Advice flying to USA with 2 under 2s

Hi, we are flying to the USA (Indianapolis) in May with a 2 1/2 year old and a 1 1/2 year old (we're very brave!).

We think we'll fly American - but does anyone have suggestions of good airlines for children?  So far options are to fly into Chicago or Philadelphia, then transfer to Indy.

We will need to rent a car and baby seats - does anyone have expereince on this with a rental car company?

I always had good luck flying with Virgin with babies and toddlers. 

I second Virgin.  We took our son when he was 4 1/2 months and they were brilliant.  I'm going alone Tuesday with him at almost 8 months.

Request a bulkhead seat, makes it much easier.

I am travelling next month with a 3yr old and a 1yr old, 1yr old is on my lap (flight doesn't look very full though), does the 3 yr old require any special seat to sit in?  I mean, I don't really want to take his car seat onboard as we have connecting flights and a long lay over, so will he just sit in the seat or does the airline provide anything? We are flying Delta.  Thanks

I am travelling next month with a 3yr old and a 1yr old, 1yr old is on my lap (flight doesn't look very full though), does the 3 yr old require any special seat to sit in?  I mean, I don't really want to take his car seat onboard as we have connecting flights and a long lay over, so will he just sit in the seat or does the airline provide anything? We are flying Delta.  Thanks

I used to fly Delta a lot.  I don't recall ever seeing any toddler aged children in special seats.  You might want to call and make sure.

We're going to fly BA next month (because it's the only direct flight to Baltimore) and I've seen seats in front of the bulkhead where they have a little cot that comes out and you can put the baby in.  A 1 1/2 year old would be too big for it but we're hoping if we can get one for our 4 month old to lie in.  That'd be a nice break from having her on our lap!

My DH & I always use American Airlines whenever we fly back home. sorry cant help you with the children question as we dont have any kids except the cats lol.

I've only flown on Delta to/from the US with the kids.  We are from Cincinnati and that's our only direct option. Scbrit, Your 3 yo will sit on the seat, nothing else provided.  We took a carseat on the plane once and it was not worth the trouble. btw, the flight attendants on Delta have always been amazingly nice and helpful.  MrsT, I haven't taken Virgin with kids, but they do seem very accomodating in general.  I would give preference to any airline that has individual seatback screens for the kids to watch.

Good luck with the flights. 

We are doing this same trip in two weeks!  Woo hoo, home here I come!  DS is 4 and we are doing Dublin, Chicago to Indy.  Chicago to Indy is just a hop of like 45 minutes. 
Michele

In June of last year I flew back to the US with my then 8-month-old daughter. We used Delta, and after that experience I will never ever fly with Delta alone with a small child ever again.

We are doing this same trip in two weeks!  Woo hoo, home here I come!  DS is 4 and we are doing Dublin, Chicago to Indy.  Chicago to Indy is just a hop of like 45 minutes. 
Michele

Are you driving to Dublin, or taking the bus? There is a bus that picks up outside Jury's, it's a bit cheaper than the Ulsterbus and a little bigger/more comfortable, and drops off right at the airport in the same place that Ulsterbus does. We would usually take the bus down the night before and stay at a friend's or the airport hotel. The LA flight is early.

I am travelling next month with a 3yr old and a 1yr old, 1yr old is on my lap (flight doesn't look very full though), does the 3 yr old require any special seat to sit in?  I mean, I don't really want to take his car seat onboard as we have connecting flights and a long lay over, so will he just sit in the seat or does the airline provide anything? We are flying Delta.  Thanks

Special seats?  Don't think so...but there are lap belts available.  Not sure if Delta has picked up on the Virgin Airlines vibe or not...you should check b/c even though the kid belts are a pain, I think they're much safer than simply holding the baby on your lap.  They connect into your lap belt and if something should happen to the plane your arms aren't the only thing holding your baby to you.  But..again...they are a wicked pain, especially if you have a fiesty kiddo like me

 

We will need to rent a car and baby seats - does anyone have experience on this with a rental car company?

 
I've never rented car seats for my kids but there are certain cars you rent that have them built in these days...not sure how young your youngest is though and that would certainly be a factor on feasibility.

One last thing for anyone flying with car seats...we learned on our last flight over here that car seats are rated in terms of where they can be used.  One of our seats was FAA approved...the other was not.  So we had to gate check one of them.  We had never had an issues before so it might be a "flying overseas" thing. 

One last thing for anyone flying with car seats...we learned on our last flight over here that car seats are rated in terms of where they can be used.  One of our seats was FAA approved...the other was not.  So we had to gate check one of them.  We had never had an issues before so it might be a "flying overseas" thing.

That's car seat hell for you. Well before our flight last year, I called Delta 5 times to enquire about specific car set requirements. No one was able to tell me with any certainty if the English car seat I had would be accepted on the flight.

A rep at Delta's London office told me the car seat had to be FAA approved. When I asked her how foreign travellers with small infants managed to fly Delta without FAA approved seats, the only thing she could do was direct me to contact the TSA. So Delta takes money from non-Americans daily, but their standard, inflexible criteria only seems to cover Americans.

I ended up paying a visit to Gatwick twice to speak to a Delta rep in person. An employee found Delta literature pertaining to non-American car seats. English car seats are stamped with an EU number and symbol, an equivalent to the FAA. The English employees had a difficult time finding the information, and I was sure a flight attendant in the US would stop me from using the eat after not recognizing the EU symbol's significance.

Luckily, I decided on a slender Britax model and I was able to use it during the entire trip without hassle.

Overall the lack of information caused me a tremendous amount of stress and aggro, and over information (I still feel) should have been straight forward and easy to obtain.

Grrrr.

Well we will be moving from US to UK at the end of Feb with a 2 and a 3 year old.  I'll let you know how it goes.  I'm not sure which airline yet since the company will arrange the flight.
I have to admit I am nervous.  We just got back from a US trip that was slightly over a 2 hour flight.  The kids were wonderful on the way, but the 2 year old was a nightmare on the way home.  A full fledge tantrum with no talking her out of it...and it's not like I could take her outside to calm down!  She could easily unbuckle her seatbelt and did after take off.  Since she was sitting and coloring most of the time and said the buckle hurt, I allowed it...oops.  Once it was time to buckle up for landing she lost it!  I was very embarrassed.
The last time, I traveled with them at 1 and 2 the flight went much better when they were in the car seats.  They are used to them and they couldn't unbuckle them.  It is a pain to lug them around and get through security, though!
As for renting car seats, I believe every rental company in the US does.  On our trip, we rented 2 from Hertz.  They were $10 each per day, but we got one free with a AAA membership.  Just make sure you book them ahead of time.
Oh and one more thing...both times we travelled on Continental with the kids and both times I had bad experiences with them being very kid unfriendly.  I would rule them out.
Sue