travel to oz

[skirmish]

hiya..i'm new to mumsnet, and am sure there is probably a million threads on this already but need some advice on travelling to oz with a 5mth old such as...

1. is it ok to fly business class or will other passengers be mighty pissed off with a baby crying?!

1. do i need to take the car seat or can i hire one there?

have a million other things but minds gone blank!! hope someone can help!

thanks

Of course you can fly business class, you are as entitled to do so as anyone else. However, flying business class to Oz could cost the proverbial arm and leg unless you can bring the cost down by using air miles.

Which airline are you thinking of using?. You going to have a stopover overnight?.

As your baby is only five months he will not automatically have a seat of his own unless you pay for one.

I would check with the airline whether you could have a bassinet (sky cot) in Business Class. We flew to Singapore with a 5 month old last year and went in Economy with a bassinet. Because it attaches to the bulkhead you get the seats at the front of each section so you get lots more legroom. The bassinet's also useful for dumping stuff in when baby's not in there and means you don't always have to have baby on your lap (you will for take off, landing and when the seatbelt sign is on).

Bear in mind too, that you still have to pay an infant fare for the baby, regardless of whether you have a seat/bassinet. Much better to have a bassinet for your money!

We did the trip to OZ when ds was 8 mnths - and survived. Actually, t was fine! We flew BA and had the choice of bassinet or car seat type thing - but make sure you book in advance. We used the sky cot/bassinet as it meant he could lie flat and he did sleep pretty well. The car we hired came complete with decent car seat too. Good luck!! PS - only nitemare was when ds peed all over spare outfit on stopover at bangkok - aaaaah!

depending on where you are in Aus - you can hire car seats - when we came over with dd1 at 8 months old - we hired a car and the car seat was booked with it.

Business class to Aus is very expensive and according to dh - really not worth it ( he has flown bc but I have not. As others said - book a basinette - you get bulkhead seats - lots more room compared with other seats in Economy. You will pay an infant fare even if the 5 month old does not have a seat and that does not entitle them to baggage allowance but no probs with taking buggy.

We have always flown Singapore when flying with dd1. They are brilliant. In fact that is all we fly now when flying between Aus/uk.

there are lots of threads on flying to Aus and travelling within Aus - if you have the time to do a search.

My mum travels BC 2 out of every 3 trips back from NZ to UK, ad she won't use her miles for ds to go BC (and he's 4) she says it would be a waste!

Car seat laws are different in Oz so hiring one would be best bet - actually if you are coming for any length of time buying one would possibly work out cheaper.

as bob said - UK car seats unless they can be bolted onto the car are illegal in Aus. Hiring one with the car is so much easier - we found - it was fitted and ready to go when we arrived at the airport.

Having said that I have used a UK seat twice in Australia .

bob - ( confession time) we used dd1's britax seat for almost 2 years - we could not afford two new car seats ( needed to get one for dd2 when she was born) ... However I reasoned it that she was over 14kg for most of that time which is the time recommended that they can go in the booster seats just secured with car seat belt - no way dd1 could have used that - she would be out of the belt as quick as possible.

We then bought them both new car seats last year - booster up to 18kgs and then can be used with the h-style harness.

This UK car seat was also used in dh's car, rather than swapping the tethered one all the time. I don't think it was illegal to use it in NZ - it would just be illegal to sell it or give it away as it does not meet safety standards here.

But don't even get me started on having these rules and then allowing 2 year olds to sit on a piece of polystyrene not attached to anything!

Dh was gobsmacked when I told him 3yo were in boosters with car seat belts when they came to dd1's kindy. I just know that dd1 would get out as soon as she could. If her 5 point harness is remotely loose she has her arms out.

It is amazing that we are so strict to start with and then - 14kgs - off you go!!!!

I regularly see 2 year olds in those half booster seats. Ds has just outgrown his harness seat (over weight limit) at 4.

dd1 is getting close to the weight limit for the 5 point harness but I figure as long as she fits it she can stay in it. You can then get something like

dds' seat

add

this

and it goes up to 26kg.

thanks for all the responses...please tell me it's not that stressful!| i'll be going alone as my dh doesn't want to go (i'm an aussie so most of the trip will be showing off ds to friends/relo's).

singapore airlines seem to be the best and i refuse to fly qantas as they were terrible last time i flew with them.

any other tips/recommendations are greatly appreciated!

thanks jo...did you find when in business that other people got annoyed with you having a baby there? I'm worried i'll get more stressed because the bus.class passengers will think i'm out of order bringing a bub on?! (stupid, i know, but i'm more concerned about people that pay £1500+ for tickets than pissing of people in economy!!)

think SA wins hands down...i'd heard great reports about them anyways so this confirms it...

have you any experience with hiring equipment once you are there? I'll be staying with family mostly, and being the only one with children, resources are fairly limited, so no cots etc etc

If you go via Singapore, it's worth remembering that there is a swimming pool in terminal 1. Take your swimsuit in you carry on luggage, the towel and shampoo come with the entrance price. I found it excellent for exercsing small legs on the stop over to NZ. All went well until she decided that teddy absoultly had to have a bath too.

I fly a lot between Oz and England (but never have with a baby before! I will be flying with a 6 month old at the end of this year though) Just thought I would say, Emirates are very good too. Their customer service is excellent - they really can't do enough for you. Avoid BA and Qantas like the plague!!

family are mostly in canberra but doted all over the east coast, so will prob go to melb,syd and bris too

i would take the pram (does this count towards luggage? might buy a zippy little stroller), but most other stuff would like to rent/buy...just seems so daunting with the amount of stuff you need...am trying to convince myself that it would be easier to go april time, as ds won't be crawling, or weaning etc

would you recommend a stop-over or just get it all over and done with in one go? I have never been to singapore and quite fancy it, but again, the logistics of it all scare the knickers off me!

would fly into syd, and get the dash down to canberra