Direct vs stopover flights with kids

[cymmtptysm]

Hello

We are planning a family holiday to Antalya in August. It has to be during summer holidays as three people in the family are teachers, including myself.

There will be three children in total under 3. Two of which are mine. DD2 will be on my lap.

We have two options for travel:

Option A
Direct flight from Gatwick but it'll be a small plane so it'll be uncomfortable, not much leg room.

Option B
Heathrow flight to Istanbul on Turkish airlines. Connecting flight to Antalya 1hr35 mins later. Bigger plane, more comfortable, includes checked baggage but longer total travel time, plus hassle of switching planes.

We've never taken DDs on a plane before, so I really don't know what would be the better option. My SIL who's taken her son abroad says direct flight is better even though it's a small and uncomfortable plane, but DH is promoting a connecting flight as it will be Turkish airlines.

Those with experience travelling with young children, please advise on the better option!

If you wanna get pissed for free and he offered dinner then Turkish

Family with toddlers - direct 100%

*be

Direct. I fly long haul a lot (to visit family) with my kids and ALWAYS go the most direct route. Always.

I’m intrigued to know what airline flies with a small plane to Turkey!

Direct!
The hassle of changing flights with small children is unbelievable and frankly i can't imagine there is that much variation on planes

When I came on this thread I thought you were going to say Thailand. When I read Turkey, I was like “whaaaatttt?”

it’s like choosing a stop over when flying to one of the Greek islands 😃

It’s a short flight! Why would you change?! He’s mad.

Yeah, I'd like to be a fly on the wall when that happens.

Assuming that Istanbul is a multi terminal hub airport like Heathrow, Schipol etc, you only need a short delay in the first flight and you'll find yourself in the scene from Home Alone when they're all sprinting through the airport (because the second flight is always at the far end of another terminal), trying not to lose any of said toddlers, which is probably quite easy because you won't have a pushchair, so you'll need to carry them, or try and make them walk at pace, which they won't because they're tired or distracted by everything going on around them.

Don't forget that short connections are also high risk for your luggage not making it onto the second flight so you'll spend the first two days of your holiday buying replacements for essentials that were in your suitcase and repeatedly calling the airport to see if your bag has turned up yet.

You can compare the layouts on Seat Guru

www.seatguru.com/browseairlines/browseairlines.php

The economy seats on Turkish Airlines are generally slightly narrower than Easyjet, assuming that this is your 'small plane' airline. Granted you do get a couple of inches more legroom, but I would have thought that the Istanbul to Antalya leg would be a small plane of a similar type to EJ anyway.

Madness, you’re not going to Australia 🤣
Has your DH ever been on a plane before?

Also even if indirect made sense (which it really doesn’t), 1.5 hours is a very very tight connection and I wouldn’t risk booking it even travelling solo let alone with slower moving kids.

If you want a comfier flight experience book an extra seat for your ‘lap infant’ or if easyjet book the seats in row 1 to get extra legroom.

I LOVE the term gang of toddlers

Definitely direct! It isn't a long flight at all- if it were Australia I would maybe say stop over to stretch the legs, but then again I would probably still choose to fly direct with a child.
I had no idea Turkish airways is so popular- I used have to fly to the Middle East regularly and chose them with an Istanbul stop when the direct flight was far too expensive, never noticed them being overly special.

Turkish Airlines Legroom = 78 centimetres.
Jet2 legroom = 76.5 centimetres.

That’s a lot of faff for 1.5cm when you could fly direct from London.

i thought you were off to Fiji or something! 😂

Your DH is mad - and wrong!

Agree he's mad, it's turkey not New Zealand! Has he flown before?

Direct always the best option unless saving £££

Oh it’s easyJet? Is he thinking one of you will have to sit next to the rear gunner or something? EasyJet is fine.

You can tell your DH doesn't travel much, I would never do a indirect flight to turkey, easy jet are fine for short haul and have used them a few times to travel to turkey it's a comfortable flight

How small do you think the plane for the direct flight is?

It won't be smaller than a 737, which is pretty standard for these kind of flights. When I flew to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines it was also a 737. Our flight was very delayed, and apparently it was a regular occurrence at the time.

It's a no brainer. Direct every time.

Op please tell me your husband has seen sense 😅

Always always fly direct. And always always avoid a transfer in Istanbul, nasty airport to be hanging around in.

Now you’ve spoken of a small plane I’m imagining you all cramped in a Cessna! 😄

Small plane? I doubt it. Not a private plane is it!? Direct. Obviously.

Absolutely direct flights

We have oodles of air miles so could use 'free' flights to Turkey. I actually pay for the (relatively cheap) direct flights just to avoid changing planes.

Enjoy your holiday.

Thank you all for your replies!

DH has seen sense, but given the choice he would still fly with Turkish Airlines 🙄

Direct it is!!

Is it worth booking an extra seat for DD2? She'll be 10 months.

Why is he obsessed with flying Turkish Airlines? They aren't any better than most commercial airlines.

And I agree, Istanbul Airport was not my favourite stopover on a flight back from Antalya via Istanbul.

I used to fly to a small airport in turkey which always involved a changeover at Istanbul as it was the only option.
Navigating Istanbul airport from international terminal to domestic terminal is not something I would want to do with small children in such a short time frame.
It's a great airport though IF you had the time (+ money) to make use of the amazing Turkish Airlines business class lounge. One of the best I've been in!