The Confession of A Non-Frequent Flyer Mom

I was afraid.. very afraid to fly with kids across the country.

We travel quite extensively over the years but mostly by car. It’s not because I don’t want to fly but it’s just way cheaper to drive for a family of 4 than fly.

However, our trip to San Diego we had no other choices but to fly. With a lot of new security regulation, the way we used to fly is no longer valid. There are new rules on things you can or can’t bring on the plane. When we travel with kids, we tend to prepare and pretty much bring the whole house with us. So this is a new challenge for us.

There are several things I have learned during our trip. It might be simple common sense but I think for a non-frequent flyer this might be a useful information to put it out there.

The Gears

I had big goal to pack only carry on luggage for our 7 days trip and I have to say I’m pretty proud of myself to be able to accomplish that.

We had 4 carry on luggage, 3 backpacks, 2 booster seats and 1 camera bag.

Kids had their own carry on luggage and their backpacks. I picked up the carry on from Walmart of all places. I don’t know how durable it will be since this is our first trip. But overall, it’s very easy to handle for small kids. It’s big enough for them to pack all their clothes, shoes, blanket and small toy.

Their backpacks are their busy bag plus snack bag. I put several toys based on their interests. But the major lifesaver is Leapster.

We also found out after our first leg of the trip that we could easily strap our booster seat to our carry on luggage. If you don’t have that you might want to bring the bungie cord with you. It will help free your hand.

Family Tips:

• For school age kids, have a carry on luggage and backpack for each kid. They can handle it easily.
• Pack simple and new toys for their busy bag in the backpack.
• Have a couple snacks and buy a bottle of water after the security check
• Strap booster seat to the adult carry on for easy travel.

The Security Check

I printed out our boarding pass before hand. So we didn’t have to stop at any counter to check in. We proceeded directly to the security line.

I was very anxious about this process but we did pretty well. Here are some tips I have learned.

• Take care of kids stuff and put theirs on the bin and have them wait in the front.
• The staff was very nice and asked if they wanted to feed the dragon. It helped keep them occupied while we were busy with our own stuff
• Leave nothing in your own pocket. Put everything in your carry on or backpack before hand
• Don’t wear belt and keep it in the carry on. You can put it back after the security line
• Put ziploc bag of your liquid on top of the carry on for easy access. If you could, you might want to retrieve it before hand and carry it in line to put it in the bin

After 5 bins, 4 carry on luggages, 3 backpacks, 2 booster seats and 1 camera bag we went through the line without any problem.

The Gate

Each airport is like a big city by itself. So one thing I have learned was to double and triple check your gate before  heading there. I was relying on my gate number from my boarding pass that I printed out but later found out that it was at the different gate.

They did warn me on the boarding pass that it might change! So double check your gate even after you have received your boarding pass.

We Made It

Once we went through the security check, it was a breeze. Now we just had to wait for our boarding. During our trip, we were faced with a bit of the hiccup. We traveled during the day that FAA computer system went down and they announced that the flight will be delayed indefinitely!! Luckily, we were able to leave only about 30 minutes later than schedule. Now, on the way back that was another story for another day.

But for now, I could say that my fear of flying with kids have been reduced.

Do you have any tips for non experience flyer?