Can my 2-year-old take a carry-on?

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

question - can my 2-year-old take a carry-on...that she can't carry?

 

[WicketsMom]

If you have purchased a seat for her, she gets the same luggage allotment as any adult. We use a carry-one plus a personal item (small backpack with toys/books) for my 4-year old son. If it's an airline where you have to pay for checked bags, we carry on as much as possible to avoid paying extra fees.

 

[maxiesmom]

Anyone with a purchased seat can have a carry-on.

 

[nytimez]

I clicked on this because I speed-read the subject lines and this looked like "Can I take my 2-year-old in a carry-on?"

 

[keishashadow]

I clicked on this because I speed-read the subject lines and this looked like "Can I take my 2-year-old in a carry-on?"

only if she's potty trained

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

But remember...

YOu have to carry it, you have to deal with the 2 year old, your other three kids etc.... I see these parents doing an imiation of a "pack mule" in airports all the time and generally they look VERY stressed. Sure they saved a few bucks, but.. it cost them! (And it's amazing how often these are the people that "lose" just "one backpack" that had all kinds of stuff in it!)

Don't assume there will be help to deal with all this stuff and remember that Delta in Orlando does NOT preboard families with small children (since as the agent put it last week,"that's the entire plane" )

 

[newyorkmike]

But remember...

YOu have to carry it, you have to deal with the 2 year old, your other three kids etc.... I see these parents doing an imiation of a "pack mule" in airports all the time and generally they look VERY stressed. Sure they saved a few bucks, but.. it cost them! (And it's amazing how often these are the people that "lose" just "one backpack" that had all kinds of stuff in it!)

Don't assume there will be help to deal with all this stuff and remember that Delta in Orlando does NOT preboard families with small children (since as the agent put it last week,"that's the entire plane" )

Thanks for your very thorough analysis of questions not asked. Seriously, take a chill pill.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thanks for your very thorough analysis of questions not asked. Seriously, take a chill pill.

Geeze. That poster was only trying to help. It kind of stands to reason that if you didn't know the answer to what is a pretty basic question, that you may not realize preboarding is a very rare thing on Orlando flights.

Couldn't you just say Thanks for the additional info?

 

[WicketsMom]

But remember...

YOu have to carry it, you have to deal with the 2 year old, your other three kids etc.... I see these parents doing an imiation of a "pack mule" in airports all the time and generally they look VERY stressed. Sure they saved a few bucks, but.. it cost them! (And it's amazing how often these are the people that "lose" just "one backpack" that had all kinds of stuff in it!)

Don't assume there will be help to deal with all this stuff and remember that Delta in Orlando does NOT preboard families with small children (since as the agent put it last week,"that's the entire plane" )

Actually, we pre-board on Delta all the time, just check with the gate agent first. They let me go in with the first boarding group with the car seat and a couple of carry-ons. I get the seat installed and everything stowed, then my husband brings my son on with our normal boarding group. It's much easier that way because there aren't three of us in the row while I'm trying to get the seat installed and DS can run around while everyone is boarding instead of having to sit still.

It's actually less stressful to deal with the carry-ons and know that I am the one responsible for it getting to our destination than to check it and worry about the airline losing it (which has happened to us three times!).

 

[ccgirl]

As others have said, since they are 2 they would have their own seat so are entitled to the same carry on baggage allotment as any other ticketed passenger. My DS2 carried his own backpack last year. At Target, they have the small backpacks. I fit one outfit, snacks, diapers/wipes and some play stuff in it. He wore it on his back and thought he was hot stuff!

Have a great trip!

 

[Peg]

I clicked on this because I speed-read the subject lines and this looked like "Can I take my 2-year-old in a carry-on?"

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Don't assume there will be help to deal with all this stuff and remember that Delta in Orlando does NOT preboard families with small children

Almost no airlines in the US preboard families at any airport. The only one I know of which does is Alaska Airlines (although I'm sure there may be a few others).

 

[maxiesmom]

Actually, we pre-board on Delta all the time, just check with the gate agent first. They let me go in with the first boarding group with the car seat and a couple of carry-ons. I get the seat installed and everything stowed, then my husband brings my son on with our normal boarding group. It's much easier that way because there aren't three of us in the row while I'm trying to get the seat installed and DS can run around while everyone is boarding instead of having to sit still.

It's actually less stressful to deal with the carry-ons and know that I am the one responsible for it getting to our destination than to check it and worry about the airline losing it (which has happened to us three times!).

Question: Do you preboard with Delta all the time on the way to Orlando? I'm asking because I fly Delta quite often to Orlando, and I have never heard them allow families to preboard. Usually things are different going to Orlando, as there are so many families that are flying there. The airplane would be half full if they had families preboard.

 

[aubriee]

Question: Do you preboard with Delta all the time on the way to Orlando? I'm asking because I fly Delta quite often to Orlando, and I have never heard them allow families to preboard. Usually things are different going to Orlando, as there are so many families that are flying there. The airplane would be half full if they had families preboard.

I was thinking the same thing. I usually fly Air Tran or American and nearly always see some family asking to preboard. The usual response is that for Orlando bound flights the only ones preboarded are Make a Wish families and people in wheelchairs.

 

[Missytara]

I was thinking the same thing. I usually fly Air Tran or American and nearly always see some family asking to preboard. The usual response is that for Orlando bound flights the only ones preboarded are Make a Wish families and people in wheelchairs.

One of the women I work with has a son with asperberger's syndrome. The first time they flew with him, at age 5 about three years ago, they had a doctor's note, and he was allowed to pre-board first with Mom and Dad. Even the pilot came out and introduced himself for a minute or two. It went surprisingly well.

About three or four minutes later, they started boarding everyone else.

 

[WicketsMom]

We usually fly Southwest to Orlando, but have flown Delta and had no problem preboarding. Maybe it is because just one of us goes ahead to install the carseat, and don't do that until they call zone 1, not with the platinum level (or whatever Delta's elite group is) that goes before everyone else?

 

[bumbershoot]

But remember...

YOu have to carry it, you have to deal with the 2 year old, your other three kids etc.... I see these parents doing an imiation of a "pack mule" in airports all the time and generally they look VERY stressed.

So? I've been a pack mule, just goes with the territory. I'm usually hot and sweaty, but that's just for the 15 minutes of trudging through the airport...then I'm done and I have all the stuff that I want with me, and I'm HAPPY. Hot, sweaty, stressed for a few minutes, but HAPPY.

Almost no airlines in the US preboard families at any airport. The only one I know of which does is Alaska Airlines (although I'm sure there may be a few others).

Odd. Every flight I've been on other than the MCO one (where I didn't pay attention) has offered to let families with small children or who need a little extra time to preboard... Southwest, Alaska, Jet Blue, Virgin America.... I've used SEA, SJC, SAN, Sacramento (don't know the letters for that), Baltimore...

 

[disfan07]

So? I've been a pack mule, just goes with the territory. I'm usually hot and sweaty, but that's just for the 15 minutes of trudging through the airport...then I'm done and I have all the stuff that I want with me, and I'm HAPPY. Hot, sweaty, stressed for a few minutes, but HAPPY.



Odd. Every flight I've been on other than the MCO one (where I didn't pay attention) has offered to let families with small children or who need a little extra time to preboard... Southwest, Alaska, Jet Blue, Virgin America.... I've used SEA, SJC, SAN, Sacramento (don't know the letters for that), Baltimore...

Southwest does not allow pre-boarding unless it is medical preboard. Families with children board between group A and group B.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh yes of course. I start my list of airlines I generally use and the reason I'm listing it leaves my brain!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Actually, we pre-board on Delta all the time, just check with the gate agent first. They let me go in with the first boarding group with the car seat and a couple of carry-ons. I get the seat installed and everything stowed, then my husband brings my son on with our normal boarding group. It's much easier that way because there aren't three of us in the row while I'm trying to get the seat installed and DS can run around while everyone is boarding instead of having to sit still.

It's actually less stressful to deal with the carry-ons and know that I am the one responsible for it getting to our destination than to check it and worry about the airline losing it (which has happened to us three times!).

In Orlando?

Seriously I stood there last Wed and heard the agent say LOUDLY over the speaker system "I am sorry there will be NO preboarding for families with small children". (And she stood by it. I was in group 1, there were no families pre boarding before me just wheelchair passengers)

I have seen Delta do it quite often at Atlanta and other airports, but not MCO.




Intersting that my "advice" is "ATTACK THE POSTER" I must have hit a nerve. (Which is what I see parents yelling, fighting etc just like this thread because they are stressed out.. hmm....)

And if you don't travel a lot, it always sounds much easier then reality turns out to be. Sitting at home thinking "well we can all take a carryon" is a lot different from the reality of dealing with them. I travel a lot and know that I limit myself to what I can EASILY handle. I just read a post on another travel board from an upset person who left a carryon aboard a Delta flight and it's 'disappeared'