jrl767

^^
+100,000,000
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tadef

If you have to take a car seat on an airplane, Sunshine Kids Radian is the only way to go. It folds up and you can carry it in the backpack they also sell. I have carried one through the airport many times (but am thankfully beyond that stage now). Two would probably be a little tough.

3furballs

I second the bribe bags, I try to always have them for the FA's if I think I might need any assistance. (I usually include a few granola bars for the FA's)

sdix

I've traveled extensively with my 3 kids. Once took our 10 month SJC-NRT. We board last. Trust me, it's the thing to do. As we boarded you should have seen the looks we got as we settled into F. Horrified would be an understatement. He's a pretty good traveler and after meal service he fell asleep. He woke on approach to NRT. As we were getting off almost everyone up front commented on his good behavior and apologized for the dirty looks.

Bribe bags, Video, books and toys usually does the job.

injera

Enjoy the trip. I've traveled solo with my now 2 year old on a few occassions.

Tips:
- get the lightest carseat you can. Use it. Ideally let your child use it a few times in the car before using it on the flight
- on the way home in Y, talk to the GA at T-60 and see if there are any extra seats. I'm GM as well and i've found gate agents are usually willing to move things around to have an empty seat next to you for you to put your 1 year old in the car seat. (if the flight is full you might be sol but if theres seats they'll try to work with you. say please and thank you, smile)
- snacks, new toys and an ipad. We have a screen-free household but make exceptions for planes
- be nice to the FA's. I've found they're all very happy to bring by extra juice/milk/snacks or any toys that may be laying around.

I don't believe in bribe bags. Children are children. They will cry, they will fuss, you will do the best you can to control them, but as all parents know you can only do so much as one person. They want to run around and play, not be cramped in a small seat in a strange environment for 3 hours. You have nothing to apologize for. Some passengers will give you a dirty look the first time your child makes a peep, screw 'em. I've been yelled it for my child using an ipad without headphones (wouldn't elmo on low volume be better than a screaming toddler??) I've seen situations where the parents are sleeping and the kid is screaming or where the baby poops and they dont change him for 2 hours, but the fact that you're posting here makes me think thats not you.

In my business travels i've given many a drink ticket away to the parent traveling with the child. They just had a rough time making it to/through the airport and could probably enjoy a glass of wine more than the business traveler who's company is picking up their tab anyhow. The one time I received a bribe bag

Parenting is all about doing the best you can with the time and resources you have. Enjoy the trip with them and don't let someone make you feel bad about traveling with children.

(I fully expect someone will respond saying 'my teenagers were quiet little angels whenever they traveled' and 'i shouldnt be inconvenienced because you can't control your child.' I'll just say in advance, 1-unless your child is mute, you're lying. and 2) you're flying Delta, this isn't the Opera. I'm doing the best I can, get over yourself)

qukslvr619

It's amazing because I consider myself an expert traveler, yet when you throw kids in the mix its like starting from scratch. All the seemingly routine things (getting to the airport T-45, not checking bags/single carry-on, sustaining yourself off of airline club snacks/beer, allowing for tight connections) seem to go out the window. I'm building in buffers, and avoiding scenarios that could disrupt the kids because I know its not going to be easy for them, though I'd venture to say that due to multiple roadtrips with their mother (where they were stuck in the car for 12+hrs) and a few plane rides, its not like its their first time.

I've picked the last row of F on both flights in the hopes that it would be less disruptive. Obviously I've been on both sides....traveling solo and as a parent. Yes kids will be kids and there is only so much you can do to help a baby that's crying. I tend to be sympathetic to the parents that clearly are trying rather than those that let the kid scream and just ignore them.

I posted in the meal thread regarding ordering the children's meal on the Breakfast flight, though the consensus seems to be that it might not be that significantly different. The oldest will eat eggs/etc so I'm almost wondering if the special meal would probably end up having something he wouldn't like. I'm packing snacks so not relying on DL to feed the kids with something they will like.

Regarding the carseats, are you all recommending using them in place of the CARES harness? I do have two backpack/roller softside cases for both kids's carseats so more than likely was going to check them. Although I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of parking the car, taking the kids out of the carseats, putting carseats into shuttle van, unloading kids, carrying car seats/luggage/etc into airport and checking them.....although if I can strap one kid to the front of my chest, and the other on my back....hmm I guess I can get creative!

jrkmsp

I tend to think you'll be more successful with a carseat onboard as opposed to CARES, because it's more familiar and more confined. But I could be wrong.

As for checkin, not sure where you're originating, but my advice would be to use a skycap if your airport has them. Drive up to the curb, drop everything you will check, then head to parking with just what you'll be carrying on. It's not going to be fun, but you're going to have to carry it through the airport and onto the plane, so presumably you can get it all on and off the shuttle with kids. If there's no skycap, do you have a friend who'd want to go to the airport with you and watch the kids in the car while you take all the stuff to the counter?

qukslvr619

Flying STLMSPSAN. I haven't seen skycaps at STL in years, of course that might be because I've usually flown UA and don't recall that they had them.

Leaving at 0630 so while I had considered asking someone to take me, we are arriving back in STL closer to 1AM so I didn't have the nerve to ask said person to have to dropoff/pickup at such crummy times. I did consider using UBER but they can only dropoff at STL, not pickup. Honestly had tried to leave the night before, because it would be easier on the kids, but the soon to be ex-wife wouldn't allow it (can't wait for 18+ years of that nonsense but I digress).

twohundredfifty

+1 This is key. Not sure why people are eager to board early with kids. 40+ more minutes of sitting still can be torture - let them run around til the last minute.

Otherwise, books, toys, phone/tablet, a bit of patience, and a few drinks (for the adults) have worked just fine for us over the years. Our now 9 year old took his first TATL trip at 6 weeks and is a better traveler than most grownups at this point.

baccarat0809

As a father of 3 (all older now), you've got a ton of good advice so far.

Only thing I can add is there's a product out there that converts a car seat into a backpack. I can't remember the manufacturer's name, but it works amazing. Unfortunately I found out about it after kid #1 was out of the car seat phase (and he's the guy that flew with me the most - actually for more than 100k miles from the time he was 3 months til 15 months and would have made platinum status back when plat was top level on DL if he would have been on revenue tickets).

Oh - and AMBIEN - LOTS OF AMBIEN (for the goody bags for the passengers around you).

Beckles

I don't blame you for going for F on Delta if it was cheaper than WN. I have a difficult time taking anyone's comments on Southwest seriously if they believe that their boarding process is a "Cattle Call", I find that term much more applicable to boarding Delta flights than Southwest flights.
I think they were referring to curbside checkin, as seen in this picture.

jrkmsp

St. Louis is actually where I grew up (I could ask you where you went to HS, but I'll save that for later) so I know Lambert pretty well. First, as you may know, the Delta staff there is great.

Second, I think I remember curbside checkin still being there when last I flew in, in 2015. And I found this article from about a year ago that says Delta and Southwest are the only airlines that still provide it:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic...a74d3d385.html

If that's the case, I highly recommend using it.

3furballs

Just thought of this, if you have a carry-on that won't fit under the seat ask the GA to notify the FA of your seats and that you'll be trying to board last with the kids. You may get a nice a FA who will save you some Overheard space and shoo away any poachers.

Zorak

I think you have a point as far as lining up to get into the jetway. Once on board though... e.g. the seat saving threads on the WN forum.

mromalley

Re: picking up and dropping off

Is there an airport limo/car service that you could book?