Am I crazy!?

[Callalily]

Hi,

In September we are taking our 2 year old to Oz with a stop over in Hong Kong for 2 days on the way out but no stop over on the way back. We haven't booked him a seat so that we could save ourselves money and in the hope that we could grab a spare seat for him. Has anyone ever managed to do this?

I'm starting to get panicky now that it is going to be a nightmare! Has anyone done the same trip and how did it go?

We are traveling with BA for the first flight and Quantas with the others. My son is big for his age so wont go in a sky cot.

Please reassure me if you can.

Thanks x

If he is 2 you have to get him his own seat, I'm afraid.

Sorry I can't reassure you. We went to Oz with a 2 year old and the best thing we did was book her a seat.

Actually don't you have to book them a seat when they're 2.

look here

After 23 month you must book a seat.

Book him a seat, even if you don't have to (which I think you do). It will be a complete and utter nightmare without.

Sorry I should have said that he will be 2 a few days after we get back so we just missed having to get him a seat......

Ah. TBH I would still get him his own seat.
I have a friend who flew return to Bali with her (large) 18mo DS. The way out was fine because there was a free seat but the way back was packed and he was on her knee the whole time. She swore never again!

In september will you be coinciding with the start of term for boarding schools? If so the return flight from HK might well be full...

We fly out on the 19th September and back on the 9th October so not sure how that fits in with the schools.

We have already booked our seats so if we added our son it would cost another £1000 which also makes me feel sick. Looks like we are just going to have a horrendous time and out up with it!

Hope someone out there has had a positive experience although i doubt it lol

Thanks

Well look, the worst case scenario is it's only one uncomfortable day out of your whole life! And there are two of you yes? - I think it is a bit easier if you can take turns acting as mattress.

I did this on my own with my 2 year old, same trip with 3 day stopover in HK. Get a seat. Really.

With a seat at least they can lie down and sleep, they're not allowed to lie on the floor any more. There's also room for them to have the tray table and watch the seat back tv.

It will be fine if there are two of you, you can manage the jetlag and bags easily.

I used a DVD 'Good little traveler' (sic) to show my 2yo how to behave on a plane, no seat kicking, how to take a little bag with interesting books, snacks etc. Lots of little things in a bag to unwrap for when she started to get fidgety.

In the end the flight was fine, I didn't sleep for about 2 days and tbh the jetlag was my biggest problem as DD is a difficult sleeper and I couldn't get her body clock synced back in. Even last time we flew to the UK (she is 6 now) we were up at 2am every day for the first week.

Good luck and enjoy your trip to Oz

Ah, cross posts. Well, for GBP1000 (in Oz, no pound sign!), I think I would gamble that there is a spare seat somewhere!

Best of luck

Prepare yourself for the worst and you'll see it won't be that bad.
At check in (or even before - call your airlines) try to get the bulkhead seats where there usually put the sky cots. There is enough space for your dc to play about on the floor and give your lap a bit of a break.
Also, we flew with our 18 months old and he slept on my lap most of the time as there where turbulence and we managed ok...but with the extra space for your legs!

Yeah there are 2 of us so we will get a break and if I think it's going to be a nightmare maybe I will be pleasantly suprised if it's not. We have requested the bulkhead seats so hopefully we will have more room and he can sit/sleep on the floor if they are good and allow it (fingers crossed!) I may end up being sectioned when we get over there but hey ho lol!!

Thanks for all your advice :-)

Oh well, in answer to your original question, yes you are crazy. Sorry.

There might be spare seats on the plane. But there might not be. In fact it's unlikely - all the airlines are running reduced schedules so most flights are flying full at the moment.

You'll have to do a lot of walking up and down the aisle. Take as many little toys and games as you can. get a dvd player. Take turns to have him sitting on your lap.

I can't even imagine what you'll do for sleeping. Take turns, while one of you stands up for a few hours??

There's loads of good long haul travel tips in the travel section, and loads of threads on it too, so do thorough search. Maybe someone else has done this.

Not as long haul, but we went to san fransisco with DD, and she got her own seat by default as the person next to us moved! Well the flight attendant asked him if he wanted more room as plane was only half full.

I would think about booking the sky cot/baby seat with BA even if you do not use it, as it means you will get the bulkhead seats. We did this (although we used the carseat for some of it), and then she spent some time sat on the seat too. She was 20 months old.

Callalily

You will need a seat for DS, I would certainly get him a seat. Chances are as well the plane will be full particularly if you're in the economy section. Saving money like this is a false economy for all concerned.

You may not necessarily get the bulkhead seats either; these tend to be reserved for infants.

Dates will are too late for boarding school children but there might be a lot of ppl coming back for the start of the university term?

Not on the same route, but we recently flew on a packed flight from NB0-LHR and witnessed a single mother of an almost 2 yr old asking a man a few rows ahead of us if he would swap seats with her as he was sitting next to the only spare seat on the flight so she could have a seat for her child... He said NO and the cabin crew couldn't do anything... so she spent most of the flight pacing up and down the aisle.

Fingers crossed for you! At least there are 2 of you!!!!