There are lots of tips floating around the internet about traveling with a baby so I am not going to write up my entire list. Everyone knows to nurse/give bottle/give binky on takeoff and landing. There is, however, one little gem of wisdom I've never read so I am going to share it and hope that no one who reads this is ever on the same flight as me because it only works for one or a few babies per flight.
The key is to arrive a little bit early at your gate and survey the scene. If there are women at the counter you are in luck. If not, come back in a bit and hope that the male gate agents have been replaced by nice women of childbearing or grandmother age. If there is both a man and a woman, get in line to speak with the woman. Once you get up to the counter, do not ask for any special favors. You are supposed to act like you can tough anything out and you do not expect anything. Just tell them that you are there to get a gate check tag for your stroller/car seat/make up a baby item if you don't have one. If you already have a tag from a previous flight hide it. Yes, those tags are good for 10000 flights or until they disintegrate but you are not there for the tag. You are there for the special favors, despite your insistence that you are not.
The whole point of this charade is to alert the nice woman (who has power over seating!!!) that you are traveling with a baby. Nine out of ten times, once she realizes this, she will do whatever she can to get you near empty seats. If you are really lucky she will try to get you in an otherwise empty row.
Why don't male gate agents do this? I don't know, but I suspect the women are more likely to have been in your shoes. While it is also possible that the men have flown with their babies, they probably slept through it.
Happy travels!! And please don't use this tip today, I'll need it.
Great Tip!!! We are flying Oz in a couple of months. I need all the help I can get! Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteThat is a looong flight! Hope the little man does well and let's you sleep!
DeleteThanks for sharing! We got lucky on a couple of our flights that they automatically put us in the bulkhead with a super cool bouncy chair/sleeper thing provided. They told us that if the flight is full and you are not in the bulk head (on planes that have the bulk head with baby bassinet area as they do on overseas or long haul flights), you can ask to switch and they are required to switch you (or anyone with a baby) with the people booked in those seats if they don't have a baby with them! Safe travels today! :)
ReplyDeleteDo all airlines switch you? We are flying overseas in December and Delta tells us they won't guarantee the bulkhead/bassinet seats. I'm so worried we won't get one and will spend 10 hours with a 4 month old in our arms.
DeleteI had no idea about that policy, that is a much better tip! Thanks, Fiona! Chrissy- definitely seems worth checking with your airline. We always fly Delta and they have been really accommodating so far. Hope your trip goes well!
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