[3littlepikes]

Hi JUST starting to research flights .

I was wondering which direction to go in ? LA or singapore?

I have heard you can haggle on baggage allowance , although LA is higher .

I was wondering what would be better for kids - 8,6,4 . I have only done short flights with them and am considering a stop over - Disney looks fun but may be more hassel than it is worth ! Suggestions please

We also have a dog to consider but thats another story and I have get settled first before I bring him over ( if I can find a baby sitter ) . I hear rentals are a problem with dogs and although he lives inside I could probably persuade him outside was appealing afterall .

Love to hear from you - its becoming addictive sarah:nice1

[Carey]

Do a search for flights with kids; there have been several threads in the past.

We were dreading it with ours, aged 11, 8 and 3 but it was far better than expected. We did it all in one go, brief stop in Hong Kong then straight on. The TV helps alot, staff were good and I'd taken lots of little well-wrapped presents which kept them intrigued. Once you're going you slip into a mentality of well here we are, we're flying and just going to keep going til we get there! Yes its a long way, but most kids will sleep some of the time and frequent food and drink helps pass the time.

[Sam B]

We went via LA with our 2 kids - 10 and 6 at the time. It wasn't fun, but it was ok as a one off. I wouldn't do it again though. The kids were fine - they were mesmerised by the tv set and computer games which they do not usually have access to. They didn't sleep much at all. LA was hard work - 4 hours in a grim lounge, finger printing etc.

One thing to consider is how you manage with all the luggage. Because we went via LA, we had 8 massive suitcases and 4 big pieces of hand luggage to move around the airport, which meant we all had to have a luggage trolly, including the 6 year old, it was the only way we couldf do it. That's why we decided not to do a stopover at LA, because I couldn't face trying to find a taxi to fit us and all our luggage in.

It was hard work, but it was manageable.

[IanW99]

With the amount of luggage that you will have then I wouldn't recommend a stopover, it is much better to just get the journey out of the way.

My MIL did the stopover last year and regretted every minute of it, she said she will never do it again.

If you did decide to stay in LA then definitely go for more than a day or two to make it worth the extra inconvenience.

Ian

[Red Devil]

... we've booked with Singapore Airlines (good price too) for our 'recce' trip in April. We flew to Canada last year and our 5 year old son was fine, however the flight to Auckland via Singapore will be interesting :D

We're going with the method of "let's get it out of the way in one go"... yikes :eek:

[dharder]

One thing to consider is how you manage with all the luggage. Because we went via LA, we had 8 massive suitcases and 4 big pieces of hand luggage to move around the airport, which meant we all had to have a luggage trolly, including the 6 year old, it was the only way we couldf do it.

I went via LA with the girls, so we had 6 big suitcases, and 4 carry on pieces. When we got out in Auckland, two airport volunteers (? not sure what exactly they are called) spotted me and two crying 4 year olds, and stayed with us till we were picked up by my partner outside! One was a young, one an elderly lady, and after altogether 36 hours with very little sleep, I almost cried when they just took the trolleys out of my hand, packed suitcases on it and went ahead saying 'don't worry, you just look after the girls'.

Just realise this should have gone into the 'positive things about NZ' thread :)

Daniela

[Georgebulldog]

We stopped in LA for 2 days with our 28 month old think it was the best for us, it gave us time to get used to the time difference as we were then only about 3 hrs out when we got to NZ & the only jet lag if you can call it that was going to bed at 2pm for a nap, waking at 8pm then going back to sleep till the next morning.
It shouldn't be so hard with older kids to carry the suitcases, we had 6 plus carseat & buggy, me being 20 weeks pregnant would't lift too much & we didn't get much help but managed OK.
Also the luggage allowance going LA way helps a lot if you need it, although when we got to Auckland they wanted to charge us extra for taking 6 cases & carseat & buggy, not happy & managed to talk them into just one charge & not 2
Hope this helps

[shakyle2906]

We came over via LA, and found it ok with our 5yr old.

We had heard 'horror' stories about the lounge being grim, but we wnated to take advantage of the extra baggage allowance, as had only shipped 11 boxes over.

We have to admit, the lounge was a bit grim, but it had toilets and refreshments and it 'did us'.

We travelled with 6 suitcases (which obvioulsy stayed on plane)and about 3 or 4 pieces of hand luggage.

We did the trip with no stopovers, as we just wanted to get here and get the journey over and done with.

HTH

Sharon

[Sam B]

Daniela - these positive comments about NZ are becoming a bit of a habit!

[dharder]

Daniela - these positive comments about NZ are becoming a bit of a habit!

Just noticed that, actually. Note to self: stop positive comments, people might think you're actually getting used to the place... :)

Daniela

[Sam B]

Ha ha, I think you might be enjoying yourself ....

[dharder]

Ha ha, I think you might be enjoying yourself ....

Well I wouldn't go that far. But I think I've stopped quoting the movie 'Clerks' on a daily basis where the protagonist keeps repeating 'and I'm not even supposed to be here today' when things aren't exactly as they should be :)

Daniela

[3littlepikes]

thanks for all info I will keep you posted - starting to think just get there !

[smileyfreckles]

Hi, we flew with Malaysia Airways last year with our 3 girls, 3,7 & 9. It was their first ever flight so a bit nervous (me that is), we went through Kula Lumpa which was a beautiful airport with good eating and drinking areas and toilets so spotless you could have eaten in there. The staff on Malay were fantastic the kids were well looked after and the inflight entertainment was a god send. As for luggage, checked in at Heathrow and picked up at Auckland.

Our friends who went via LA said the palava of checking out from one flight, collecting luggage and then checking back in for onward flight was too much.

Hope this helps, Becky

[Big Puku]

We've done it via LA 3 times (twice with a stopover), and via Bangkok without a stopover with a 2 and 4 year old at their youngest.

Never found LA to be a problem tbh, and would definitely recommend a stopover there for at least 4 days (it took 2-3 days for our kids to get over the jetlag in LA, but then onward flight to NZ was fine) - last time we rented a house in Anaheim and chilled out for a few days before doing Disney and it was fab!

You don't need to collect luggage at LA if you are travelling through on the same flight, in my experience Auckland is the nightmare if you are connecting to a domestic flight (collect luggage/clear immigration & biosecurity and then walk/bus to domestic terminal with all your luggage unless you have over 60 minutes before your next flight!). Flights were all good, just be prepared with plenty of games/books etc - your older kids will probably spend most of the time watching movies/playing games etc.

[JoanneG]

A friend of mine has told me that in Singapore Airport there is a swimming pool on top of the terminal, complete with children's parks and ponds full of Koi fish.

She said she spent a few hours with the kids up there and by the time they got on their connecting flight (to Oz) the kids were so exhausted they slept most of the way.

Anyone else found this?

[3littlepikes]

thanks for all the info I have heard Singapore has good facilities and can provide a hotel room without leaving airport and thus bag lugging . not heard about the pool though - will ask a colleague who has used that airport for a holiday

[Kiwi_Fi]

Singapore is a fantastic airport. As well as the swimming pool, there is a movie theatre, loads of shopping and lots of places to eat. The hotel in the airport is good and you rent a room by the hour!! However, the hotel can be very busy and as far as I can remember you can't prebook, you just turn up and hope for a bed. The room rate does include a shower which is great after a long flight. Also if you are there for a while there are free bus tours of Singapore.

[irishliz]

We travelled with Singapore Airlines via Singapore with 4 children aged 7, 5, 3 and 1. Thanks to the information from this forum we managed to get an extra allowance, had a stopover in Singapore for 15 hours, just had our hand luggage, pre-booked the Transit Hotel (OH rang them), all slept for 7 hours and used the pool, and services at the airport until our flight. Absolutely brilliant and the longer stopover for us was essential not least so we were all refreshed for the next leg. The only hassle was getting the flight to Wellington as we were all tired and had check-in woman from hell huffing and puffing about all our extra luggage. We were charged excess baggage which we hadn't thought about.

Singapore Airlines were also brilliant. I must say I was dredding the flight but it was great. My only small quibble was that on our flight between Singapore and NZ the children's breakfasts consisted of chocolate milk, chocolate pudding thing, chocolate fish, etc but when I asked if I could have some of the adult meals instead they happily obliged.

Good luck

[3littlepikes]

good tip about internal flights ! I had not thought about that

[vixxann]

A friend of mine has told me that in Singapore Airport there is a swimming pool on top of the terminal, complete with children's parks and ponds full of Koi fish.


Anyone else found this?

We stayed at the transit hotels on both our journey in and out of NZ. It was fantastic! You can pre-book 3 or 4 weeks in advance and I would recommend this as they are very busy. There are 2 hotels - one in terminal 1 and one in terminal 2 - there is a train between the two so its no big deal which one you go for... however, if you fancy the pool thats in term. 1 and if I remember correctly you can go in it free if you've stayed in the hotel - or you can just pay to use the pool. Its a lovely roof top garden outside pool with bar and loads of trees etc. Very tropical and worth a visit! It livened us up a bit after a not really long enough sleep. http://www.airport-hotel.com.sg/index.htm

Would thoroughly recommend the city tour as well. we got the one that included a river boat trip - all free :clap

By the way the kids were 13, 10 and 4 when we went. Singapore air was great and the tv system passed the time. My kids did find it difficult to sleep on the plane as just couldn't get comfortable enough -so they mostly stayed awake and watched films!

[Belmont Babes]

Well I feel a bit confused after reading thread. Maybe I should of read it before I booked flights and 1 night in hotel in Singapore 25 mins from airport. It looks a fab 5* hotel but was forgetting about having 4 cases that may be heavy with 40kg allowance. Any suggestions before I need to go and lie down in the dark again :uhoh

[Tia Maria]

Well I feel a bit confused after reading thread. Maybe I should of read it before I booked flights and 1 night in hotel in Singapore 25 mins from airport. It looks a fab 5* hotel but was forgetting about having 4 cases that may be heavy with 40kg allowance. Any suggestions before I need to go and lie down in the dark again :uhoh

We did this, you can still have your cases fly straight through to NZ and just pack everything you need for your stopover in your flight bag. Changi has lots of shops so even if you've forgotten something you can pick it up at the airport before you go to the hotel.

We loved Singapore, we've done both the transit hotel and a few nights stopover on Sentossa. Both went very well and was fine with a 6,4 & 1 year old.

Another poster advised booking the transit hotel a few weeks in advance, this is good advice as we went to book it a couple of weeks before and it was fully booked. Both terminal hotels are nice but I think the Transit 1 one is slightly nicer and near the pool. Some helpful info I got from people:

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14238

Cheers

Tia

[shakyle2906]

You don't need to collect luggage at LA if you are travelling through on the same flight, in my experience Auckland is the nightmare if you are connecting to a domestic flight (collect luggage/clear immigration & biosecurity and then walk/bus to domestic terminal with all your luggage unless you have over 60 minutes before your next flight!). Flights were all good, just be prepared with plenty of games/books etc - your older kids will probably spend most of the time watching movies/playing games etc.[/QUOTE]


You are right, we collected our luggage at Auckland, but luckily had about 3hr wait, so wasnt so bad, but managed to check in straight away. I didnt think all our luggage would get on such a small plane............

Sharon

[Pip]

A friend of mine has told me that in Singapore Airport there is a swimming pool on top of the terminal, complete with children's parks and ponds full of Koi fish.

She said she spent a few hours with the kids up there and by the time they got on their connecting flight (to Oz) the kids were so exhausted they slept most of the way.

Anyone else found this?

Yep, we did this at Christmas when we flew back to the UK. we had a six hour stopover, so packed our cossies in our hand luggage. when we arrived at Singapore at T2, we took the transit shuttle (2 mins, similar to north-south terminal shuttle at Gatwick) to terminal one, (there is a transit hotel in each terminal, but only the one in terminal one has a pool), go to hotel reception, tell them you want to use the pool ($15 singapore dollars so about £5), and they give you a towel and a token for the pool. pool is on rooftop and therefore outside. we had a lovely swim, jacuzzi, then long hot shower, which was just the job after a 12 hour flight - you can then laze around on the loungers next to the pool as long as you want, and the price also includes a non alcoholic drink from the bar.

Koi ponds are in the airport terminals - don't remember seeing a kids park, but suspect there is one somewhere, although not at the pool.

[Tia Maria]

There are a couple of small kids play areas, our kids just treated the whole airport like a play area!

Details of all Changi's facilities here:

www.changiairport.com/changi/en/index.html

Cheers

Tia

[3littlepikes]

well you have convinced me to go via singapore I think . OH would prefer this I liked sound of disney but LA airport and luggage carrying put me off - will let you know what I do nearer the time . wE WILL STOP OH does not like flying - done some 12 hour flights pre kids - so I think we will land for a bit and that swimming pool sounds to good to miss

[Tia Maria]

If you like the sound of Disney, check out Sentosa Island on Singapore. It has beaches, a sky tower, a luge, aquarium, cinema, dolphin show plus some other bits and pieces.

Its an Island which you pay to get on (this will be included your hotel price), and all these attractions are scattered around different parts of the island. They then have free and frequent buses which you can use to get around the island. There in the process of adding a lot more but I think that will be a year or two away.

You can easily access the mainland via monorail, bus, taxi or cablecar to go and see some of Singapore's sites or do some shopping. If you've got young kids its perfect!

www.sentosa.com.sg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentosa

Cheers

Tia

[irishliz]

Just a thought - OH booked the transit hotel online and he booked two seperate rooms as that seemed the only option. But when we turned up for our booking they realised it was better for us to all stay in one big room - we had a massive 6 foot bed, two singles and cot for baby. It was a massive room, great for the children to have the space when we were getting ready and more economical as well.

[3littlepikes]

thanks guys both very good idea - will definately consider