Auckland to London... with a toddler
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Topic: Auckland to London... with a toddler
Posted By: Mikaela
Subject: Auckland to London... with a toddler
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:05am
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So we're off to London in February with DH's work, and we can request which airline to fly with (no guarantees we'll get our first choice but it's worth a try).
We also get a one night stopover somewhere along the way, but I suppose where that is is pretty much dictated by which airline we go with. So who should we request to fly with? We are Qantas frequent flyers and Qantas club members, so hopefully they're the right choice! Emirates is meant to be awesome with kids, but I understand we'd have to fly through Sydney or Melbourne before heading on to Dubai, and would that be a pain - only three hours in the air, get Alex settled and then we land and have to do it all over again? I'd love to hear people's opinions! ------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com"> 
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Replies:
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:08am
| Emirates might not be that bad as its only 3 hours then a break and a stretch. Walk around etc then back on and time for sleepies. |
Posted By: sadie
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:20am
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I'd vote either Singapore or Cathay - both of which only have one stop.
Both airlines are fantastic, and are always my first choice when flying long haul. I've not travelled with kids long distance, but I have heard they are amazing with the littlies. |
Posted By: Neeks
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:39am
Singapore Airlines are awesome.. We flew with them when my mate was 6 months pregnant and she got treated like royalty LOL even got moved to better seats that were closer to the amenities and had heaps of leg room 
(apart from the sniffer dogs giving her the third degree before we boarded the plane and the handler saying "haha, you must be smuggling another person")  -------------  
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:43am
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Haven't travelled with toddlers (will be next May-ish) but from personal experience I'd say Singapore Airlines as they are awesome.
My sister flew with British Airways, was a Qantas ticket but BA plane, and she wasn't impressed with them at all. |
Posted By: sadie
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 10:57am
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Agree with Tishy - avoid BA like the plague.
HIDEOUS Oh, don't fly Thai either - there is a sneaky stop in Sydney they don't tell you about. |
Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 11:05am
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I've always found Thai good when traveling from Auckland to Bangkok. The flight crew are really lovely and attentive and the planes have always been great (no dodgy headsets or screens and nice seats).
But I've never traveled with a baby. -------------  
 
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 11:07am
| A bit off topic for you Mikaela but avoid Lufthansa as well, they code share with Singapore Airlines. They would be out of Frankfurt however. |
Posted By: Jay_R
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 11:21am
Air NZ is always great - and with a stopover in LA, you could take your little one to Disneyland 
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Posted By: gypsynita
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 11:35am
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I used to work for Flight Centre and can say that the most popular airlines to fly (with or without kids) are Emirates and Singapore... In fact, I had several clients (with families) that refused to fly anyone but Emirates just because they are so good with kids.
They do stop a couple of times though -- you'll have a stop in either Sydney or Brisbane, possibly another stop in Singapore or Bangkok (depending on which flight you get on) and then another in Dubai before you get to London. None of these stops are forced overnight, but you can choose to stop longer than the normal few hours if you want to. Singapore Airlines only stop in Singapore, and again usually just for a couple of hours unless you request longer. It's a pretty popular stopover destination, especially if you wanted to squeeze in some shopping, and there's some fantastic zoos/wildlife parks there for the kids. Biggest bonus with Singapore Airlines at the moment is that they've launched the big new A380 plane on their Singapore-London route, which means newer, better seating even in economy and there are some economy seats available on the top floor of the plane (just for the novelty!) Cathay Pacific is technically one of the top three airlines, but I've heard mixed reviews as to their service. Having said that, Hong Kong is again a really popular stopover destination (shopping) and there's a Disneyland there too. I would personally avoid either BA or Qantas, I've had really bad experiences with both their planes and service. Air NZ has improved a lot in the last few years, but if you are only stopping for one night I would avoid LA like the plague. A short stopover like that isn't going to give you enough time to do LA Disney and the airport there is really unfriendly and hard to get around. However, you can opt for a stop in Hong Kong or San Francisco with Air NZ instead if you wanted. Hope that helps! If you've got any questions or want info on other airliens PM me.... I love talking travel  (hence the novel... sorry!!)------------- Anita Mum to Cian (Aug 08), Josh (Jun 10) http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: kiwisj
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 12:10pm
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I've lived in Asia for the past few years so have done the NZ - asia trip a few times now (albeit without kids) and a trip through to London as well. As far as child-friendly airlines go (and just people-friendly airlines) I would say your best bet is Singapore Airlines or Air New Zealand. I think they're both brilliant. Steer clear of Qantas/BA - my worst flight experience ever (in terms of service) was with Qantas back to Singapore (via Sydney) after our wedding, they were atrocious!
If you're restricted in time to get there I would suggest going through Singapore or Hong Kong as they're great if you want an overnight stop (which I would say is a good idea with kids, but depends on your family) and the airports are super easy to navigate as well as not being too far away from "town" and the hotels. You can be off your flight and in your hotel within an hour in Singapore and Hong Kong - try doing that going through LA  Obviously might take a little longer if you're dealing with kids and strollers and things but airport staff are pretty helpful, as are the flight crew (I believe you can request help from SIA at either end if you have children)
My vote is for either Singapore Airlines through Singapore or Air New Zealand through Hong Kong. Cathay through Hong Kong is OK too, although in my experience you won't get as much seat room on their planes. ------------- SJ Callum - Dec 2008 Daniel - Oct 2010 |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 12:55pm
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Funny so many people say don't go Qantas/BA. I always flew Qantas for years and they were always pretty slack but then I had one absolutely shocking experience and I'll never fly them again. We did do London with Maya on Qantas/BA and it was OK, we did it the long way (Akl - Syd - Bangkok - London) and the worst leg by far was Syd-Bangkok coz we had crappy flight crew.
Haven't flown Emirates long haul but we have done Akl - Syd a few times and they are great. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Mikaela
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 1:24pm
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Thanks so much for all your replies, this is the most fantastic information!
Looks like our first choice would be Singapore Airways via Singapore, or Air NZ through either San Francisco or Hong Kong. I've been through LAX a few times pre-kids and I have no desire whatsoever to go there again
Good to know that we should avoid Qantas/BA too! Will definitely make a mental note of that one. ------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com">
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Posted By: Kim
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 1:45pm
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I've flown a few times from Saudi to NZ return with a stop over in Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. First time was when Zac was 5 months and they were horrible both ways and didn't offer any help even though I was on my own. The next time I had Zac who was 1 and my step-daughter who was 4 - still no help and they hadn't ordered childrens meals for SD. Return was a bit better as I had DH with me. Another time inbetween with no help again and the last time we flew back to NZ for good we had Zac who was nearly 2 and Samara who was 3 months old and once again they had no children meal for Zac but were a bit more helpful this trip.
I wouldn't fly with them every again though. The only reason we kept flying with them as they were the only flight that had one stop over and the other airlines had two or more. ------------- Zac Mark - 30.11.05 Samara Ailsa - 13.08.07 |
Posted By: myfullhouse
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 1:50pm
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I love Singapore Airlines. Have flown to Europe twice with them (BC - before children) and they were great. I have never tried it but Singapore Airport has a hotel there that you can check into for a few hours or a night, might be good for a freshen up or a sleep. ------------- Lindsey 
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Posted By: ~*Telly*~
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 2:37pm
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Air New Zealands long haul service is a lot better than their domestic service They fly through LA and Hong Kong to London and the best bet is through HOng Kong. Best to always have a couple of days break on stop over, otherwise it does make it a long and unpleasant two days flying. ------------- 
Mum 2 C (4) & S (1) |
Posted By: gemsmum
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 5:45pm
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We've flown Singapore Airlines London-Auckland and return with a 9/10 month old. And London- Auckland with a 4 year old and a 2 year old. I would highly recommend them - they couldn't do enough for us. And Singapore is a great stopover. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 21 July 2008 at 7:29pm
I've done the flight 5 times now  (mad I know) and because of Charlottes peanut allergy we have only been able to fly with Qantas or Air NZ (emirates/singapore both serve peanuts inflight). I found both really good (although I had bad experiences with staff of both airlines at Auckland airport- but every other flight/airport was fine so I blame the airport!) but the LA-London leg of the Qantas flight was with BA and they were pretty appalling- so I would go Air NZ over Qantas now.
We have stopped over in Singapore, Oz and LA on our trips and out of those I would recommend staying in Singapore. Everyone I know who has flown Emirates totally recommends them- have heard good things about SIngapore AL too. ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 24 July 2008 at 10:15am
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Singapore Airlines all the way!! I found them GREAT!! and Singapore neat to stop over too. Air NZ was good too, and we enjoyed Hong Kong.
I reccomend STAYING AWAY from LUFTHANSA  even though they are my national airline, they were TERRIBLE for kids/families!------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Redbedrock
Date Posted: 24 July 2008 at 10:47am
I second that, and they don't provide infant seat restraints (you know the ones that go through your belt and around the littlie) Singapore was good, but the bassinette was designed for asian babies who may be generally smaller than my clodhopper. and Air NZ were great. singapore great stop over and could reccomend San Francisco too (only stop overs I've done with a child). ------------- http://www.babysfirstsite.com"> 
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tishy wrote:Posted By: MelanieAndBree
Date Posted: 24 July 2008 at 11:24am
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Ahh yay this has given me lots of good tips for when i go to the UK next year with B Ive never travelled long distance before, so excuse the dumb question, lol, but when you stop (in bangkok), are you able to stay for longer than just a few hours? Like maybe a day? Cause id love to be able to spend a bit more than a couple of hours with my neice (plus, a friend of my sister in laws family does awesome tats and i want to get one. lol. My bro got a massive one for about 80bux it took 6 hours and over here would have cost him about 600)
My mum and aunty always use AirNZ(coming from or going back to England) and they never seem to have any complaints! Althought they dont have any kids with them hehe. ------------- Melanie. Mum to Briahna Robyn, 3yrs |
Posted By: Peanut
Date Posted: 24 July 2008 at 11:31am
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I LOVE Singapore Airlines. Althoug have only use them BC, we have booke dto head to Bali in Sept using Singapore Airlines so will be good to see how it goes with a 10 month old.
I love singapore as a stop over. Its nice, easy and soooo clean. The zoo there is awesome. I rate it as one of the nicest in teh world and they do a cool night tour. We go to Bali every year and stop in Singapore everytime. We ahve checked into the airport hotel on a couple of occasions and it isit. awesome do def recommend it if you are wanting to break up the flight a wee b -------------  
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Posted By: bifnlins
Date Posted: 24 July 2008 at 11:53am
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I've just come back from a trip to Scotland with my 5 1/2 month old.
We booked really late so ended up with Air NZ and Lufthansa via LA on the way there and via Hong Kong on the way back. AVOID LA AT ALL COSTS even without a child, too much hassle with their security regulations and screening. Hong Kong was good on the way back, we were able to have a shower and freshen up between flights but my husband and I both said that next time we'll stopover for a night. As for airlines, Air NZ were great, they really are much better long haul than domestically, much prefer them to Qantas and any of the asian airlines. Lufthansa were AWFUL, offered no help at all and as I travelled on my own with bubs on the way to Scotland I felt really let down by them, at one point when were were clearly being encouraged to sleep bubs was on his awake time and chatting away and playing with his toys, no way was he going to sleep, a stewardess came and asked if I needed any milk to help him sleep!!! I've flown Air NZ and SIngapore Airlines via Singapore before (without a baby) and would recommend that route. Haven't flown Emirates so can't comment on them but I have a friend in Australia who flew from Melbourne to Glasgow via Sydney and Dubai with Emirates with an 18month old and she was 6 months preganant too, she said it was too much hassle with all the stops and would rather have taken a more direct route with less stops. Even if you don't stopover for a night or whatever both Hong Kong and SIngapore have shower facilities so you can freshen up, well worth it just to get into an fresh set of clothes really!! I have a question for anyone on this subject, how do I get my baby over jetlag - he's sleeping lots during the day and awake all night since we got back on Sunday!!!!! he's still on UK time, gonna try getting back to our old routine today and see if that helps but any advice much appreciated.... |
Posted By: IVFGirl1111
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 11:19am
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Bump - is this the thread your after? ------------- TTC 6 years IVF it is IVF/ICSI round one 10 eggs, 8 mature, 3 fertilised BFN IVF/ICSI #2 = 22 eggs! 20 mature, 15 fertilised, 1 fresh transfer and 2 frosties BFN 2 Frosties still in freezer thank god |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 12:10pm
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*sigh* We've booked with AirNZ & Lufthansa for Xmas. It was the cheapest fare we could get. I'll expect and prepare for the worst on the Lufthansa flight.
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Posted By: sally belly
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 12:17pm
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Mikaela, how are you going sorting out which airline they'll send you on? Not long to go now.
Tishy, fingers crossed you & your family will have a far better experience on Lufthansa than what bifnlins did -------------    
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Posted By: Mikaela
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 12:51pm
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Thanks BooBoo, this was exactly the thread I wanted!
Sally, we're in the process of working it out at the moment - will let you know when we get confirmation, hopefully early next week. ------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com">
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 1:24pm
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Yeah DHs memory is very selective and doesn't remember much about flying with them last year Plus he sleeps / zones out during long haul flights. He's a wee bit stressed about this trip!
We'll see how it goes, both our lufthansa flights are day flights so that's good, I think However we've been guaranteed bassinets for both girls on that leg of the journey so fingers crossed!
Mikaela, hope you get AirNZ / Singapore Airlines. 
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Posted By: Mikaela
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 3:06pm
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Tishy, I hope the flight goes well and that Lufthansa get their act together for you. Having bassinets is great, but how big are the girls? Bassinets on planes usually only take up to 10kgs, so hopefully they'll be well under that.
We got Singapore Air! We have a layover in Singapore for about 18 hours at a really nice hotel, and the Singapore to London leg is on an A380! Cooooool...------------- http://www.bump-and-beyond.com">
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Posted By: sally belly
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 3:14pm
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Oooh that sounds great Mikaela. When our time comes, I might get DH to request exactly what you got!! -------------
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 3:19pm
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Coooool! We Singapore, such good food! Singapore Airlines is a great airline.
Awesome you'll be on an A380!! The girls are 7kgs now so should be alright I'd say. |
Posted By: sally belly
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 3:28pm
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I can't imagine the girls will be packing on 3 kg each in the next couple of months -------------
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 4:55pm
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Singapore Airlines are great and I love their food. Well as much as you can love airline food.
-------------   
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Posted By: Lou1972
Date Posted: 10 October 2008 at 7:15pm
| Tishy,we are also going air new zealand /lufthansa to Ireland as that's all we could get in Dec.I was worried whether my ds would fit in their bassinets but they said their weight limit for babies was 14kg and no more than 83cm long.Am dreading the long flight,especially the Lufthansa leg! |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 11 October 2008 at 11:09am
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Oh that's great information about the bassinets Lou. The girls will definitely fit those
What date are you flying? We leave Dec 17th. Maybe you can let me know how your trip goes before we head off
If I remember correctly you're going through Hong Kong? We're flying the other direction. |
Posted By: Lou1972
Date Posted: 11 October 2008 at 12:03pm
| Hi Tishy,we head over on dec 12th.We are going over via San Francisco and back through Hong Kong as that's all we could get.If I get a chance when we get there will definately let you know how it went.I'm dreading the flight with just one baby and you've got 2.Ye a brave woman! |