Int. flight with 7 month old. Is one long flight (22 hours) or 2 shorter (2x10hrs) with transfer better?

Question

In more detail, I'm unsure whether to take a 2 seperate flights (5 hrs) and (22 hrs) - 1.5 hr transfer OR (5 hrs) then (12 hrs) then (9hrs) - 1.5 then 4 hrs transfer.

Answer 1

Fewer flights is always better. More flights means more potential for delays, issed connections, whatever, and means going through pressure changes more times.

Answer 2

Small trips might be preferable if the layovers between them were 12 hours or so, but with the durations you give (1.5 and 4 hours), you might be better off just going with two flights instead of three.  Your baby probably won't care much either way, and without a long layover, getting on and off the plane multiple times will just be a hassle for you.  There's also the issue of altitude, as the cabin is pressurized, and babies, with their small eustachian tubes, might have trouble adjusting to the pressure changes—in which case it's better to only have one stop instead of two.

The main thing is to stay hydrated, especially for the baby, as babies dehydrate more easily than adults.  Water is fine, although baby might be happier with formula or breastfeeding as the journey wears on.

Answer 3

I'm an former Flight Attendant and I now fly a lot with my three children internationally. I always, ALWAYS try to limit connections. I just got back from an international flight which meant that we had to spend the night, pay for a hotel room and get up at 4am to catch a non-stop, so that we wouldn't have to connect on the later flight. I also take a special airline bus 2 hours when I fly to America, again, just so that I don't have to connect. I've also spent more money and changed dates to avoid connecting. That's how important it is to me to avoid getting on and off aircraft with children any more than necessary...

Every connection means the potential to have delays, cancellations and other problems in general. These are that much harder to bear when you have little ones with you. Experience speaking!

In your second option, you say "1.5 THEN 4 hours transfer". I'm not clear what that means (changing buses? trains??) but getting closer also sounds better.

Connections can also mean longer routing. For example, flying to Europe straight to the West Coast saves about 3 hours flight time rather than connecting through the East Coast, not including ground time.

Other criteria are the frequency of the routes. There is one flight I never take which connects in Amsterdam. It's well timed but I never book it because there is only one flight to there per day from where we live and I have known several people who were rerouted when something went wrong. By contrast, there are at least 5 shuttles to the other two connection point cities per day. I just don't want to risk it.

I would also consider a transfer if there were a *huge* difference in price but so far, I've never found it to be the case. My preference has never been so much more expensive to make it worth while and quite frankly, is usually cheaper, especially if you consider other transport costs.

For more general information on flying with children, I wrote an article in 2000 on the subject. I have expanded it and put it on a blog to share with other parents who have, over the years, contributed. It's totally non-commercial.

Feel free to visit;

http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com

Good luck and have a good trip!  

Answer 4

If possible, schedule your trip so you have a full day or night between the 9 hour and 12 hour flights.  Go to a hotel near the airport, clean up, sleep, and have some real food.  It will also give your child some time away from the very dry air in the passenger cabin.  

Unless you can break your trip so you have time to go to a hotel for some rest you are better off with the non-stop trip.  Changing planes will be disruptions, waiting in the public areas of the airport will not be comfortable, and there is more of a chance you may miss a flight and that your checked luggage will be delayed.

Do keep your child hydrated.

Good luck!