Long haul to Edinburgh with Qantas/BA

We haven't done really long haul with Qantas in a while but travel with them quite regularly between WA and NZ, which is still a 15hr flight from where we live. To be honest they are a bit hit and miss, especially with kids (our DS is 20 months and we have been travelling with him since 7 months). AirNZ is generally far superior in my experience.

But money talks I suppose and if it's only a day of bad service to save some money maybe it's worth it?

In terms of stopovers - I definitely prefer them. Travelling with a toddler is exhausting and it may be hit and miss how much he sleeps? You will probably know him best but sometimes just to get off a plane, stretch, run around and get some sleep before the next leg is worth it's weight in gold when you are cooped up for 12 hours at a time with a toddler!

I havent travelled with children yet but I know that the qantas/BA flights go through LAX and I have heard that is a nightmare, even with no kids...you have to do the fingerprint thing even if you just have a stopover. Not to mention collect luggage and re-check it in a different terminal, well my sis did when she came back from London with them...

Just something to think about... may be better to go through asia and have a stopover... Korean Airlines do a good deal, the way their flights line up is than on the way there you have to have a night in Seoul and the cost is built into the price of the ticket. They put you in any good hotel where beds are free, my friend got the hilton twice!!

We have done this recently too. Personally with a child I think a stopover is a good idea. We did 2 nights in USA. It meant we all got at least some rest in a bed. Our DS was 17 months and there was no way he could have coped (or us!) with back to back flights. Hopefully your wee one will make use of the spare seat - I found that our son just wanted to be on us to sleep.

We flew Air NZ who were excellent. I have no experience of Qantas, sorry.

Good luck! And seeing family will all be worth it!

sorry to threadjack, but Milliemoo can you tell me more abut your flight with the stop over in Cyprus? We may be going to visit my parents in the UK later this year and the in-laws have recently retired to Cyprus so just wondering what kind of ticket etc you got to get that. otherwise we would probably have to book cheap flights from the UK to cyprus as a separate trip . . .

oh - and second about avoiding los angeles if you can help it! only advantage i found going that way was you get a lot more baggage allowance

Susiec wrote: sorry to threadjack, but Milliemoo can you tell me more abut your flight with the stop over in Cyprus? We may be going to visit my parents in the UK later this year and the in-laws have recently retired to Cyprus so just wondering what kind of ticket etc you got to get that. otherwise we would probably have to book cheap flights from the UK to cyprus as a separate trip . . . oh - and second about avoiding los angeles if you can help it! only advantage i found going that way was you get a lot more baggage allowance

*insert manic nervous laugh*
We didn't plan on stopping in Cyprus. Just after we left Singapore, Northern Europe aire space basically shut down due to the snow, so we were diverted to Cyprus overnight.It took us 4 days door to door, Auckland to Edinburgh.

Good suggestion about checking out Emirates. You could fly to Glasgow and miss out the dreaded LHR all together. I would *seriously* consider doing this next time.

Oh, just a wee note about stopovers. I do think it's a very personal thing. All our friends thought we were mad not stopping, but we used the money saved from stopovers to upgrade our flights

ah well - thanks anyway Milliemoo! sorry to bring back traumatic memories!

We just flew to Glasgow (and visited Edinburgh) in Feb with our 10 week old. Flew with Cathay Pacific, which was fine and LHR was all good too. I found Auckland airport more annoying with baby and bags as it turned out.

We stopped off in Hong Kong for 2 nights on the way back and I so glad we did. We slept until about midday on our first day in HK but didn't feel like we were 'missing;' any of HK by sleeping as everything is open so late. I sort of wish we had on the way over as well. 5 or 6 hours in an airport waiting for a connecting flight can be grim. At the very least, take fresh clothes so you can shower at the airport. So many parents were getting thrown up on.
There were so many strollers waiting at the gate each time we landed. You can hire them - but you have to carry your wee one to that location and try and find it etc. Bleh.

Edited by shesmiles

We went to the US when DS was 22 months and it went remarkably well. The overnight flights worked for us as he had a big day with no sleep so was happy to have his dinner, watch some TV, have a bottle then went to sleep. He was then well rested up for getting through customs and get to our accommodation. The problem with going on to the UK would be that you only have a couple of hours off the plane then you have to repeat the process with a lively toddler that now expects to be up and active. A stopover would only work if you were then getting on another overnight flight.

I flew Qantas and Air New Zealand a few weeks ago without children and what stood out with Qantas is the ability to check in online and print your own boarding passes up to 24 hours in advance then walk straight through to immigration. This would be a huge advantage if travelling with young children. They also seemed quite quick onboard to hand out activity kits and child meals. And the kids around me seemed quietly amused by the individual TV screens. It's hard to know if this was good service, good parental organisation or just happy kids.