London to Glasgow with a 6-week-old: train or plane
Sep 27, 2014, 10:48 am
#1
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London to Glasgow with a 6-week-old: train or plane
(Mods: feel free to move this to the Travel with Children forum if you think it's more appropriate - posting here as it doesn't look like there's as many UK folks there)
The wife and I are planning our trip back home to Glasgow for Christmas, with the added complication that this year there's going to be a wee 'un travelling with us too - our first child will (all being well) be 6 weeks old by the time we're planning to travel.
Getting from our house to Euston is a bit of a schelp, what with there being no lifts on the tube at either end. Plus while I'm usually fine with catching the train up to Glasgow, doing it round the festive period tends to come with increased stress levels and people crammed in the aisles.
LCY, on the other hand, is a lot easier for us to get to with a buggy and some luggage. And fog aside, it's a fairly known quantity.
Just looking for some input from other parents as to what would be better (both for us and the baby) - an hour on an Embraer or five on a Pendolino?
The wife and I are planning our trip back home to Glasgow for Christmas, with the added complication that this year there's going to be a wee 'un travelling with us too - our first child will (all being well) be 6 weeks old by the time we're planning to travel.
Getting from our house to Euston is a bit of a schelp, what with there being no lifts on the tube at either end. Plus while I'm usually fine with catching the train up to Glasgow, doing it round the festive period tends to come with increased stress levels and people crammed in the aisles.
LCY, on the other hand, is a lot easier for us to get to with a buggy and some luggage. And fog aside, it's a fairly known quantity.
Just looking for some input from other parents as to what would be better (both for us and the baby) - an hour on an Embraer or five on a Pendolino?
Sep 27, 2014, 2:42 pm
#3
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Sep 27, 2014, 2:49 pm
#4
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I took my first born (also 6 weeks) JFK to Boston...just make sure you have liquids and feed as you take off & land (helps with the air pressure issue)...otherwise you will be fine...
LCY is prone to fog as has already been stated...mind you I have flown well over 100 plus return trips GLA-LCY and been affected twice...once with fog, once with snow...
Also done the Virgin west coast route a few times...and been delayed at least 50% of those times...
LCY is prone to fog as has already been stated...mind you I have flown well over 100 plus return trips GLA-LCY and been affected twice...once with fog, once with snow...
Also done the Virgin west coast route a few times...and been delayed at least 50% of those times...
Sep 28, 2014, 10:48 am
#5
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Thanks all. My wife asked mumsnet the same question and got much the same answer, plus the advice to just carry the baby in a sling to keep hands free for drinking a bloody mary.
We're not in a great rush, so if we're bumped to a later flight, it's not the end of the world - and if it means coming back the next day, then we can be back home in 45 minutes. That's far preferable to being stuck in Preston.
We're not in a great rush, so if we're bumped to a later flight, it's not the end of the world - and if it means coming back the next day, then we can be back home in 45 minutes. That's far preferable to being stuck in Preston.
Sep 29, 2014, 4:14 am
#6
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If you plan on traveling very close to Xmas (when flights will be full to the brim) and definitely want to be in Glasgow for Xmas, the issue is not so much having to come back the next day but not being able to fly until after Xmas, which would defeat the purpose. Sure, problems could hit trains too but the probability of being unable to reach GLA due to cancelled LCY flights and no spare seats until several days later is much higher than the likelihood of a paralysis of train travel isolating Scotland from England. That said, the risk should be relativised and I certainly can see your point.
Sep 29, 2014, 4:55 am
#7
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If you plan on traveling very close to Xmas (when flights will be full to the brim) and definitely want to be in Glasgow for Xmas, the issue is not so much having to come back the next day but not being able to fly until after Xmas, which would defeat the purpose. Sure, problems could hit trains too but the probability of being unable to reach GLA due to cancelled LCY flights and no spare seats until several days later is much higher than the likelihood of a paralysis of train travel isolating Scotland from England. That said, the risk should be relativised and I certainly can see your point.
Oct 5, 2014, 3:43 pm
#9
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I flew to Edinburgh last week with my 10-week old daughter. It was her second trip: the first was to Barcelona a few weeks back.
All four flights were mostly stress-free apart from a bit of crying during landing. Not so sure I'd like to do the train. It's quite a long way if the screaming kicks off at Euston.
All four flights were mostly stress-free apart from a bit of crying during landing. Not so sure I'd like to do the train. It's quite a long way if the screaming kicks off at Euston.
Jan 7, 2015, 7:18 am
#10
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Thought I'd report back after our trip: it was absolutely fine.
Security at LCY was great - we were ushered through the side door and given plenty of time and space to get organised for getting our various bits and pieces ready for the x-ray.
The terminal was a bit on the busy side, but we managed to find a low table in one of the restaurants with some parking space next to it for the pram.
The flight was absolutely fine, the little 'un was coo'ed over by the cabin crew, and she barely even noticed anything was different.
For the return trip, GLA security were not quite as accommodating - but it still wasn't too stressful. As some arrival gates at LCY involve an up-and-over to get you to baggage reclaim (with no lift - wheelchair passengers have to be escorted through a baggage yard), all prams appear to be returned to the belt, even if tagged to be returned at the aircraft door.
I think the hardest bit was getting to LCY in the first place: our bus took us through Stratford on the Sunday before Christmas just as the Westfield shopping centre was closing for the day, which meant that the whole world tried to get on too...
Security at LCY was great - we were ushered through the side door and given plenty of time and space to get organised for getting our various bits and pieces ready for the x-ray.
The terminal was a bit on the busy side, but we managed to find a low table in one of the restaurants with some parking space next to it for the pram.
The flight was absolutely fine, the little 'un was coo'ed over by the cabin crew, and she barely even noticed anything was different.
For the return trip, GLA security were not quite as accommodating - but it still wasn't too stressful. As some arrival gates at LCY involve an up-and-over to get you to baggage reclaim (with no lift - wheelchair passengers have to be escorted through a baggage yard), all prams appear to be returned to the belt, even if tagged to be returned at the aircraft door.
I think the hardest bit was getting to LCY in the first place: our bus took us through Stratford on the Sunday before Christmas just as the Westfield shopping centre was closing for the day, which meant that the whole world tried to get on too...