Search Results for: blog avoiding a bumpy flight

Avoiding Holiday Travel Woes

AAA estimates that more than 33 million people will be hitting the nation’s highways today. The Sunday following Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year, and this year is no exception. Adding to the mad rush are the millions of others, who will be heading home from Turkey Day celebrations, via boat, train or plane. Unfortunately, for those of you who are doing it all over again next month, travel experts don’t expect numbers to decrease. Meaning, you will have just as much company on the roads and in the skies as today. However, thanks to the … Continue reading →

10-Year-Old Boy Talks His Way Onto Flight

It appears as though he has a promising career as a used car salesman, but he’ll have to get out of juvenile detention first. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen the security tapes myself. After all, with all the post 9/11 security measures in place at airports around the world it would seem next to impossible for anyone to get onto an airplane without a boarding pass… right? Apparently, not if you are 10-year-old Semaj Booker. According to police, the Seattle boy successfully talked his way onto not one, but two flights last year and a few … Continue reading →

In Flight Diaper Changing Etiquette

No mother takes pleasure from having to change a messy (not to mention smelly) diaper on board a crowded flight filled with strangers. But, believe me the alternative would be much more unpleasant. Imagine having to deal with a putrid smelling odor and the uncontrollable wails of a 10-month-old. Talk about flying the unfriendly skies. A travel forum I frequent recently took aim at parents who change their child’s diapers on airplane seat cushions and tray tables. (By the way, who changes a child’s diaper on a tray table? My 3-year-old’s Cabbage Patch Preemie doll barely fits on tray table. … Continue reading →

More Fallout From The Benadryl Flight Attendant Saga

In a previous blog I wrote about the incident involving a mom, her chatty tot, and a frustrated flight attendant who suggested that the mother use Benadryl to quiet her talkative toddler before a flight. The widely publicized event ended with the mother and her child getting booted from the flight. In the days since the incident irate parents from around the world have sounded off about the Continental ExpressJet flight attendant and the audacity she had to recommend sedating the chatty child. But, they weren’t the only ones. A number of doctors also went public with their thoughts about … Continue reading →

Mom and “Chatty” Tot Get Booted From Flight

I’ve written about the teen who was booted off a flight for having a coughing attack. I’ve also shared the story about the mom who was escorted off a plane because she was allegedly making other passengers uncomfortable while breastfeeding her baby on board a flight. Then there’s the incident involving the family who was forced off an airplane when they couldn’t get their toddler daughter to stop crying. Now comes another report about a mom and her toddler getting kicked off a plane because she allegedly refused a flight attendant’s request to medicate her son to get him to … Continue reading →

Avoiding A Bumpy Flight

I recently survived a 14-hour plane ride from Wisconsin to Hawaii with my 2-year-old. In previous blogs I’ve mentioned that we make the trip to and from Hawaii on a regular basis so my daughter has learned to handle the long flight better than most adults. Even so, there’s only so much reading, coloring, drawing, playing puzzles, and stinging beads a toddler can take before wanting to get up and dash down the plane’s aisles. So I let her. I’ve tried to tame her running into power walking so as not to disturb the other passengers, but there are times … Continue reading →

Flying the Not-So Friendly Skies

What is it with families and flying these days? And by flying I mean getting booted from airplanes. Barely a day goes by anymore without some innocent clan getting the heave-ho from a commercial flight due to a perceived threat made by a child. However, the latest incident doesn’t involve a screaming baby, a chatty toddler or a hungry infant; rather, a California family claims they were kicked off an American Airlines flight simply because their 16-year-old son has Down syndrome. Joan and Robert Vanderhorst, of Bakersfield, California, are irate by what they are calling “pure discrimination.” “It’s defamation,” Robert … Continue reading →

Pint-Sized Stowaway

Talk about a gate crasher. If there were gold medals given to travelers who could get by increased security at airports on high alert during the London 2012 Olympics, then a cheeky 11-year-old boy would be wearing some major hardware around his neck right now. Instead, the only things that are circling Liam Corcoran’s neck is his mother’s hands. Last week, the boy made international headlines when he managed to slip through security and fly from Britain’s Manchester Airport to Rome without a passport or a boarding pass. So, how does a kid walk through more than one airport security … Continue reading →

Some Friendly Skies for Families

Let’s face it; with the crack down on carry-on bags, the exorbitant price of airfare and the elimination of free meals, flying on commercial airlines can be a real pain. And as many parents can tell you, that torture is multiplied when you are taking flight with young children in tow. Fortunately, there is some good news for families traveling by air this summer. Just a few days ago, Allegiant Air announced that it will not add to parents’ anxiety by splitting up families on flights. The carrier modified its check-in system so passengers under the age of 14 will … Continue reading →

Airlines Making it Harder for Families to Fly

Why do some people insist on making life harder for others? Lack of humility, selfishness, greed, egotism, arrogance? All of the above? Is it really asking too much for the folks that run commercial airlines to allow families to sit together on a flight without charging them extra for the “privilege?” The insanity behind the steep fees has even prompted lawmakers to get involved. Last week, New York Senator Charles Schumer went public urging airlines to give flying families a break by eliminating fees that can add up to hundreds of dollars over original ticket prices. “Children need access to … Continue reading →