ChadDa3mon

Greetings fellow flyers.
I've currently got Platinum with Delta and my wife and I are making our first trip to visit her family in PH so they can meet their granddaughter.

I am DREADING this trip for a number of reasons (at 6'3 and 300 pounds, I don't really fit in coach), but this will be our first time flying with a toddler, and it's like 22 to 24 hours of flight time.

To help with toting the toddler around (lots of walking) I'm looking at this as a carry on. Has anyone used something like that? I've heard airlines make exceptions to the carry on limits for strollers, but this isn't really a "stroller". My hope is that we could still bring on two carry on bags, plus this wagon.

I would also love to hear any other tips you guys may have on how to survive something like this

redvelvetmartinis

Some airlines have a separate baggage allowance for infants/toddlers - you may want to check on that. If they do, most of the time, a stroller is counted OUTSIDE of the parent's baggage allowance.

ntamayo

I'd consider booking her own seat if for nothing else than freeing up your own personal space on the 13+ hour flight. More comfortable than having her on your lap the whole flight.

Also, have you considered checking in 20x20in balikbayan boxes to PH instead of all luggage? It might be more convenient to max out a 50lb box going over, and then just get by with a smaller carryon. Most likely, you'll be bringing gifts / food / items from Costco, etc for family over there, and this is the best way to haul everything.

ntamayo

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tcl

I'm not sure if you've started your trip yet but I just flew from MIA-HKG with a layover in JFK. I think the total flight time was 28 hours not including the layover. I booked an extra seat for my daughter so I could bring her carseat. That helped keep her safe and secure when I had to use the loo. She is used to car seats in general (although this was a new "travel" carseat) so she eventually fell asleep. The only downside is that the buckle of the seat belt happens to be right in the middle of her back and can be felt through the carseat padding. I was prepared for this and used the newborn insert between the carseat frame and the carseat cover to help with that. I also brought an ultralightweight beach towel to use as a play mat on the floor of the plane between the seats so she could sit and play and climb and stretch out in a safe place.

For entertainment, I brought a few toys and books: afew favourites and a few new toys. I also brought extra milk and extra food as Cathay Pacific does not offer weaning meals. Unfortunately the child meal was too salty and hard for her (Chicken nuggets) so I did use the food I brought as backup. I also brought extra snacks that she likes.

One of the most useful items I was gifted was a toddlerr leash-harness. This enabled my little one to run around while I could keep a hold of her at a short distance. The leash-harnesss sans-backpack can be worn while in the stroller so it is more useful that the backpack version.

Unfortunately wagons don't seem to considered as strollers so it would be unlikely that you would be able to carry-on.
Hope this helps..

JoshSiu

im travelling from YYZ to HKG with my one year old infant and we�re nervous. What rows were you sitting at? Was there sufficient space for her to play within the rows?

tcl

We were sitting in seats AB in Premium Economy (last row) on CX. I felt that Premium Economy gave us room to play between the seats. She was happy to be sitting on a towel on the floor with access to her toys. I think that Regular Ecomony would have been a lot harder because there really would not have been room to play on the floor comfortably if the seat in front was fully reclined. My little one would also have been able to reach the screen in front of her if she stretched and she would have been constantly messing with her video. The downside is that Premium Economy seats do not have movable arm rest between the seats. The tray table is also in the other arm and it was not able to open over our carseat (Cosco Scenera Deluxe.) I had to feed my little one by hand while also holding her food in the other. Needless to say, the floor and the arms of her carseat got really messy by the end of the flight despite having a packet of wipes handy throughout the flight. I liked the last row because I could discretely tuck things behind my seat if I wanted it to be out of sight and out of mind for her. I kept her portable diaper changing pouch there for most of the flight. She is currently obsessed with pulling wipes out of the dispenser (tissues out of boxes) etc. While I would have liked to have a tray table that my little one could use to feed herself, I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with her smacking the table and annoying the person n front. I was unbelievably stressed before our trip and am still stressed about the flight back despite the first leg being much easier than I thought it would be. Everything did work out though and the flight attendants were surprisingly helpful when I asked for the child meal to be served later (my little one was asleep.). If you're able to, I would recommend a bulkhead seat if you're lucky enough to get one, There were a lot of (young) babies on our flight so I was glad I got lucky enough to get Premium Economy rather than Regular Economy.

Hope this helps.