Flying with a toddler - Stops or Non-Stop?

[scrappinginontario]

We drive 2.5 and 3.5 hr car trips fairly often, to go visit her grandparents, so she's definitely used to spending time in the car. Neither of those drives is ever usually a problem, and we do those without stopping, or with maybe 1 restroom break.

It sounds like she'd do well with a direct flight and that takes a lot of travel time out of your day.

You mention she'll be 3. At 3 we flew cross country from Buffalo to San Francisco, via Chicago. Something that entertained her for an extended amount of time was a new doll and a box of band-aids from the dollar store. She probably played with than for an hour solid. Not only did it entertain her, but it was adorable afterwards.

 

[Angel Ariel]

if you are using LAX you want to land by 1 pm if you have to get luggage and rental car. that should make you ahead of rush hour as rush hour starts about 330.

Thanks! Hopefully Southwest's schedule will cooperate with that!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Non-stop, no question. It's faster and every time you have a connection, you risk the chances of a delay.

 

[martikus]

With a child we much prefer a layover (alone non-stop). We try for Dallas Fort Worth as that is exactly half way. That let's us stretch our legs, get food, maybe ride their train and 2.5-3 hours each flight is plenty long enough.