RSS
Home
How travel with children changed in 2008
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
Family / Special Assistance lanes were introduced at airports across the U.S. in time for the busy holiday travel season. Note head scratching from confused travelers approaching security at Oakland International.
Where and how we took vacations changed for many of us this past year, but was perhaps the most pronounced for family travelers. Here's an overview of the most noticeable ways travel changed for families in 2008, and how they are coping with some of those changes.
Buying airline tickets…
While flying became more expensive for individual travelers in general in 2008, it became almost exponentially so for the average family of four budgeting for travel on a single or double household income. With increased ticket prices, mounting fuel surcharges, paid snacks and beverages multiplied across three or more travelers, fewer families booked air travel as part of their vacations as the year progressed.
Checking baggage…
The introduction of checked bag fees on the order of $15 per first checked bag per passenger by most domestic airlines was also felt significantly by families who found themselves paying yet more fees in each direction—again, multiplied by the number of members of the household. As a result, the handful of airlines like Southwest and JetBlue that have continued to waive the first checked bag as free are feeling more family-friendly than ever.
As well, families facing extra baggage fees were more likely to offset the expense—or at least roll it into a convenience feature for the vacation—by using baby gear rental agencies (or “equipment hire”) at their destinations for many bulkier items they may have checked or added to a suitcase in the past. More families also took advantage of baby supply delivery services, such as Babies Travel Lite and Jet Set Babies, to have the necessities such as swim diapers, wipes, formula, sunscreen, etc., meet them on arrival rather than occupy costly space in the suitcase.
Hitting the road…
As gas prices zoomed through the mid-year months, even fuel costs for road trips doubled in most cases. The increased cost for traveling families, however, was still a bargain compared with most trips they might have made by airplane, since the fuel costs are spread across the number of people traveling in the car. As they say, the more the merrier, at least when you're calculating by miles per gallon.
Hitting the airport…
Family lanes were introduced at airports across the country with the intention of helping to speed all other passengers who see themselves as black diamond “expert travelers” or “casual travelers” through security, while diverting those with small children and special needs to a line of their own. While you might assume that standing in a line at security dedicated to older passengers with medications and travelers with children, strollers, car seats, and baby bottles would be tantamount to extracting wisdom teeth without anesthetic, for most of us testing out the new family lanes in 2008 it’s been nothing short of fantastic.
As we zipped past a long line of experts and casual travelers in four different airports in late 2008, some asserting their expert status waiting in queue even with babies attached to their chests, I had to ask the bored TSO at PHX who was waiting for someone, anyone, to come through the family lane, “So when are your busiest times for this family lane here in Phoenix?” It didn’t appear to be Sunday evenings from what we saw.
She shrugged her shoulders at the crowd of bitter travelers backed up and waiting for the other two lines, “They just don’t seem to understand what the lanes mean yet,” and then I caught sight of a begrudged family of “casual travelers” with tweens watching us pass through the neighboring lane as they waited. Next time, I’d guess, they’ll assert their status as “family travelers,” and why not? I don’t see any ages specified for the “small children” alluded to for the lane (still smaller than the parents?).
On that note, I expect the family lanes will fill up and slow down to some extent in 2009. Though I also predict airports in general are likely to see fewer families flying in 2009.
Planning travel with your baby or young children in the new year? Find help for all facets of family travel, from road trips and camping trips to cruises and rail adventures, in Shelly's book Travels with Baby. www.travelswithbaby.com
Related Articles:
Comments
Families planning vacations with a baby, toddler, or preschooler—or any combination thereof—already have good reason to stay at Franklyn …
Those who enjoyed the “Moms Around the World” series I ran in this column through early summer may be interested to know that the first in …
- Airline Toll-Free Phone Numbers
- Airports Guides (U.S.)
- Airport Conditions / Delays
- Airport Security Rules: Babies & Children
- Baby Gear Rental Directory
- Baby Supplies Delivered Worldwide
- Cruise Port Destinations Worldwide
- Passport Applications (U.S.)
- Passports - Expedited
- Trains - Best European Route Planner
- Trains - U.S. Routes and Service
- Travel Insurance
