Long haul holiday (from UK) with a 1.5 year old

[Beaufort89]

Hello!

Looking for advice on a semi adventurous holiday with a 1.5 year old.

I have a BA reward flight to use and I want to use it on a long haul business class flight. I have to use it within a year which for certain destinations it means booking now. We had a baby at the start of this year so she will be around 1.5 when we travel.

My husband and I travelled a lot before baby. We’re from the UK and spent a couple years travelling so have visited South America, Asia, Australia etc. Lots of Europe of course.

I would love to go to Japan but I don’t know if that would be amazing with little one? Other places on my list are Nepal, Vietnam, Bali. All maybe not great with a baby. We have travelled a lot with her already. She’s been to Morocco, Spain twice and Greece twice so she is pretty good on an aeroplane. Longest flight she’s done is 4.5hrs.

I’m considering Hawaii with a stop in San Francisco. Is Hawaii worth it from the UK? Because it’s a lot of money… Is it Amercian Tenerife? We have been to the Galapagos and I was told that is Hawaii without the destroyed eco systems.

Other thoughts were Mauritius? Caribbean would be an option but we’ve missed the boat on using the reward flight for that because it would be hurricane season in August/September.

Would love any advice or suggestions thanks.

Absolutely agree! Been to Hawaii it’s sooooo far and the jet lag was horrendous.

Mexico?

We took DS to Thailand (flew to Singapore in BA business class and it was full of babies/children) at 18 months.

Antigua at 22m- wonderful place.

South Africa at 28m. Fab but make sure the pools are heated as it was too cold for DS.

We travelled to east Asia from London with a 1.5 year old. It was amazing. I was so so nervous beforehand but so glad we went. Tips we found helpful:

1. we stopped in Dubai so had 2 c 7 hour flights as opposd to 14 hour. Helped mentally that i knew if dc was unsettled we could get off and get on a new flight with new people.
2. We also had extra leg room seats for free (dc played in the floor next to us) and a night flight (really recommend as she slept a bit - not all - but helped) 3). We also landed night time in east asia so all conked out and woke up as normal - barely felt the jet lag re the trip: we broke it Up with part city break part beach. Dc loved both but definitly the beach was needed for a bit of space and time away out of the hustle and bustle

id say go!!! We are planning another long haul trip ourselves. Although I wouldn’t do them every year as they are substantially more tiring compared to short haul,
but we are definitly going to do every few years. Hope that helps x

@Cantseetreesforthewood Op said 18 months when they go! (1.5 year old in the title).

I have never ever seen a BA business cabin full of dc. They often use pods now so quite difficult for dc.

Yes, but if that is a year away, and flights are available, I'd go sooner - much much sooner - before baby gets mobile.

Ah thank you! Good info. Oh I thought August wasn’t a good time to go by I the Caribbean as it’s hurricane season? Any favourites of those islands you’ve visited?

Yeh I would really love to go but I’d read someone’s post about it being more enjoyable when they’re a bit older.

Oh hadn’t thought about South Africa! I’ll look into it thanks.

Yes we went to Sri Lanka and the Maldives last year and really loved it! Will hopefully go back to Maldives in a few years when she can enjoy the water.

Yeh for Hawaii I was thinking of using the reward flight to go to San Francisco and then booking a separate flight from there. The advantage of a flight to America is there is lots of reward flight availability so no need to book a full year out. I did check and there’s good availability for next summer.

For Bali I’d thought to book the flight to Hong Kong. I know there’s a lot of competition for that route, and for Tokyo, Singapore and other hubs so they need to be booked when they become available the 355 days before. Same for Mauritius I think and Caribbean islands.

I was quite keen on the Caribbean but discounted it because I thought August/September wasn’t a great time to go? Should have booked it a few months ago but I have been deep in baby sleep deprivation and only just crawling out of that. My voucher expires early September 2026.

I hadn’t really contemplated South Africa so I have no idea what it’s like. Would you travel around or stick to one place?

Yeh I read a lot of restaurants don’t allow kids if they serve alcohol? It would be sad to go to Japan and not get to fully experience the food and nightlife. I have visions of karaoke bars Lost in Translation style.

Nepal I would love to go to do some trekking so I think I will have to save that one for a few years or go on my own! We were going to do the hike to basecamp for our honeymoon but ended up choosing Sri Lanka and the Maldives instead because I wanted some lying by a pool time 😅. But I have a dream to go attempt it when she’s older. Did you do one of the hiking routes with your family?

The Jurassic park connection is one of the draws for me, it’s my favourite film 😅. How long did you spend in Hawaii? Yeh does seem like everything is expensive there.

Thank you for all the replies! Lots of good info. Baby is 8 months now but this trip is for next summer. She’s crawling and standing, with some excellent sofa shuffling, so no more holidays with just a cute little potato for us.

Still not sure what to do but will look into South Africa for a start and whether there’s any chance of a reward flight to a Caribbean island. Still like the idea of Hawaii but I am worried I’ve hyped the visuals of Hawaii up in my head and it will just be a lot of money and flying time effort. Much to consider!

I'm all for travelling long haul with kids and do it myself, but just bear in mind that just because she is great on planned now doesn't mean she will be at 1.5. That's a really tricky age often as they want to be on the move a lot, have short attention spans and are hard to reason with.

On that basis I wouldnt do Hawaii. It's a very long journey, as you would presumably fly to LAX or SFO then it is another five or so hours to Hawaii, with the pain of clearing customs and immigration in time for your connecting flight. I did it pre child and it was tough, no way I could fsce it with a 1.5 year old. At a similar age we enjoyed east coast Canada and Mexico City, then up to Puerto Valletts and Sayulita.

Get yourself a really good toddler sling that you find comfortable and ditch the buggy for the trip if you can. So much easier.

“Other places on my list are Nepal, Vietnam, Bali.”
As for Vietnam, Aug/ Sept is in the monsoon season (It will be dry in the Central part of Vietnam like Danang, Hoian, Hue… if there is no tropical depression/ storm).

South Africa is the trickiest place to get the reward flights for but not impossible.

Do you mean you have a companion voucher - avios points don't time out but the vouchers do. But that is semantics. We've had companion vouchers lapse in the past - sometimes life and the timings and availability just don't work so I wouldn't stress too much if you don't end up using it. You can save you points for an epic trip in first!

The ba route map isn't the biggest and is very USA focused and the reality is there are limits of where you can go long haul in the summer. We've done a lot of the us and road trips, but with much older children.

Biggest factor is that you are doing this for you - your baby will have no memory of this holiday so make it something you will / can enjoy.

Regardless, a few practical things.
Japan is very hot in the summer - I'm just back - using avios and companion vouchers in club. It was okay for teens to deal with, but I would not have chosen to have gone with a baby.

We've had good summer holidays in the carribean- you take your chances but we have been lucky. It's never hotter than 32 so less intense heat wise than Europe. Barbados and Antigua would be my choice.

Also, the club suites aren't massive - where is your baby going to go and will you get any sleep - this would rule out the big flights for me.

We were there for DH's brother's wedding. Two weeks, one on Maui for the wedding and one on Kauai.
I completely agree with other posters though that it's a LONG way to go. I don't think I'd do it in your situation. We've travelled a lot and around 18 months is the worst time to fly with a child in my opinion! I'd do a simpler long haul, like going to Cape town. I did that with a 2 year old and a baby and it was fine as no time difference. What about Mauritius? I'm considering that for next August for us.

We visited Japan when our eldest was 1.5 years, we spent 2 and a half weeks there and visited Tokyo and Kyoto for a week each with three days in Hakone at a traditional ryokan in between. The flight was fine, getting around in Japan was fine, it was a great holiday!

This is so true!

Definitely a book 355 days out - it is better that there are now guaranteed number of reward flights on each flight though. It can just be a bit stressful waiting for your return flight dates to then be released.

The change fees are low though so we always feel it's worth the risk. There are tips online about how best to book.

Bali is a complete dive, Thailand is much better.

I've only travelled long haul economy with BA once, and put me off forever. Travelling business class hopefully is a different ball game.

Japan is a good destination but I'd seriously consider Vietnam. Vietnamese people adore children, and it's an unbelievable country to visit with a little one. Great food everywhere, even if you stick to hotels/good restaurants instead of urban/street eating for your LO safety. Vietnam is also one of the safest countries on earth to visit.

I won't mention shopping because it's paradise on earth. You can buy basic Nike shoes for 10 pounds - the real thing, not a fake copy. It makes you shake your head at the profits some companies are making in the West.

I wouldn't recommend South Africa at all. My SIL is South African, as all my nieces and nephew. They all left the country because of the violence and insecurity, violence that is still a big problem today.

I've been in SA several times. The country is magnificent but your safety will be curtailed to staying in a resort. Walking freely comes with the kind of risk I wouldn't take for myself, let alone with a child.