UK - to stopover or not?
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Topic: UK - to stopover or not?
Posted By: sally belly
Subject: UK - to stopover or not?
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 8:39pm
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We fly to London next year & will obviously be taking the children with us (we'll be there for a year).
We're not sure if it's going to be better to have a stopover of a couple of days somewhere or just keep going without stopping (for any longer than we need to)? I can see the pros & cons of each scenario but DH thinks that getting there as quickly as possible is the way to go. Thoughts? -------------    
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Replies:
Posted By: Jaxnz1
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 8:49pm
Personally, I always found just getting there was way better, but we never travelled with kids. I know of someone who travelled straight there with a 7 month old and apparently she slept pretty much the whole way. If we were doing it now, we probably wouldn't do a stopover. A stopover always made me more jetlagged once I got to the UK  ------------- 
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Posted By: pickle
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 8:51pm
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we went to the UK last year and went straight thru. I agree with your DH just to get there as qucik as possible.
It is stressful travelling at the best of times with kids (not like the old days where you could drink too much and pass out  ) and to break the trip I think would add to the stress.
Good luck and have fun ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Rachel1982
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 8:53pm
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I have made the trip a bunch of times being from the UK originally
One thing I've found is it depends a bit on the time of the year... if you are leaving the NZ summer to go to a UK winter, generally you will be a bit healthier and less likey to be sick when you fly - and it's not so bad going straight through. However when I've flown in the NZ winter I've had more issues with blocked ears, found the aircon on the plane harder to cope with and often ended up with a cold pretty shortly after arriving in the UK even though it's summer there! If you decide to have a stopover, I guess you would be going to LA, Hong Kong or Singapore. I've never found LA to be super user friendly and by the looks of things your kids are a little too young to enjoy a lot of the stuff there. Singapore is quite nice though! Good luck with the decision!! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Kats1
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 8:56pm
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Having done the trip many times (but not with kids) if you fly through Singapore or Hong Kong a stop over is great. You don't even have to leave the airport in Singapore cos they have a hotel in the airport building which is great if you have a few hours between flights. If you go through LA then don't stop, its a nightmare, did it once and I will never fly through LA again. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: Lou1972
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 9:25pm
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When we've flown to Ireland have always just flown straight through,would rather just get there.
Have a friend who when she flies home to the U.K always stops in Hong Kong for 2 nights to break the flight up for the kids. Each to their own I suppose. |
Posted By: kiwisj
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 10:34pm
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Singapore is great for a stopover with kids. We haven't done it (we live here on a permanent stopover lol) but have had various friends come through over the past 5 years away and they've all said it's been great.
If you fly SIA and do a stopover deal you get a bunch of tickets to things like the Zoo and discounts on food and things while you're here. Hong Kong is also a great place to stop but not so easy with kids, bit harder to get around with a stroller and not as much kid-friendly stuff to do. ------------- SJ Callum - Dec 2008 Daniel - Oct 2010 |
Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 11:02pm
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We prefer to do the trip all in one go.
We've done the trip twice and like to leave on a night flight. That way we're all well rested on the first flight. The general trend we've found is 1 'active' flight and 1 'sleepy' flight. I think what it comes down to is to do what would suit you and DH best. Kids are extremely adaptable to all situations. (My DD thinks it's perfectly normal to expect Mummy to hop on 4 planes to go get her trike from Nanas house  )
Happy relaxed parents mean happy relaxed kids. For us we wouldn't be able to enjoy a stopover with 2 toddlers. When they are older we will think about it again. ETA: I recently did Ireland to NZ on my own with the girls with a 2 hour refuel at LA. When the flight landed in Auckland Aoife wanted the plane to take off again so she could continue watching The Wiggles  
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Posted By: Ella1
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 11:19pm
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We've just been to Europe, and for the first time ever we did a stopover. Thank god for that!
DD only slept the first 1,5 hrs on the flight to Singapore, and then stayed awake for the remaining 9 hours . I can't tell you how very glad I was that we were able to leave the airport and spend the night in a hotel.
I don't know how I would have managed if I had to go straight onto another 14-hour flight. DD has never been the best of sleepers, and even though everyone told me little kids sleep great on planes - well, not her. She also refused to lie in the bassinet (but it's still great to put your luggage), and she doesn't really play with toys, or watch tv, so you can imagine how hard it was to keep her entertained for hours and hours on end. The stopover gave us all the chance to stretch our legs and get a few hours sleep. For me it was a lifesaver. We had our stopover in Singapore, and the hotel was outstanding! Everyone in Singapore was so friendly, I couldn't recommend it enough. |
Posted By: dinolau
Date Posted: 14 July 2010 at 11:53pm
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Hi I'm living in London atm so my tip is this - fly Korean Air if you can. You get a 11hr flight - stopover in Soeul (arg can't spell) paid for by Korean air in a really nice hotel, good nights sleep, then another 11 hour flight. I think it's wonderful to do it this way if you aren't in a hurry. -------------  
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Posted By: anon
Date Posted: 15 July 2010 at 1:04am
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I have always stopped over but never flown with kids so I have no idea. I love stopping over, it's a holiday in itself... but yeah the kids thing. I can see pros and cons with both too. Pros - it's not such a long hideous trip and maybe you can throw Disneyland at LA in the mix or whatever else works.
Cons is having to go through the airport etc. more times and the take offs and landings (some babies cry through it). If your stopover ends up being one night I would say NO not worth it. But if you can spend a bit of time there then maybe. HOWEVER your plane will have to refuel at some point so I figure that if you can make a holiday out of it it could be the better option? LA it's the queues that get to you. With kids that might be awful. Singapore has Santosa Island I think it's called? Big water park. I guess you just have to weigh it up! If you have good sleepers - perhaps all the way through to the UK is the way to go. Not so good sleepers - a hotel at Singapore? ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: newmum
Date Posted: 15 July 2010 at 10:32am
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We definitely STOPOVER with kids and long haul flights. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Highlander74
Date Posted: 15 July 2010 at 10:45am
| We just came back from a holiday in the UK last week and on the way to the UK we stopped in HK for 2 nights and then did it straight through on the way back from London to Tauranga. Our 2 year old slept 5 hours on the first flight to HK and then 2 on the flight to London, and pretty much did the same on the way back - i don't think the stopover on the way there made any difference to our son although mentally it's quite difficult to get off an 11 hour flight to get straight back on for another 13 hours! We found Hong Kong okay for kid friendly stuff, one of our friends stopped over for a night there and stayed at a Disneyland hotel, not far from the airport and lots of kids stuff to do obviously! Next time we fly there i would just fly straight through. |
Posted By: sally belly
Date Posted: 15 July 2010 at 12:56pm
Thanks everyone for your comments. Lots of things to weigh up now  .-------------
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Posted By: yermasyada
Date Posted: 15 July 2010 at 1:33pm
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It's good reading this thread. we're going to Edinburgh for Christmas and eveyone thinks we're mad not to stop over, but I'd rather just get it over and done with. The flight that is, not the holiday
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