Travel

I know I have been pretty inconsistent on here it is something I will be working on in this new year. Over the past 6 months we have traveled a lot so you will have lots of posts coming at you. But during the past 6 months I have been doing alot of research on travel hacking. I am still a newbie in the travel hacking world but I am always researching and learning more everyday. But something that comes along with travel hacking is access to lounges per credit cards. We have the Capital One Venture card and with that comes a credit for Priority Pass giving us more lounge access then we had before. Because as much as I would love to travel first or buisness to get lounge access that is just not in the cards for us right now with a toddler. Here is a Lounge roundup from the past 6 months of travel.

My first lounge of the year was the Capitol One Lounge DFW. It was a good place to start my lounge journey of 2023. This is one you do not want to miss if you have access to it. I think this is one that I would even pay for access to if I did not have access through my credit card. I will say this lounge has the best drinks of any of the lounges I went to this year. Great bar menu with different house drinks and there coffee section was beautiful. They had La Colombe draft coffee as well as an espresso machine that makes lattes etc. They also have canned drinks if you want to take sparkling water to go. The food was unique not super filling but definitely different then other lounge food. But one of my favorite perks was that there was a Peloton in the workout room. If my layover had been longer I definitely would have taken advantage of that. My ratings are down below.

The next lounge that I went to was the Delta Sky Lounge: Minneapolis. I would definitely say the crowd in this lounge was a completely different demographic than the Capital One lounge. A Lot more adults and alot less kids. I think the food in this lounge was very good. I actually got a full meal, the bar was good and had a good coffee bar. In terms of other amenities there are none. No showers or workout rooms. But is not a bad lounge if you have a ton of Delta Miles or the AMEX credit card. I unfortunately do not fall into either category so I had to pay. But for a long layover it was worth it. My ratings are below….

The last lounge we went to this year was the Club CLT in Charlotte, NC. I will say in terms of aesthetics this lounge is for sure the prettiest and most modern. In terms of service I was not impressed. The food took a long time to come out and there were not a lot of options. The bar was as good as any bar. In terms of additional amenities the only other amenity was a kids area. But that area was closed when we went. That was pretty disappointing because we had our 1 year old with us and we needed to get some energy out before our 9 hour flight. I think this is a good lounge if your going to go get drinks and get some work done. But not the best if your hungry or have kids. My ratings are below.

Cannot wait to see what lounges we go to this year….We are ready for more lounges and more adventures.

The sentence long flying and toddlers should not even go in the same sentence. But if you are a family that values travel and experiences, it is a sentence you will hear yourself saying. It can be tough and is not for the person who only likes to travel. You will have to love to travel to put your family and toddler into a 4 seater airplane.

Expecting the unexpected is the name of the game for dealing with a toddler in a plane. It can be especially difficult if your child is too young to watch tv or you are trying to not use screen time. If either of those sound like you then you need lots of tiny distractions that will keep your kiddo entertained. When I am packing the activity bag here are the questions I ask myself.

Is it small enough to bring in a diaper bag?
Are there more than one way to play with the toy?
Will it entertain my child for more than 5 minutes?

Then I first look through what we have that meets this criteria. Some of the items and things that help the most while flying. Snacks are your best friend. Find snacks that are not messy and that you know your kiddo is going to like. Also make sure you don’t get only new snacks for the flight. Because there is nothing worse than bringing all the food and snacks then your toddler hates them all. My kiddo’s favorite for the plane are puffs. His favorite are the serenity kids puffs, they have great ingredients and have hidden veggies. He also really likes popcorn. Obviously each kiddo is different so bring the snacks that work for your kid. Now that you know what snacks to bring, what the heck do you put them in? I honestly have not tried a ton of different snack containers. The one we love is the Whiskware Harry Potter Stackable Cups .

These stackable cups come in so many different characters and are very functional. We even used it to carry formula when he was still on it.

Now that we got the snacks we need the entertainment. The things that I found that entertained him the most were board books, stickers, and my sunglasses. Any type that will entertain your kid will work. Toddlers love to flip pages and stick stickers on things for a long while. I find the magic number of toys to bring is 8. Not sure why 8 but that just tends to be what works for us. I try to find 8 different types of toys so that each one will entertain him. I also try to get one new and fun item when we are doing a flight over 2 hours. I usually just go to the dollar tree or the target dollar spot. A one dollar toy will entertain him the same as a 20 dollar toy. So girl save your money!

Now that you got the food and the entertainment, we gotta know where the kid eats, sleeps, and strolls. This is where the amount of things you have can be alot! The key is finding lightweight and foldable options for the three extra things you will need when traveling with a baby and toddler.

Lightweight car seat: Cosco Mighty Fit Convertible Car Seat
Lightweight Stroller
Foldable pack n play

Now that you got all your stuff and don’t forget the baby you are all set. Now for my advice that has worked with flying with my own child. Try to time flying near your kids’ longest nap time. This will help you and them. Because most of the time your kid will fall asleep which will give you 2 hours of peace and quiet on your flight. You just got to time it right and be willing to get to your destination after that nap time. Bring a stroller. There is a lot of waiting time from ubers to all the checks you have to do on your plane. Having a stroller means you can go for a walk anywhere and it will help you kill time. ALWAYS have your car seat you would not believe the stories we hear from uber drivers about people not bringing it then trying to get an uber. It is not safe and it is not legal. But the most important piece of advice I have is that the day will not go as you plan. There is so much out of your control it’s best to just go with the flow. It will make a much better trip for you and your family. I hope you have found some information that has helped. Till next time, happy flying.

Lounge Reviews

Long Flights with Kids