To stopover or not to stopover?

[LoopyLoopsIsTentativelyBack]

Hi all

Moving to KL in the summer. My new job will sort the plane tickets - contract says London by direct route, which will be Heathrow - KL, 13 hours, Malaysia Airlines.

But

The Emirates flight from Brum, with a stopover at Dubai is cheaper (hoping the job will like this), Birmingham is closer to us, and with a baby and toddler we quite like the idea of a stopover. We're thinking of either just having the transfer time to run around and stretch legs etc., or paying for a hotel for a night and having a bit of a break.
Also, Emirates have a bigger baggage allowance.

What do you think would be best? And do you think the employers might be flexible with this?

Apart from the question of whether your company will allow that... You'll probably want to consider how good the services are on board for the children eg getting a bassinet, individual tv screens, food, buggy on board (so that when you disembark the buggy is there as you get off plane rather than on the carousel).

A friend flew to new zealand from Germany with his newborn (2 months?) and older child (3 year old?) and they didn't do direct so there were stops along the way. It wasn't pleasant with lack of buggy etc.

Singapore airlines does a meet and assist service which is free and helps people who might need help from the departure passport control to the plane (and the other side too). It's a brilliant service and the service inboard for children is bar none.

Buggies can be taken on board for either, so that isn't a worry. I think Emirates is quite well thought of?

Emirates have a bigger baggage allowance

People where carrying on board larger cases than I put in the hold...

Emirates supplied buggies for the children

Some people swear by a stopover and some think they just make things harder.

I have only done a stopover once but that was because my flight was delayed for 24 hours so I had no choice.

Dubai is a massive airport. It's not very friendly and it it incredibly busy. You could be walking for ages to get to your connecting flight and sometimes you have to go on a coach. This is not good at any time but if it's hot it is uncomfortable as you have to go outside to get on the bus.

I have flown on emirates with my dc and the staff were fantastic. They couldn't have been better. One problem we had was that we were not allowed to take my dd's antihistamine (piriton) for her peanut allergy on board as a lot of medication is not allowed in Dubai. We were just transferring there and we still weren't allowed it. And we had a letter from the doctor and everything.

I didn't have any trouble with antihistamine as the medication was perscription and has my name on the tablets it was allowed, same applied to my ventolin this was in 2011.

I arrived at night and the airport was deserted, on the return journey the airport was packed but it was midday on a weekend, i didn't find the airport any less friendly than heathrow and certainly far better than a couple of very unfriendly american airports.

Possibly becuase it was an inforced stop over it wasn't easy for the above poster - I ave done 12 hours flight with dd aged 3 and dd aged 9 and I have done stop over - both where fine and I have no real preferance.

One problem we had was that we were not allowed to take my dd's antihistamine (piriton) for her peanut allergy on board as a lot of medication is not allowed in Dubai. We were just transferring there and we still weren't allowed it. And we had a letter from the doctor and everything.

That's shocking savoy, and puts me off ever going near Dubai. Or Emirates.

We are flying SIA this time. Personally I prefer to get it all over and done with in a direct flight but we have a short stopover at Munich unfortunately.

Personally I would do for one flight no stops, if you get a night flight you stand a pretty good chane of getting kids to sleep for a large chunk of the time..my dd usually plays for first couple of hours while they do dinner and then crashes out for 7 or so hours which then only leaves a couple of hours to manage..13hrs straight is really not that bad and SIA are really v good with kids..

Your company should be flexible either way though but you might find they have an annoying travel system that doesn't accommodate things outside the norm..my husbands is a bit like this and it can be annoying altho usually sortable..

I would go for the direct flight. We live in Singapore and have a 3.5 yo and a baby. I've done direct and emirates and klm/air France with stopover as my parents live near Brum and my ils nearer to Manchester. Last time we flew emirates we nearly missed our connection in Dubai and the ground staff were just dreadful also is you manage to get an evening flight out of London you stand a good chance of getting a good stretch of sleep. When we last flew back in August our flight was around 6.30 and the 3 yo slept pretty solidly most of the way and the 3 month old off and on with plenty of bf top-ups[

Another one for flying direct and getting it all done in one go.

Flew to capetown with 15mo and young child. Baby slept pretty well both ways, certainly for most of the flight (overnight both ways). Child was fascinated by the tv screens in the seats and chance to channel-hop between cartoons, so watched tv a lot of the way out, but managed to sleep a big chunk the way back.

It was ok. Not as terrible as i imagined beforehand. It was just incredibly tedious with two young children to sit for 11/half hours in the same seats. There were a couple of tantrums and 'difficult' moments, all down to sheer tiredness, but nothing that a hissed stern word and a bit of help from the stewardesses couldn't sort out. But I definitely wouldn't have wanted to include a stopover. Would just want to get on board and get the gruesome task over asap!

I should add, we bought an extra seat for the baby even tho he is not normally of the right age, so we had four in a row in the bulkhead (baby is too old/big for bassinets etc). This was a godsend as it gave baby room to lie down, half on me half on seat. Older child sat in own seat watching tv or lay on floor to sleep and then half on dad/own seat.

BA staff pointed out it was illegal to lie on the floor as dangerous in turbulence etc, but we managed to move him from the floor to seat without waking much.

I wouldn't have wanted to do it bunched up in 3 seats between us, the extra one made a bit of a difference.

I'd go for the direct flight - we're flying to Singapore on Easter monday on Singapore Airlines, with a 4 year old and an 18 month old. I did the same flight last year, with a 3 year old and a 4 month old, by myself. it was fine. :)