jcoop

Hi folks,

My wife and I will be travelling to Italy with our 2 year old daughter this summer, and have a bit of a conundrum on the way back. We are traveling on points (Aeroplan) so availability on the return trip is limited. In a nutshell, our choices are as follows:

Option 1: MXP-YYZ direct in Y on AC
Taxes & Fees: $574

Option2: GVA-LHR-YYZ in J on LX/AC
Taxes & Fees: approx. $1500

Obviously GVA is not in Italy, so we would either drive or take the train to get there. We're 50/50 on whether we want to go to Switzerland or just spend time in Italy. We will be bringing out own car seat.

Do you think that the comfort of business class would be outweighed by the hassle of the extra connection, plus the $1,000 in extra fees?

Thanks in advance.

6rugrats

No question. I wouldn't even consider option No. 2. Take the nonstop.

Eclipsepearl

Agreed. Nonstop is the way to go when traveling with kids. Plus, Geneva isn't at all close. Zurich would be better to get to Italy. Geneva is a haul west.

You won't really be able to take advantage of business anyway, with a 2 year old. Use the car seat on board and just get there!

AsiaTraveler

Between the extra ground transport and the connection, I wouldn't even think twice about taking the non-stop. (Just to be sure: It is non-stop flight, and not a direct flight, right? We often use them interchangeably, but if the airline's calling it a direct flight, that means there will be a landing and possibly even a a change of plane.)

Besides which, if I were thinking about taking a 2 year old into business class, I'd have to look so carefully at the configuration, whether the car seat would fit in the seat, etc, that I probably wouldn't do it because of those uncertainties in addition to the ones already mentioned.

jcoop

Thanks all! We've booked the non-stop flight. At least one the way home, the focus will be on getting to home as fast as possible.

On the outbound leg we're travelling in J on TK - YYZ-IST-FCO. In that case, the extra time on the YYZ-IST leg should allow us all to get a half-decent amount of sleep, please I think that the TK J seat will work with the car seat, plus they have a 2-3-2 configuration that will actually be good for us.

chrish09

good call. my wife and I just flew JFK-GIG with AA in Business with our 11 month old. They were lie flat seats, but still not ideal for 2 people sharing, even if 1 is a child. Luckily for us the cabin was empty and my wife ended up moving to an empty seat after dinner, had that not been an option it was not going to be fun.

Our flight from Rio was in coach (points) and it was much more comfortable because our daughter got to lay in the middle seat between us (2-3-2 configuration). We made a little tent for her with a blanket and she slept most of the flight.

Good luck!

heraclitus

Personally, I could put up with the connection at LHR but not the $1000 in extra fees in order to do it. I'd pick the (presumably nonstop) Y itin.