What is easier with a 4 y/o? 1 long haul economy flight, or 2 FC segments?

[Anonymous]

An 18 hour layover would be a hard no for me.
It’s Germany not Australia. I would do a direct flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

I'd say with a 0-3 year old my approach would be different. 4 year olds are MUCH better travelers. Small enough to sleep many places, interested in watching entire movies, can eat most food. I think efficiency absolutely plays into keeping everyone happy. Taking 2 flights, then spending the night somewhere, and then taking ANOTHER flight seems ridiculous unless you have some serious special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

I'd say with a 0-3 year old my approach would be different. 4 year olds are MUCH better travelers. Small enough to sleep many places, interested in watching entire movies, can eat most food. I think efficiency absolutely plays into keeping everyone happy. Taking 2 flights, then spending the night somewhere, and then taking ANOTHER flight seems ridiculous unless you have some serious special needs.

Agree entirely with this poster. 4 year olds are so easy on planes! And Germany isn’t all that far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

I'd say with a 0-3 year old my approach would be different. 4 year olds are MUCH better travelers. Small enough to sleep many places, interested in watching entire movies, can eat most food. I think efficiency absolutely plays into keeping everyone happy. Taking 2 flights, then spending the night somewhere, and then taking ANOTHER flight seems ridiculous unless you have some serious special needs.

Agree entirely with this poster. 4 year olds are so easy on planes! And Germany isn’t all that far.

So? First is always more comfortable.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't consider Germany long haul at least from the east coast. I would book the direct flight. Getting to my destination and quickly and smoothly as possible is always my goal. 18 hours is just kind of pain by the time you figure all the leaving the airport time, getting to the airport time, sleeping time etc. Is this Icelandic Air? Make it a 36 hour lay over and I might reconsider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

I'd say with a 0-3 year old my approach would be different. 4 year olds are MUCH better travelers. Small enough to sleep many places, interested in watching entire movies, can eat most food. I think efficiency absolutely plays into keeping everyone happy. Taking 2 flights, then spending the night somewhere, and then taking ANOTHER flight seems ridiculous unless you have some serious special needs.

Agree entirely with this poster. 4 year olds are so easy on planes! And Germany isn’t all that far.

So? First is always more comfortable.

For a full grown adult, the comfort of 1st is exponentially better. For a small kid, it’s easy to argue it does not make as much of a difference.

[Anonymous]

It's just a 6-7 hour flight from the east coast. I would do direct. Time is valuable! And kids can sleep comfortably in coach much more easily than adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

I'd say with a 0-3 year old my approach would be different. 4 year olds are MUCH better travelers. Small enough to sleep many places, interested in watching entire movies, can eat most food. I think efficiency absolutely plays into keeping everyone happy. Taking 2 flights, then spending the night somewhere, and then taking ANOTHER flight seems ridiculous unless you have some serious special needs.

Agree entirely with this poster. 4 year olds are so easy on planes! And Germany isn’t all that far.

So? First is always more comfortable.

For a full grown adult, the comfort of 1st is exponentially better. For a small kid, it’s easy to argue it does not make as much of a difference.

Op's preschooler isn't going alone.

[Anonymous]

I’ve flown to Germany twice a year with my kids since they were infants. I would take the direct flight in economy. It’s not that long of a flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

Reducing the overall time and numbers of transitions makes it lower stress. Having to pack up, check-in, fly, get settled in hotel, have dinner, sleep in new place, have breakfast, pack up, and then check in again sounds much more stressful.

My kids were good fliers/sleepers so personally I’d do the direct flight.

[Anonymous]

I would never want to risk delays or missed flights from layovers if it's possible to fly direct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Straight shot. Boarding and unboarding and waiting to board is the worst. That's when my kids act up. While they're buckled in, with ipads, they are little angels.

Coach sucks, though. And if you can't control your kids for 20 minutes at a time...

And coach is an issue on long-haul if you want your kids to sleep. They are much more likely to sleep on the flight with lay flat seats

Long haul?!? It's Germany, not Asia. You board, get dinner, wake up in Germany.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

We just returned from a trip to Europe where our non-stop outgoing flight was cancelled. It was a scramble to get seats on another flight, and we ended up not in the premium economy we paid for. I used to be big on layovers and exploring, but given how degraded air travel is today, I would take as few flights as possible to get to my destination. Every flight increases the chances that something will go wrong.

I do think this is a really good point. I don't mind layovers with kids generally for the reasons people have stated but it really does up your risk and that should be considered.

[Anonymous]

Straight shot. I have had a flight cacelled on me, resulting in a 12-hour layover with my then 4-year-old. It was terrible, and he's otherwise great with international flights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We'd never even consider 1st class, so to me the straight shot seems like the thing I'd choose.

Choosing 3 flights and an over night instead of 1 flight seems to make the travel take forever. But how long are the 3 flights each, vs the 1 straight shot?

With a kid that age, you don't want to make travel efficient. You want to make it low-stress. Different goals.

We just returned from a trip to Europe where our non-stop outgoing flight was cancelled. It was a scramble to get seats on another flight, and we ended up not in the premium economy we paid for. I used to be big on layovers and exploring, but given how degraded air travel is today, I would take as few flights as possible to get to my destination. Every flight increases the chances that something will go wrong.

I do think this is a really good point. I don't mind layovers with kids generally for the reasons people have stated but it really does up your risk and that should be considered.

+1

I think layovers have some pros with young kids…but adding a layover and extra flight just doubles the chances of a delay or other mishap.