Best Airlines for kids

[BeccaG]

For those of you who have traveled to the world and elsewhere with your kids are there certain airlines you would deem more "kid friendly" then others? If so why? Now that I have two DD age 2 and DD age 3 months, I am more concerned with that sort of thing!

 

[DVCBELLE]

I have flown Delta, United and Airtran with my kids and to be honest, I really didn't see much difference. If you are flying to Orlando, they are used to kids and I find the attendants are happy to see them. The kids giggle when they say "Tell Mickey Mouse I said HI!" This seems to start at security and happens all through the flight. They used to ask "HOW DID THEY KNOW?!?!?" with wide eyes but now they are seasoned flyers and know that any kid going to Orlando is probably going to Disney!

We really like Airtran and I would say a drawback is that they started charging for assigned seats. But now that I know that I can book through Kayak and have the charged waived, it is no problem!

 

[bavaria]

On my United flights I see very regularly (almost weekly) the cockpit crew invite children in during boarding. I don't see this when flying other carriers, although it may still happen. But don't expect it to happen; they seem to randomly treat families during boarding.

Note that many carriers in North America no longer allow family pre-boarding as it results in further delays in boarding the aircraft, and thus a higher cost. Many allow families to board after elites and the first zone of regular travellers has boarded.

Other than that, I don't think that there really is much to expect. The fact is that travellers have driven fares to such unrealistically low levels in America that airlines cannot afford to hand out the toys and treats that they do elsewhere (Cathay for instance hands out HK Disneyland stickers, colouring kits and toys to children small AND large on flights to HK; SWISS hands out extra chocolate to kids above the normal allotment that they give out as standard) Nor do many meals offer a kids meal anymore, or any real meal (Gone are the days of McDonalds meals on flights, I believe, for the most part, unless you bring it yourself)

 

[Alexander]

AirTran would be my least favorite because of the little to no leg room. This means that little ones have an easier time kicking the seats in front of them.

We have flown pretty much every domestic carrier except Southwest and some of the really low budget operators (most are out of business now) and my kids LOVE JetBlue because of the TV's.

The response you get to your children will be different on every single flight regardless of the airline. Some flight attendants and co-passengers are friendly and some just are not. Some FA's work hard to engage in conversation and provide extra snacks to kids, some look like they'd rather not have to deal with kids--it is totally a personality thing.

The same goes for co-passengers. The most friendly ones are the grandmas. They ask how old the kids are and other general types of questions. Then they'll tell you stories about their families.

The best thing you can do to alleviate dirty looks and frustrated FAs and co-passengers is to do your best to keep you kids entertained and happy. A crying child that has a parent doing everything possible to soothe is appreciated and sympathized with. On the other hand the 3 year old whose mother brought absolutely nothing for her to do and let her kick the seat in front of her for 3 hours and scream because she didn't want the seatbelt, and mom continued to swear at the little one, doesn't get much sympathy. (Yeah, I was in front of this poor little thing a few years ago).

 

[Lewisc]

Buy a seat for the 3 month old. Bring their car seats. That will have a far more positiive effect on your flight experience then your choice of airline.

Some famlies like JetBlue. IFE consists of Directv with an individual screen for every passenger. Your kids may be too young. Don't bring a personal DVD player unless your 2 year old is comfortable using headphones. You don't want to bring a DVD player that your child won't be allowed to use without headphones.

edited to add

Assume the airline won't be serving food. Bring whatever your kids eat. TSA will allow a reasonable amount of liquid drinks for kids through security. Don't assume you'll be able to get apple juice on your plane. Airline sometimes run out of drink items.

 

[mechteach]

For those of you who have traveled to the world and elsewhere with your kids are there certain airlines you would deem more "kid friendly" then others? If so why? Now that I have two DD age 2 and DD age 3 months, I am more concerned with that sort of thing!

Pretty much any non-US/Canada airline seems more kid-friendly! This might not be exactly what you are asking, but the most kid-friendly airline on which I have ever flown is Air New Zealand.

 

[Waseller77]

We have thoroughly enjoyed flying JetBlue with a 2 and 4 year old. They love the leather seats, the TV's and the great snacks that JetBlue provides. When I fly without them, I will choose any airline, but when we fly as a family, I prefer JetBlue (non-stop) hands down.