Air Travel Tips

Concourse B at Denver International Airport. Image via Wikipedia

Our little family traveled to Denver over the holidays and had such a great airport experience on the way back that we thought we’d share some of our favorite air travel tips.  I’ve written them with specific hints for parents of small children, but the tips can really apply to anyone.

1. Do as much as possible online ahead of time. We flew United Airlines this time, and they let us check in up to 24 hours before our flight.  That’s pretty much the industry standard nowadays, but some make you do the check in process in person when you’re traveling with a lap (non-ticketed, free until age two) child.  United not only let us check in, but also let us pay for our bags – and offered a discount for prepaying them online – and gave us the option to use mobile boarding passes instead of printing them out.  We loved that we were able to access our boarding passes on our phones and didn’t have to keep up with paper copies.
2. Curbside check-in is the way to go. When we got to Denver International yesterday morning, it was something like 3 degrees outside (-3 with the windchill factor).  We ran inside and discovered that the check-in line was super long – especially considering all we needed to do was drop off our bags, since we’d already checked in online – so we went back outside to the guys at the curbside check-in desk.  They took a quick look at my ID and sent me back inside with Brynleigh to get us out of the cold.  Ben joined us less than a minute later.  He tipped the guy $5 – we figured a couple of bucks a bag, plus a little extra because it was so cold.  It would have taken us at least 45 minutes to get through the “real” line inside, but doing curbside took all of 90 seconds.  It was like buying the “fast pass” at a theme park.  Not having to try to keep Brynleigh entertained in a line was worth way more than $5.  And because we’d prepaid our bags at the discounted rate, even with the tip, we still saved money.
3. Stretch those little legs! Before our trip to Denver in September, I took Brynleigh to Target and let her choose a backpack/harness.  While I waited at the gate with our stuff, Ben took Miss B on a stroll through the airport before boarding our flight.  We love the harness because it provides her a measure of independence – she loves not having to hold our hands! – but it gives us peace of mind knowing that it would be much more difficult for her to get lost or “stolen” while she’s wearing it.
4. On-board entertainment.  I always pack plenty of snacks, both sweet and savory, along with some milk or juice (they’ll let you take a sippy cup through security; just allow an extra minute or so for the secondary test they have to do on it if there’s liquid inside).  Brynleigh’s favorite stuffed animal, Bunny, goes with us everywhere we go, and I try to bring a favorite book and a tiny toy or two in my purse.  This time, we also went equipped with a portable DVD player, some toddler-sized headphones (highly recommended!), and a favorite video: The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.

I can’t say enough good things about the curbside check-in.  Really, I might just take advantage of it from now on.  It’s worth it to me to not have to stand in line!

Got any good air travel tips you’d like to pass on?  Share them in the comments!