Why do airports make travelling with children so hard?

[MidnightPatrol]

I have travelled several times with my now toddler, and every time it has been a nightmare vs just going through the normal check in process.

I seem to be forced to use manual check in each time (for the pram I suppose). This means you have to queue or in ‘special assistance’ rather than use bag drop.

What is better with a toddler than standing in a queue for an hour, waiting while every other passenger that needs assistance is dealt with, late arrivals ushered in front of you etc.

On to ‘family friendly security’ where… again always a huge queue vs the standard queues - both to get your boarding pass checked, and to get your bags searched.

While I am allowed to take my yo-yo pram on board, it is sometimes confiscated and checked in. But… no airport I have been to in the U.K. provides prams in the airport. So you are carrying masses of luggage and a wriggling child while trying to move through the airport.

To accommodate all of the above, you have to be at the airport the full three hours before your flight just to accommodate standing in all these extras queues they’ve created for you. I’ve almost missed flights twice because they’ve managed to take 2-3 hours to get me checked in and through security.

Just…. Why?

The airports actually talk about how family friendly they are, while actively making the experience worse.

Travelled through Heathrow T5 this week with a nearly 2yo. Can't say anything was too much hassle, except security.

I carried her through, and beeped, so they had to scan and search her and I (which is completely understandable)

Luckily was travelling with DH, so when she'd been searched she could go to him, but she was bawling by this stage and if I'd been alone, passing her to a stranger would not have helped the situation.

Totally understand the need to search parents and children, but when you're juggling scanning buggies, unloading milk out of carry ons, your own bag etc, and then you have that to contend with too, I did think there must be a better way (although I guess then people would use little ones to work round it, so I guess not)

There is a better way but that costs (the airport) money and as l said up thread they are unlikely to invest on this. You and many others are travelling anyway regardless. They have nothing to encourage them to improve.

Ah yes they 100% should have gone 'it's okay your toddler isn't carrying anything bad don't worry about letting me search her because god forbid she's fucking crying

@DoubleScreens as I said, it's clearly not something that can be changed as it would be exploited.

I have no issue being searched - has to be done and happens every time I travel - but lots of people do, and judging by what people say on here plenty of people also have issue with anyone but the other parent holding their child, so I imagine for many people it would be a real stress.

I'm amazed most of you have had positive, nay better than usual even, experiences.

I mainly fly through Gatwick and Heathrow in the UK. I travel quite a lot - so it's not like I'm not used to airports / naive about travelling as some of you seem to suggest.

I have never been allowed to use bag drop - I have been forced to check in manually (i.e queue) every time! Always the long delayed family 'friendly' security queues.

@Yonjovi Agreed on trains - in other countries they often have whole accessible carriages with fold down seats so space for buggies / bikes / mobility scooters etc.

@SandyWaves good shout on the fast track security. I think my next flight with child is in business class (reward flight), so I will see if the fast track is any better.

@FrillyGoatFluff I recently flew through an airport abroad that had a playpen at the security scanners. Genius.

Train travel in the UK could definitely stand to be improved! In Finland its really good for families (on the long distance trains, commuter ones aren't anything special although there is a good amount of space for prams in the end carriages), there's pram storage areas (marked with pram signs so specifically designated for prams, not anything else) and play carriages with a play area for children, and a bookable family compartment with a little tabletop play area, plenty of floor space to put a carrycot down for baby to sleep for instance, and nice wide seats.

Lots of international airports do provide prams. Like luggage trollies with seats for infants

Really!? 🙄 Ridiculous comment!

Either infants are free/ cheap if on Laps, or are charged at full price if a seat is required. Your theory doesn't quite add up.

It's a long time since my children were little but I travelled quite a lot with them and I can't say I ever had any major difficulties. Well we had our fair share of shitty journeys with long queues and flight delays but that's just the same for everyone. Air travel inevitably involves hanging around, queues and security checks. I can't think of any occasion when an airport or airline made it more difficult for me because I had children with me though.
One thing I have never understood, or used though is early boarding for passengers with young children. We always ignored those calls and waited as late as possible to board. I always found being on board for the shortest possible time before take off to be advantageous. I don't really understand why anyone of any age would want to be first on the plane to be honest - it's not like you get to choose a better seat or anything. I suppose you're more likely to be able to put a bag in the overhead locker directly above you but that's the only advantage I can think of and I rarely take anything that's too big to go under the seat in front anyway. On the other hand, priority exit is something I would pay a premium for were it offered!

I’d have a semi structured sling for ease of getting in/out during security etc. Also, I wasn’t allowed to keep my son in his Moby on the plane; they made me take him out. You really need to practice getting your baby in and out on your own, though.

@MrsAvocet - Re priority exit. Please don’t give them ideas 😀.

These days you aren't guaranteed to be able to take your cabin bag with you at all as space is limited, so if you're boarding last they might check your cabin bag and then you won't have access to the things you need in the flight for the children.

Fair enough. I've just never taken anything on board a plane that's bigger than a bag that can be squashed under the seat in front- large handbag type of thing - and I can't imagine being asked to check something like that in. To be fair, I've never travelled long haul with kids, the furthest we ever went when they were little was probably 6 to 7 hours, and mostly only around 3 hour flights. I guess you'd probably need more stuff on board if you're going a long way.

The one time I left boarding to last minute some other people had claimed our seats thinking they could claim an empty row... unfortunately they had to move back to their scattered seats as Mum with two youngish children who had booked the seats definitely won the Seat Top Trumps. They weren't happy about it though.

I'm sure it's frustrating.

However look at it this way. Assuming you don't have any more children this issue will resolve for you in a few years.

Those who need assistance will continue to have to que, as well as being swabbed for explosives because they have liquid medicines & feeding tube supplies. This is after paying for a letter from an doctor explaining they need these supplies. Their carry on will be filled with these supplies as they can't afford to loose their bag, so they always have to pay to check luggage.

They also can't choose various seats & have the pleasure of being left on planes after everyone else has left for passport control because assistance doesn't arrive for over a hour leaving them trapped while the plane is cleaned around them.

Even when assistance do grace them with their presence disabled people discover the airline have broken or lost the mobility aid, buggering up the holiday.

This is assuming their disability allows them to board a flight at all.

For the overhead locker space! And time to sort all the stuff you want to hand from the stuff you don’t. I’ve had some unexpected delays and some lost luggage before and I’ve never not travel without spare clothes for everyone (x2 for kids), toiletries and if it’s a beach holiday a swim suit in my hand luggage. An extra 15-20 minutes in your seat is also nothing for that peace of mind when it’s a long flight.

I've always waited to board nearer the end too. The longer the DC have being able to be on their feet burning a bit of energy and not cooped up in their seats the better for everyone.

Bags have always been small enough they can go under the seat of the lockers are full.

Gatwick family security is awful, it’s combined with special assistance and they get taken straight to the front so if it’s busy you literally don’t move because there’s always people going ahead (I don’t have an issue with this in itself just the lack of thought on how to manage everyone). They wouldn’t let us use the normal security queue either so we were forced to queue for an hour when normal security was quiet, supposedly for ‘our convenience’. And our kids are older and we didn’t have buggies or milk!

Dubai airport

I don't find that to be honest. I've flown from Gatwick and Heathrow with my young kids and both let me take my small pram right to the plane door. I find queuing for security and check in a bit of a pain but usually take something to entertain the kids for a while in my hand luggage anyway so can deploy that if necessary. I will say that flying with kids means I don't take my "own" hand luggage anymore. I take a ruck sack with stuff for the kids, and then just make sure it has a lip balm and water bottle in for me. My mind boggles that I used to take loads of stuff on the plane like skincare etc

Several people have mentioned the 'family security queue'. I've never noticed, still less been directed to, a special queue for families at Heathrow, Gatwick, Bristol, Cardiff, Atlanta, Orlando, Charles de Gaulle, JFK, Schiphol, Verona, Barcelona , Madrid or any of the other airports I've travelled through as a family with preschool and infant school age children.

Is this not as widespread as people are suggesting, or am I very unobservant - and travelling with invisible children?

It's not just folks with kids. The whole way airports are organised is bizarre and time wasting. If they were run by supermarket bosses, you'd be in and out with no wasted time. The newer security systems being phased in might speed things up. The current way of doing things doesn't reward people who are organised.

@MidnightPatrol my experience is the same as yours, not sure where they have found all these people who find family travel easy and amazing but as my multiple kids have grown it has always been really hard work. I have never been pulled to the front of the queue in the UK ever (it has happened abroad especially Middle East)

I wonder if there isn’t some of the logic that applies to theme parks at work in airports. If everyone is wandering around freely, then there’s just not enough space. Containing big chunks of the customer volumes in queues is a feature not a bug.