long haul ~ to buy a seat or not?

[sage]

we are flying from brisbane to milan with emirates (via singapore with a 24 hour stopover in dubai) when my DD will be 22 months old.

i'd love some advice from others in the know ~ is it worth while buying a seat for her???? obviously the expense is a downside, but perhaps attempting to save my sanity will win...

thanks in advance:flowerz:!

[punkbaby]

JMO you cant put a price on a childs safety, i would be buying a car seat :) Can you take one with you?

[sage]

i can take our car seat (we'll be hiring a car o/s so that would be handy there anyway)

i guess she's just so close to the 2 year mark, and she's no light weight either! that we are swaying towards paying for a seat. i just don't think i could hold her the whole way and we are travelling in peak season so could get very unlucky with totally booked out planes (don't know if it's worth trying my luck..)

[biscotti]

I have never done such a long flight with children but have flown a fair bit just around Australia with assorted children.
You can ask to be seated next to a spare seat (if there is one), this is what we always do and have found the airlines to be very accomodating with this :)

[punkbaby]

Ohh i thought you meant car seat to travel LOL sorry. Mind you i know that i wouldnt be able to hold my 22 month old on a plane, best to have their own seat :)

[QTB]

hmm thats a hard one... everytime we fly (granted its only to newzealand) there is always spare seats, we arrive early on the day and they give us an extra seat for DS for free...

do you think its worth risking it? if its not worth the risk, buy a seat, if you could handle her if there was no seat then i wouldnt bother :)

[Manxie]

Hi

I wouldnt bother not unless you have lots of extra cash:laughing: Find out how much its going to cost and that may help you make up your mind.

I have always been lucky when we have travelled overseas and there have been empty seats on at least one leg of the journey.

Good luck:D

[elwoodgal]

I took my toddler on the 'big flight' Melb - London & we bought a seat. There is no way I could have held her that long. The flight there & back was full. I would not risk it.
I do not want to be negative but it is really hard flying with a toddler & you need to do everything possible to make the journey bearable.
Good luck.

elwoodgal

[Queen]

I would be buying a seat if I could afford it, because I know my DD would not sit on my lap for that long let along, let alone me not wanting to hold her for that long....

Good luck:hugs:

[MummaBear03]

If I could get away with it now (DD is 4.5) I would avoid paying extra and just have her on my lap the whole time. Might not be comfortable but if it saves a heap of money then I'd just put up with being uncomfortable for that time. I don't skimp on safety but when it comes to simple comfort versus spending lots of money and it's only for a short time, I'd say save money.

[Chickadee]

I do not want to be negative but it is really hard flying with a toddler & you need to do everything possible to make the journey bearable.

:iagree:
I've flown Australia to Canada with DD a few times, when she was just under 1 year old, 3.5 years & 4 years. It's exhausting enough without having to carry them in your lap. Also, if you don't buy a seat then you also have to bring all their own food and may end up paying extra for luggage.

When DD was 22 months we flew Perth - Melbourne and we got her a seat of her own. Even that 4 hour flight would have been a nightmare if she'd not had her own seat.

Child fares are typically 75% of adult fares & they get a full baggage allowance equal to an adult.

[Manxie]

Just about the food thing that Martha mentioned. Last time we flew to the UK with dd at 14months old, she didnt have a seat and we were still given toddler meals for her:detective:

[Roxy]

I think if you can afford it, then buy the seat. That way, she can curl up next to you and sleep (rather than you trying to get her and you comfy in your little seat)...you can set her up on her tray with activities (rather than not being able to get the tray down because it's 2 of you in the one seat), not to mention I can't imagine how numb my legs would get to have had one of my kids at 2 sitting on my knee for that length of time!

I think save your sanity, and pay the extra - on the upside, it also means your luggage allowance is increased as well! :yes:

[shed]

No way would I buy a seat. They will seat you next to a spare seat anyway and if they don't they will soon find one for you.

[kat82]

No way would I buy a seat. They will seat you next to a spare seat anyway and if they don't they will soon find one for you.


She was saying it was going to be fully booked out. I would buy a seat asap,

[k2ma]

Having freshly steppe off a long haul flight with two children aged 2 and a half and 18 months I would say buy the seat.

[Manxie]

Having freshly steppe off a long haul flight with two children aged 2 and a half and 18 months I would say buy the seat.

"Freshly" - you did well, did you have a nanny with you:laughing:

[draught]

If you can afford it - buy the seat. I have flown with kids a lot - not that far - and even just a three hour flight to NZ was a nightmare with a 22 month old as she didn't want to sit on my knee and the flight was full. I was in tears and a wreck after just one hour on the plane - if it had been long haul I don't think she or I would have made it.

[sage]

thanks so much for these replies!:yelclap:

its such a big help. yes it is a lot more money (around $1600 more, i cringe just thinking of this)
but, i think it will be worth while. it is such a long time and if the flight is full (which is quite possible) then it would be a nightmare...

[Coffee]

I'd def. buy a seat. Rather be on the safe side, than having her the whole time on your lap.

There is no guarantee that there is a seat free or that they'd give it to you.

We flew from Switzerland to brisbane, when DS#1 was 16 mths old and there was no way, I'd have had him on my lap. :no:

And the plane was fully booked, at least from Zurich to singapore, which is 14 hrs, so there was no chance of getting him a seat, w/o paying for.

Granteed, it's 75% of an adult ticket but I'd rather spend that, than having 24 hrs from hell..

But each on their own I guess.

[ThomasMum]

For long flight, def buy one, for the sanity both parents and the child/ren lol.

Here's some tip, for domestic flight try not to fly around holiday season so you will always get some empty seat. For international flights wait until your child turn 2, otherwise buy seat...

[sueb31]

Hi, I am another in the "yes - buy a seat" camp. We did with our 18 month old, best thing we ever did. We also took his car seat on the plane. He was so much more comfy in it and slept really well (despite the fact that NEVER sleeps ion a car seat in the car!!). We flew Singapore Airlines so I can't speak for Emirates policy on car seats.

It is common in the US and probably will eventually become law that kids have to sit in a car seat on the plane, but fairly uncommon in Australia. It is definitely safer for them but I found that my as my DS was comfy, he wasn't trying to get up all the time. (We flew to London).

The downside of taking a car seat is the hassle during stopovers (nuisance to carry). But I think it is still worth it, we had such easy flights with teh car seat.

Have a lovely trip!
Sue

[sage]

hi sue, reading your post re the hassle of the car seat during stop overs reminded me of this product i've stumbled across called the travelling toddler - its a strap you can buy (through amazon.com) which allows you to strap the car seat onto your rolling carry on size suitcase. it ends up looking like a weird stroller type thing that the child can sit in while rolling along. it looks pretty cheap and might be a good idea!

i'm now convinced that buying a seat is best - most people who have done the flight with similar aged child thought this was the way to go.
thanks for everyone's advice!:yelclap:

[sydneybubhub]

Hello everyone....

Don't forget to add a quick review for the airlines you've passengered on with kids under our review topic of Travel - Airlines (http://www.bubhub.com.au/myreviews/) when you get a chance. It's broken into two section > domestic and overseas airlines.

That way, other mums who may not see this thread will benefit from your experience.

Many thanks and happy travelling! :wave: