We read that it is best with international flights to buy early like 6 months early. So we took that advice and watched the prices for a while. The prices went up and we panicked, so the next time they dropped we bought them.
Little did we know that they would drop even more about 2 months before departure. It is so hard to tell! We paid about $1500 per person, maybe it was more around $1200. I can't remember what my husband said.
So a couple things we learned:
1- Layovers: My husband was thinking to get the flights over as quick as possible. We learned from this that it isn't necessarily the best option, at least not for our family. We had about 2 hours in between flights and with getting everyone off the plane and the hour early boarding times for those huge planes, we had just enough time to change 18 month old son's diaper before we had to board. No time for food, no time to get wiggles out. So I would suggest maybe making a layover 3-4 hours long or maybe even over night and get a hotel close by.
2- Plane Food: Now this could have just been a silly stewardess mistake or something but on every single flight that served meals, my "on lap" child did not get a meal. I was counting on him eating because we paid like $200 for him. But nope. So I came very unprepared food-wise and my poor kids got stuck eating basically dinner rolls and pretzels that we went and asked the stewardess' for.
3- Snacks: So to go along with #2, bring food for your toddlers. Something that will sustain them if they don't like the food served or they don't get served cause they were sleeping or something when they came by.
I brought 8 applesauce pouches and 5 packs of fruit snacks which disappeared quickly. If you bring something like the pouches, put them in a gallon sized ziplock Baggie and put it out for security check. I have gone through many security checks and never had a problem with them not letting me bring them. Just make sure it is obvious that it is baby food. Sometimes they bring you a side and do a swipe of your hands and the stuff in the bag just to make sure it is safe, but I have never had anyone threaten to throw it away.
4- Entertainment: Both of the long flights were in those huge planes that have a TV on ever chair back so everyone got their own personal tv with unlimited tv and movies to watch. We got our boys kid size head phones to wear beforehand. They were Kidz Gear Wired Headphones and they worked great! They fit on my 18 month old's head and I even wore them for a whole movie. They fit me great and the sound was a lot better than my Apple earphones. I brought a whole carry-on suitcase full of toys that weren't really used. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you shouldn't.
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