs, magazine or book for me

Any packing tips/tricks? Light!

Describe your traveling outfit. Jeans, t-shirt, sweater (gets cold sometimes) or a wrap, for my son, the same!

Best shoes to wear through airport security Boots, and I always wear boots!

Any airport routines?Oh yes, French fries at O’Hare and donuts at LaGuardia…what can I say, we generally eat healthy so it’s no big deal.

Nicest Airport? I love the marine terminal at LaGuardia because it is so small. O’Hare can be nightmare because the gates go on forever and it feels like a million mile walk out of the terminal.

Favorite Airport restaurant? Potbelly’s sandwiches at Midway Airport in Chicago.

I’ve never heard of Potbelly’s. Now I’ll be on the look out. Hotel away from home? The Peninsula, any of them, love the hotels. Or the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, a dumpy, cool, chic and weird place.

Favorite in-flight announcement? We are getting in early AND there is gate waiting.

Book last read on a flight? War and Peace, Tolstoy. That is when I thought buying Kindle was a good idea. Have you ever seen how big that book is??

Now finish the following sentences…

I can’t fly without my…laptop. I work on the plane, and my Blackberry…And of course my son!

On my last flight…I met Heather Poole! And loved her.

Oh now that is nice. Really nice. Thank you for that. Moving on – this passenger I sat next to…was convinced I was Julia Roberts. We were pregnant at the same time. I kept telling him I wasn’t, he asked for my autograph. I think he thought I was pretending.

I had this one flight…where I was crying about something sad that had happened in my life and the flight attendants were so nice.

If I could be anywhere in the world, I’d …be in Belize, diving the Blue Hole, not wearing shoes for a week and staying in some cool old hut.

When it comes to traveling, I wish…that I didn’t fly into two of busiest airport in the world — I feel I am always delayed due to weather in Chicago. but there is nothing to do about that. So I guess I wish that ALL those rentable luggage carts in the terminals had seats for toddlers. Some do not and I don’t know why, just a place for a purse, not for little legs!

Why are/do flight attendants…I have no complaints. They always seem to be nice and pleasant even in the face of some very crabby passengers.

Next flight? I’ve been happily in one place for three weeks (rare) but will travel on the Monday after Memorial Day….should be fun!

Galley Gossip: A question about traveling with car seats and strollers

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

Okay, so how bad is to have a one-year old on a plane without an actual ‘seat’? Please tell me it’s not the worst thing in the world????I wanted to bring a car seat on board, but they won’t let us because we’re not buying her a ticket. Also, should we check the stroller on the plane? We have a bugaboo, and I hate for it to get ruined, but it breaks down very easily. We could get a bag for it? Do you know if they make specific bags for strollers? Any advice please????????????

Thanks,
Marlo

Dear Marlo,

It’s not the worst thing in the world to have a one-year old on the airplane without an actual seat! Now take a deep breath and relax, Marlo, because you are a good mother, whether you buy that seat or not, and you’re going to need all that nervous energy in flight entertaining your daughter. Trust me, I know. Whenever I travel with my little one, regardless of how well behaved he is, I always end up feeling completely drained by the end of the trip.

As a flight attendant, it is my duty to tell you that it is safer for your daughter to travel strapped into a car seat that has been secured to an airplane seat. But let’s get real for a minute, because that, I know, is not always possible for some to do, particularly in this day and age when people are just struggling to survive. With that said, I must tell you that I have traveled with my son, along with my guilt, minus the car seat, on the airplane one or two times. My advice to you is to keep your seat belt fastened during the flight while you hold your daughter in your lap, because turbulence happens, even when the seat belt sign is not on.

You stated that you want to bring your car seat on-board, but the airline won’t let you because you are not buying the extra seat. I do not know which airline you are traveling on, but if you were traveling on the carrier I work for, I’d tell you to take the car seat with you anyway, just in case there is an open seat available. If there’s not an extra seat, the airline, at least my airline, would then gate check your car seat. Key word is gate check. Gate check means you are checking the item at the gate. Once at your destination, the car seat (or stroller) will meet you at the aircraft door, not at baggage claim.

If you do bring a car seat on-board the aircraft, please please please make sure it is approved by the FAA and do read the installation instructions before it is time to install the thing. I can not tell you how many times people come aboard and do not know how their car seat operates and get angry at me when I can not tell them how THEIR car seat works. There are hundreds of different makes and models produced each and every year, so unless you come across a flight attendant who has a child that uses the exact same model as you, chances are that flight attendant is not going to be able to help.

When traveling with a lap child, try to get an aisle seat. With so little leg room, it is impossible to get anything out of the diaper bag when the seat in front of you is reclined and there’s a baby sitting on your lap. If you are in an aisle seat, you’ll be able to swing the diaper bag into the aisle in order to grab whatever you need out of the bag – bottles, diapers, toys, etc. Just make sure to check and see that the drink cart is not rolling in your direction beforehand. And if there is a drink cart parked at your row, ask the flight attendants if they can spare a few plastic cups, “stacking cups”, in order to keep baby busy for a good five minutes. Hey, every minute counts when you’re on the airplane with a child.

As for the stroller, I also own a Bugaboo (as well as a BOB for jogging and a Maclaren that I keep in New York) and I can not say that the Bugaboo breaks down easily, not when you’re in a hurry and you’ve got your hands full, nor can I imagine lugging that thing with me anywhere, except to the mall, and perhaps to the beach for a nice leisurely walk. Keep in mind that if you do decide to check the Bugaboo, most likely you will have to pay a checked bag fee, and add that fee to the price you’re going to pay for the Bugaboo transport bag, and you’ll be paying close to $200. While I do love my Bugaboo, I don’t love it THAT much. And I would not want to be the passenger standing behind the Bugaboo family at security. When it comes to travel, think light, think easy, and think disposable. Whenever I travel with my son, I use a cheap umbrella stroller I bought at Target. What I like about the stroller, besides the fact that it was cheap, is that I can attach it to my rollaboard, if the kid feels like walking, or hang it in the closet, so that I don’t have to check it, and if I do have to check it and it does get ruined, big deal, I’m out $25.

Hope that helps!

Happy travels,

Heather

Galley Gossip: Best invention for kids on the airplane – CARES

by Heather Poole on

After reading all the responses to my post, Ivana Trump Harasses two little kids on a flight, I can not believe how many people think that kids do not belong on the airplane. Some people even suggested that airlines create a kid section, like a smoking section in a restaurant. While I, too, get annoyed when there’s a little stinker sitting behind me screaming his head off and kicking the back of my seat WHILE the parents do nothing, not all children (just like not all adults) are trouble makers in flight . In fact, I’d say most children do just fine at 35,000 feet. I know my little one is a fantastic traveling partner. Can’t say the same thing about other people I know.

The kid, my kid, and I just flew from Los Angeles to Honolulu. That kid, the one up there in the photo, the one that causes worried looks during the boarding process, only to be complimented for being such a good boy while deplaning, has traveled about once a month since he was three months old. The kid loves going to the airport with mommy. Mommy hasn’t always loved going to the airport with him, not with all the stuff that has to be dragged along on the flight. Until now.

If you have kids you already how difficult it can be traveling, especially when everyone aboard the aircraft is giving you the evil eye, and your kid hasn’t even done anything wrong! Taking along the little one can be very stressful, especially when you’re lugging all that stuff that’s going to entertain the kid. (stickers, crayons, books, the DVD player, all of it!) Trust me, I know it’s a lot to carry, along with a kid and a thirty pound car seat, but you need it! Please tell me you didn’t forget it?

Good news, people, traveling with children doesn’t have to be so bad. Move over Sit-N-Stroll (the worlds best invention ever for kids under two years of age) there’s a new product in town – CARES. CARES stands for child aviation restraint system. According to the Kidsflysafe website…

it’s designed specially for airplanes and is FAA certified as having an equivalent level of safety to a car seat for all phases of flight. CARES is manufactured by AmSafe, the foremost manufacturer of airplane seatbelts and other safety restraints. Best of all, CARES weighs only 1 lb, fits in a 6″ carrying case, fits all airplane seats and takes a mere 1 minute to install.

Now I’ll admit, I had used CARES once before, when my son had just turned one (the age you can use CARES), and that flight from Los Angeles to Dallas did not go so well for us. In fact, I swore I’d never travel again – with him. The kid kept scooting all the way down in his seat so that his head was the only thing leaning against the seat back. When he did finally straighten up, the last twenty minutes of flight, he didn’t look too comfortable sleeping with his chin against his chest, so it was back to the SIT-N-STROLL for us. Man oh man, I loved that thing, while it lasted.

Now that my son is two, he’s bigger and stronger and can walk by himself. That means I can ditch the stroller. And he listens when mommy tells him to sit still, to not kick the seat in front of him, to not bang on the tray table, to not touch the call light, to not run around the aircraft, to not act like…well…those kids sitting behind us! Since he no longer needs to be in “lockdown”, like the kids sitting behind us, CARES works magnificently.

I used to dread traveling with my son. It didn’t matter where we were going. The whole packing the diaper bag, getting to the airport, carrying the car seat through security, getting situated on the airplane, just so we can do it all over again routine just about killed me. Thankfully things have changed. Let me tell you, it’s so much easier to travel with a young child when all you have to do is bring along a few toys and a pair of straps that come in a bag that the kid can carry, that kid actually wants to carry all by himself!

“That’s my bag,” he says, the lightweight blue bag dangling over his shoulder.

“That’s right!” I say, as we zip through the airport, onto the airplane, no problem.

Duct tape: A traveler’s friend

by Jamie Rhein on

A few months ago I “waxed” poetic about the uses of dental floss. Duct tape can also be a traveler’s friend when it comes to fixing things that need fixing, or making the passage of time more interesting when you hit the road. The following ideas came from Debbie who writes Delicious Baby, a blog about traveling with babies (older kids included).

Debbie, a frequent traveler with her two young ones, doesn’t leave home without a small roll of duct tape tucked in her gear. Colored duct jazzes up the options. She suggests:

  1. Repair broken luggage with duct tape. (I actually had a zipper break once. Taping a suitcase closed is a great idea.)
  2. Outside of the U.S., and its regulations, tamper proof your suitcase by putting duct tape around it.
  3. Use duct tape to create a design on your suitcase to make it stand out on the conveyor belt so you can find it more easily.
  4. If you’re in a hotel room and the curtains won’t quite close to make the room dark, use the duct tape.
  5. Make an inside label for your suitcase by cutting a piece of duct tape and writing the label information in permanent marker on it.
  6. Seal a drain without a stopper with the tape so you can do laundry or take a bath.
  7. Make a hopscotch board or some other game with duct tape to keep yourself or kids entertained. Duct tape could be used to represent a highway for cars. ( I have a 6 year-old son. Great idea, Debbie!)
  8. If there is a fire, use the tape to seal the cracks around the door. Chances of this happening are less than in your own home, but good to know.
  9. Duct tape is a terrific addition to a First Aid kit. If you don’t have band aids, duct tape can work if you have cotton , some tissue, or a paper towel. (I actually made a band aid this way about a month ago, but with regular tape). You can get a splinter out with duct tape too. And you can make a splint with two Popsicle sticks.
  10. Check out baby proof your hotel room for some other ideas.

My idea: When I backpacked through Europe the first time, I had pitifully old sneakers and one of them ripped. I duct taped around the rip to hold it together. They were the only shoes I had and it was winter. So sad.