Is this a crazy idea, or a workable one?

[PrettyCandles]

To take an early morning transatlantic flight and scoop sleeping children up at 4am-ish, dump them in the taxi in their pyjamas - and hopefully still asleep - and dress/wash/breakfast them at the airport after we've checked in.

Alternative would be to take a flight that checks in at 8am-ish, which effectively means getting less than 1h earlier than usual, but we arrive at our final destination late evening.

...means getting up less than 1h earlier...

Would you go to bed at all? I would be inclined to go for later flight, rather than feeling rubbish from having got up at 2am...
if the flight doesn't go so well, you will be feeling pretty frazzled pretty soon!

How old are your little ones?

Prettycandles,

Would say an emphatic no, no, no that idea in your first sentence as they would likely not stay asleep in the taxi. The toilet facilities at some UK airports are not great either and many airports do not really start up until 7.00-7.30am at the earliest.

What's your final destination?. Many flights to the West Coast of the USA do not actually depart until late morning/early afternoon. That would entail checking in around 3 hours before departure.

Its much better getting there in the late evening as you'll all be tired and go pretty much straight to bed - and then sleep until a reasonable local time.

If you take the early flight then you'll all be grumpy and tired getting on it, and then its a struggle to stay up till local going to bed time. Then you wake up at 4am..

Washignton, then onwards by car for antoher hour or two.

LOs will be 7, 5, 20m.

I don't remember what flights (dh is doing that), it's an option dh and I were discussing last night, WRT which flight or airline we choose.

At god-forsaken-o'clock we're only about half an hour from Heathrow, but at rush-hour we're probably over an hour away, and the later flight involves gettingt o Heathrow durin g rushhour.

Going to Washington, I like to get the late flight out that gets there at 8pm their time, stay at an airport hotel, and then drive the next morning (normally to Virginia). That way I am really ready to sleep by the time I clear customs etc, and getting up early the next morning is OK as I just get in the car.