Have a smooth journey through the airport this Christmas with our guide on how to keep your family entertained, excited and stress-free.
Let me guess…You’ve had a Christmas holiday booked for a while and although you’re getting excited about being away with the family, the thought of travelling with presents and kids is making you slightly nervous. Not only do you need to keep the children entertained on the car journey, you then have to navigate through the airport and amuse them on the plane. This is reason enough for anyone to worry.
However, if you plan and pre-book all your travel needs ahead of time, you can start your holiday more relaxed and stress-free. From knowing where the play areas are in each terminal to planning in-flight entertainment, here are our top tips for making travelling with children as smooth as possible.
Double-check restrictions
The last thing you need at an airport with children is to undo all your luggage because you didn’t organise yourself beforehand. Make sure you know what restrictions there are for liquids so that if you need to take milk on board you know what you’re allowed to take through. Similarly, check your weight and size restrictions for luggage so you have no nasty surprises of extra charges when you get there. Find out more here on you can take through with children.
Pre-book airport transfers
Save the stress of driving and parking by pre-booking airport transfers. If you book with us, you can leave your booster seats for your return journey too, so you don’t need to worry about taking them with you. With our free wifi onboard, the kids can also be kept entertained by streaming a movie or playing games on the way, ensuring everyone is happy on their arrival to the airport.
Leave plenty of time
We all know that doing anything with children takes double the amount of time so make sure you leave early. It’s better to be waiting at the airport than frantically worrying you won’t make the gate in time. If you’re not sure what time to leave, we can suggest times for you. Our chauffeurs also track flights and have live traffic updates to ensure we take all possible routes to get you there on time.
Research airport facilities
Most major UK airports have facilities such as baby changing, breastfeeding rooms and children’s play areas so do your research and check whereabouts they are beforehand. Some also have dedicated family security lanes so you can take your pushchair through with more time. Check the airport facilities below:
Contact the airline
Before your journey, get in touch with the airline you’re flying with to check what they offer children, such as baby food, toddler meals, sky cots and in-flight entertainment. Ask if you can reserve seats too to guarantee you sit together as a family.
Keep calm and treat the journey like an adventure
Children can pick up on your stress so try and keep calm during the journey through the airport. A great way to entertain your children is to treat the airport like a game so they don’t get bored. Play old-fashioned games like ‘Eye-Spy’ and ‘Pack My Bag’ which don’t involve any little bits to get out while going through security.
Load your children’s backpack with goodies
Getting a toddler to sit down for a long period of time can be a nightmare so prepare yourself. Load a goody bag full of things like sticker books, colouring pads and small pots of playdoh to keep your little one happy. Don’t forget to also charge your electrical devices so if you are on a short-haul flight you can stream cartoons on your phone.
Book your airport transfers with us now on our homepage, call 01223 525354 or email us at info@miltonexecutivecars.com.