# Flights advice!!!



## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi all, just after some advice from you expats that have already done the long flights (with kids); whether they done an overnight stay on the route to Oz or went for the straight 24 hour haul! (the very thought is a total killer for us with 3 kids) and what are the pros or cons to this?


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## kaz101 (Nov 29, 2007)

Hi Scottishcelts, 

This is a good question.

I don't have kids but I have been sitting next to some kids who have done the longhaul and they were unbearable. They were kicking me (on purpose), crying, screaming etc. Now I don't know what they would have been like normally but the mother then explained that they had been on the go for about 30 hours since they had flown from Manchester to Heathrow, had to change planes, then Heathrow the Dubai, had to change planes, then Singapore to Australia where I had the luck to sit next to them! That's when I started to feel sorry for them...

From that experience I would say have a stop over. I know some airlines will keep your luggage in transit and you can just take hand luggage (although I'm not sure that would work with 3 kids).

Regards,
Karen


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi Karen, i know, this is my worry, that the kids will be unbearable not just for us but for everyone else on the plane! My 9 and 5 year old - who will be almost 6 when we fly will be no probs but it's my 1 year old i'm getting nervous about, she will be nearly 2 when we make the flights but ANY 2 year old no matter how well behaved they are are going to be a nightmare! I am so dreading it as i know how stressful it's going to be.

Funnily enough we will be flying from Glasgow to Dubai then straight to Brisbane Airport, that's why i'm trying to find out the best way to do it with kids. It's not going to be easy any way but i think you are right about the stop over. Me and hubby had came to that conclusion but just want some info from people who have already done it. I also don't fancy staying over in Dubai but it's the best route for us to take, as it's about 7 odd hours from Glasgow to Dubai, the kids will be pulling their hair out by then, so i think a stop over is necessary really. No kids is easy, i would just do the whole flight then and there but kids are a different scenario altogether!!!


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## Baby75 (Jul 18, 2007)

scottishcelts said:


> Hi Karen, i know, this is my worry, that the kids will be unbearable not just for us but for everyone else on the plane! My 9 and 5 year old - who will be almost 6 when we fly will be no probs but it's my 1 year old i'm getting nervous about, she will be nearly 2 when we make the flights but ANY 2 year old no matter how well behaved they are are going to be a nightmare! I am so dreading it as i know how stressful it's going to be.
> 
> Funnily enough we will be flying from Glasgow to Dubai then straight to Brisbane Airport, that's why i'm trying to find out the best way to do it with kids. It's not going to be easy any way but i think you are right about the stop over. Me and hubby had came to that conclusion but just want some info from people who have already done it. I also don't fancy staying over in Dubai but it's the best route for us to take, as it's about 7 odd hours from Glasgow to Dubai, the kids will be pulling their hair out by then, so i think a stop over is necessary really. No kids is easy, i would just do the whole flight then and there but kids are a different scenario altogether!!!


Hello chicken 

I think planning is the key we have been looking at airlines and are going with the one thats best for the kids as you know in the same boat as you so Singapore airline seem to be the best they have the tv screens in the seats and give out coloring and that to the little ones. I think it probably be a good idea to make sure you get good seats one good thing is you wont have to worry about any one sitting beside you as like us the 5 of us will take up a whole row. im making sure the Nintendo ds are fully charged with the emergency chargers in the bag and i think you said this to me before about getting little presents and surprising them when they are getting bored which i think is a great idea ill be doing that also we are looking at the times and hoping the lads will sleep plus me as well we aren't going for a stop over at the moment but will see how we go. hope fully they will be ok and people will be understanding if the little one makes a bit of noise but il hate it if my little lad got really up set and wanted to run around the plane i hope the seat belts are good !
I know some people get some thing to help the children sleep i dont know how i feel about that i guess it depends on how desperate you are but may be there is some alternative that would help relax them i must look in to that !


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## ralfcam (Jan 19, 2008)

Hi,

We have made the return flight twice with two kids (12 months and three years).

The first time we didn't have a stopover and this was a nightmare for everyone when we got to Oz for about a week.
The second time we had a three day stopover in Malaysia. Although there was still some restlessness on the flight everyone had adjusted a little to the time difference and we were all well rested.
So I'd definately recommend a stopover.
Hope this helps.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi ralfcam, thanks for your reply. Yes we will definately be going down that route, it makes more sense to stop over doesn't it!

If anything for your own sanity!


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## cmallon (Aug 20, 2007)

scottishcelts said:


> Hi Karen, i know, this is my worry, that the kids will be unbearable not just for us but for everyone else on the plane! My 9 and 5 year old - who will be almost 6 when we fly will be no probs but it's my 1 year old i'm getting nervous about, she will be nearly 2 when we make the flights but ANY 2 year old no matter how well behaved they are are going to be a nightmare! I am so dreading it as i know how stressful it's going to be.
> 
> Funnily enough we will be flying from Glasgow to Dubai then straight to Brisbane Airport, that's why i'm trying to find out the best way to do it with kids. It's not going to be easy any way but i think you are right about the stop over. Me and hubby had came to that conclusion but just want some info from people who have already done it. I also don't fancy staying over in Dubai but it's the best route for us to take, as it's about 7 odd hours from Glasgow to Dubai, the kids will be pulling their hair out by then, so i think a stop over is necessary really. No kids is easy, i would just do the whole flight then and there but kids are a different scenario altogether!!!


Hi,

We went to Melbourne in February, our wee boy was 1 year and 9 months at the time. We flew with Emirates and they couldn't have been more helpful, they moved us up the back to give us extra seats and actually went all the way bck down the front if I wanted anything from the hand luggage that I had left at our original seats. He was on my lap some of the time but people actually moved to let us have extra seats! Look at the very back of the plane, at first glance I thought the plane was full but all the empty seats were right at the back. We did the Glasgow - Dubai -Melbourne (refuelling at Singapore) route. I was worried sick but I needn't have bothered. As the flight ends up being split into 3 7 hour stints he had what would have been his bedtime on one of them and slept though take off and landing, it was only when we go up to get off the plane that he woke!! We just made sure he had plenty toys and went with the flow, if he wanted to sleep we let him and if he didn't we left him! It did take him a few nights to get over the jet lag but at least we were there and that was it over with (at least for 3 weeks). We were going to visit family so we just wanted to get there as quick as possible to spend as much time as we could with them but it's obviously different when your are emigrating. My biggest tip would be to try not stress to much about as you will end up making things worse for yourself.
Good luck,


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## lkrichard (Jan 17, 2008)

We have not done the long haul with our little one yet, but will be doing it in about 2 weeks. I will post my experience once we arrive. 

We are planning on doing a direct flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane. I think the flight time is about 14 hours.

We had some friends from Mexico that just got back from a 6 month business trip to Sydney. THey went down with a 1 1/2 year old. They said bring tons of stuff to distract and that because their little one didn't get candy often they brought it as treat. They found that lollipops worked wonders when she was getting frustrated. They figured for a day they would just do anything they could to make the trip as smooth as possible.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Hey ikrichard, thanks for your post and i would be grateful if you could update us on your flight experience.

I think your friends had the right idea - got similar ideas myself, so will take them all on board.

Thank-you


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

cmallon said:


> Hi,
> 
> We went to Melbourne in February, our wee boy was 1 year and 9 months at the time. We flew with Emirates and they couldn't have been more helpful, they moved us up the back to give us extra seats and actually went all the way bck down the front if I wanted anything from the hand luggage that I had left at our original seats. He was on my lap some of the time but people actually moved to let us have extra seats! Look at the very back of the plane, at first glance I thought the plane was full but all the empty seats were right at the back. We did the Glasgow - Dubai -Melbourne (refuelling at Singapore) route. I was worried sick but I needn't have bothered. As the flight ends up being split into 3 7 hour stints he had what would have been his bedtime on one of them and slept though take off and landing, it was only when we go up to get off the plane that he woke!! We just made sure he had plenty toys and went with the flow, if he wanted to sleep we let him and if he didn't we left him! It did take him a few nights to get over the jet lag but at least we were there and that was it over with (at least for 3 weeks). We were going to visit family so we just wanted to get there as quick as possible to spend as much time as we could with them but it's obviously different when your are emigrating. My biggest tip would be to try not stress to much about as you will end up making things worse for yourself.
> Good luck,


Hey cmallon, thanks for the advice - just what we wanted to hear really. We too are worried sick about the flights - well more to do with my sanity at the end of them!!! That's where vodka comes in handy right enough!!! lol

Yeah not much can be done about the flights and it's only one day out of our lives i suppose, although the stop over is a must.

Cheers again


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## madmum (Aug 22, 2007)

Hi everyone,

It was only the other day that i too was considering how stressful this part of the journey is going to be.......and we have not even started our visa application yet!
Unfortantly i had a very bad experience with my son when he was three and it was only a four hour flight to Spain, also at the time i only had two children, i now have four, two of which will still be under three when we leave aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What have i let myself in for?
Before setting off to Spain i visited my Dr and enquired about some sort of sleeping aid as i knew how bad the trip was going to be, but they point blank refused me.
Once we finally touched down in Spain an English family we met explained how they had the same problem but they had been advised by one of the reps to dose their beloved child up on Medised.
At the time this was not available in the UK, so armed with this info i marched down to the nearest chemist and brought the biggest bottle i could find!!!!
Needless to say it done the trick and on our flight home my darling little boy slept for the full four hours it was bliss.
So my advice if you have a hyper child never say never1
Hopefully allthough tired everyone will arrive less stressed.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

madmum said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> It was only the other day that i too was considering how stressful this part of the journey is going to be.......and we have not even started our visa application yet!
> Unfortantly i had a very bad experience with my son when he was three and it was only a four hour flight to Spain, also at the time i only had two children, i now have four, two of which will still be under three when we leave aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> ...


Hi there madmum (fitting name for someone wishing to travel to Australia with 4 kids!!!) maybe i should have used a similar user name!!!

Anyway, Medised is the same as Dozol - if you google both of them they have identical ingredients - they are both painkillers basically. Also Karvol have brought out a new nite-time karvol - which i assume will have the same effect as the above! 

So if it's needed it WILL be getting used!


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## cmallon (Aug 20, 2007)

madmum said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> It was only the other day that i too was considering how stressful this part of the journey is going to be.......and we have not even started our visa application yet!
> Unfortantly i had a very bad experience with my son when he was three and it was only a four hour flight to Spain, also at the time i only had two children, i now have four, two of which will still be under three when we leave aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> ...


Hi,
Before our trip out to Oz last February I also went to the doctor to see if we could get something in case we needed it. I told him that I wouldn't use it unless I had to but was also refused. I went to the chemist and the pharmacist mentioned medised but I ended up getting phenergan (think that's how you spell it). It actually says on the bottle what dose to use as a mild sedative for children. It's hard to say if it was that that worked or if he was just good because we gave him slightly less than the stated dose and he was already really tired but he did sleep for one of the 7 hour stints, he fell asleep waiting for take off and slept through the landing!!


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## madmum (Aug 22, 2007)

Hi,
Ive also heard of Phenergan, i think my sister may have used it for her children at one time. I totally agree with you though im not going to dose
them up to the eyeballs from the word go, but it will be kept very handy if the need should arise.
My eldest 2 at the moment are 10 and 9 so they will be fine just like other people have said, as long as i have a good supply of books and colouring and the precious PSP and DS they should both be fine.............i hope!!!!!!


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## cmallon (Aug 20, 2007)

madmum said:


> Hi,
> Ive also heard of Phenergan, i think my sister may have used it for her children at one time. I totally agree with you though im not going to dose
> them up to the eyeballs from the word go, but it will be kept very handy if the need should arise.
> My eldest 2 at the moment are 10 and 9 so they will be fine just like other people have said, as long as i have a good supply of books and colouring and the precious PSP and DS they should both be fine.............i hope!!!!!!


Good luck, I'm sure you will be fine. I think we probably just get ourselves to stressed out, I think one of the main things is to just go with the flow.


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## lkrichard (Jan 17, 2008)

We just arrived this week and the flight was not as bad as I was expecting. We had a little bit of whining a couple times, but no crying at all. We packed a carry-on bag full of toys and snacks. It went well although I was wishing for a couple other items by hour 18 of our 20 hours of travel. The suckers really did work wonders...I think we went through about 5 or 6.


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## QSfamily (Nov 19, 2007)

We did the 24hour flight to Perth from Edinburgh back in December.

Thank God, our boys 8months and 2.5years old were great. Slept all the way on the Amsterdam to KL (12+hours)leg of the journey and most of the 5 hour flight from KL to Perth.

However I wouldnt recommend flying with KLM. Worst airline I've ever flown. No individual entertainment screens (Lucky we had a portable dvd player) and we had to check in at every stop although our luggage went straight through. At our first check-in we were told that we werent on the flight...???? Also on the way out we didnt get a bassinet as requested nor did we get the kids meal tho my husband swears he ordered them. 

But I would do a stopover with another airline next time simply because arriving at midnight wasn't the best time for the little ones.


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## Byo (Nov 28, 2007)

Unfortunately its the jetlag when you arrive that is also the problem. It took my toddler two weeks to recover the last time I went home, and I was pregnant so wanted to scream. Going home is not an easy option now, nice being there but hard coming back.


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## Dolly (Feb 17, 2008)

Hi

I know that Changi airport (Singapore) has a transit hotel and you book by the hour (can't access the website for some reason otherwise I'd have copied a link).

It depends really on how long you've got before your next flight. If you've got small kiddies then even if it's for a couple of hours they can have a proper lay down.

Dolly

Got it to work at last.... Transit


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Thanks for all your feedback folks, much appreciated!

We are definately going to have an overnight stopover in Dubai from Glasgow airport, then onto Brissie airport, i think there's also a quick refuelling stopover in maybe Singapore too!


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## brizzy mackem (Mar 4, 2008)

hi, just joined the expat forum. Been in brisbane for two years and loving the place. Are there any ex mackems in the brizzy area. Would love to have a chin wag about footie, city ect.


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## onthemove (Feb 23, 2008)

Hi,

I don't know if this is going to be of much help, as you have had some really good reply's already.

We moved from England to America about 16 hours in total. We are now moving from America to Brisbane now i feel quite lucky that because i am going the other way around the world i will only have a 14 hour trip rather than the full 24 hours and no stop over. 

At the time we moved to America we had a 15 year old and twin girls who were 3. Some of the things we done were we packed individual carry on for the girls and they were the pull along cases (they looked so cute walking through the airport pulling their small cases behind them people kept commenting on them) this was really good because we really hyped up that these bags were special filled with special things and they were not allowed to open them until on the plane. So when people kept stoping it made it all more exciting for them. We packed different things in the different bags so no bag had the same thing in it and this was also different for them because they were twins they had a lot of the same stuff. When we got on the plane we took our seats and we sat the girls as far apart from each other as we could, so that they did not get to see much of what was in the other bag, at the first sign that one was getting a bit restless we changed the girls seating and placed them where the bag was not moved over the bag because i just felt that it was better for them to get out of the seat and a change of scenery etc, we also divided things us between my husband, myself and my oldest daughter so for instance for the first few hours i was the story reader, my daugher was the one who played games etc, my husband done his thing but i cannot remember what this was so if they wanted a story they came to me, etc etc etc you get it, just so that they were not with the same person for the whole entire flight, when we changed the seating over we also took that opportunity to use the toilet and along the way there were people who would talk to the girls etc so it may take 15 mins or so to get back to the seat so that broke up the time they were sitting in one place.

Something else that i done and i swear by it and will be doing it this time as well is that i will book a night flight in fact in think the flight we are looking at leaves at around 10pm. This is perfect for me because our children are in bed at 7pm normally so what happened last time is that by the time we got on the plan, they were so tired that within about 20 mins they were laying back in their seats sleeping, i took their favourite blanket a very small pillow in fact one of the girls sleep for a very long time.

I think the comment about the lollipops is great, we done the same thing and not only is it a treat for them but it also helps with the ears popping. Again plenty of snacks and drinks just to keep occupied, and the movies on the plan also worked a treat for us.

Anyway good luck, it would be good to hear how you get on.


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## scottishcelts (Aug 5, 2007)

Hey onthemove, thank-you for all your information, it will be greatly taken on board believe me! Also i take my hat off to you guys for moving all the way to the states from the UK with 3 year old twins, you must have been worried sick just thinking about it.

I have hummed and hawed for months over these dastardly flights! I have came to the decision that an over night flight is the best way to go when there are kids involved. If anything else it is their normal sleeping pattern so therefore halves the entertaining time!

I am definately going to go ahead with the lollipop thing. (i would have naturally went along with something along those lines anyway). Also i had an idea about taking loads of small inexpensive gifts onboard too (you know the sort of toys you pick up in the pound shops!) and administer those to the kids every hour (or whenever they start to get bored with the last presented gift). Also mp3's etc. will go down a treat and the games consoles they have on the head rests are a god send!

So i have plenty of ideas but whether or not they work practically or not is a different thing all together!

We are not flying to Oz until September (if all goes to plan that is). When do you take your flights to Brisbane? Also if you don't mind me asking, why the decision to move from America to Oz and whereabouts in Brisbane are you heading off to? We are moving to Alexandra Hills and can't wait, September can't come any quicker (although the spiders and snakes - well that's a different scenario)!.


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## onthemove (Feb 23, 2008)

Hi,

You sound as though you have got things figured out, even so it is stressful. The gift ideas is great that is what we did the pull along bag thing was filled with new stuff that they had never seen before. I think that will work great for you.

We are a bit of adventure freaks we decided to move to america and within 4 weeks we were there, we sold everything we have and left with just 2 suitcases for the 5 of us. It was a great adventure and it has been ok here although i new from the start that i would never be able to call this home, our visa's are about to expire and we do not want to apply for new ones, we will be leaving in June probably. Australia was always our first choice when leaving England but we could not find a way to get in, now we have a little bit more experience with immigration we have found that there is always a way. So this time I am going to entering on a student visa and will be studying to be a midwife this will give us 4 years there. The reason we picked brisbane is because that is where the univeristy is that offers the course. I am also looking at one in adelaide and now cannot decide which to go for. My husband and my children will be dependants on my visa and unlike america my husband will be able to get permission to work.

Now that our visa's are expiring we really do not want to return to the UK everyone we speak to is saying don't come back it has got really bad here. We have been gone for 3 years and did not want to stay in the first place so now we are really not happy about the idea of going back. We are hoping that once i get my degree in australia i will be able to gain employment there and stay, but who knows. We really want to stay there permanently after i finish my degree we need to set down some roots now and australia has always been our choice of destination. I have never even entered australia so we have no idea what to expect or where to even start looking for houses etc but once again it will be an adventure i'm sure.

Good luck with your move, remember it will be worth the hassle.


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