{"id":7012,"date":"2015-01-13T10:04:07","date_gmt":"2015-01-13T15:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=7012"},"modified":"2017-02-15T20:44:19","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T01:44:19","slug":"family-friendly-airlines-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/13\/family-friendly-airlines-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Friendly Airlines, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second part of my analysis of airlines when traveling with children and all information was accurate at the time of posting. \u00a0<\/em>For information on Southwest, JetBlue and United<\/strong>, see\u00a0Part 1<\/a>\u00a0of the series.\"Reviews<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Spirit<\/h2>\n

\"Flying<\/a>Baggage<\/strong>: Spirit charges for all baggage, even larger carry-ons. \u00a0Prices vary depending on your ticket type and when you pay for your baggage (when you buy your ticket, before check in, at the airport, etc.)
\nCar Seats<\/strong>: Spirit was very easy with car seats. \u00a0Our flight we had a rear facing seat for Doodle and a forward facing seat for Sugarplum. \u00a0Sugarplum’s seat was not a problem to install however the pitch between the seats was too small to safely rear face Doodle and while I could have demanded to be moved to a seat where it fit, with 5 of us I just decided to forward face him since he technically meets the requirements to forward face in the seat (though he would have been much safer rear facing and had the flight not been completely booked I probably would have asked to be moved.)
\nSeating<\/strong>: \u00a0Spirit assigns seats when you check in however if you’d like to pick your seat, that is an option for an additional fee. \u00a0We chose to pay the small fee in order to ensure we were all seated together and had the window seats we needed and also to prevent being put all the way in the back of the plane (we ended up midplane even with booking only a few weeks ahead of our flight).
\nBoarding<\/strong>: \u00a0Spirit boards in zones like many of the bigger airlines. \u00a0They allow families to board early though in order to get everything settled on board and ready for the flight.
\nEntertainment<\/strong>: \u00a0Spirit does not offer any on board entertainment.
\nSnacks<\/strong>: \u00a0All snacks and beverages are available for a fee.
\nOverall Family Friendliness<\/strong>: \u00a0I didn’t mind Spirit. \u00a0It reminded me a lot of our RyanAir days, traveling around Europe. \u00a0While you don’t get a lot of frills and the fees can add up, if you know what you’re getting in to and know what to expect, it’s perfectly fine and their low fares to begin with, we found, offsets the extra fees and we still came out ahead for the trip versus flying another airline.<\/p>\n

AirTran<\/h2>\n

Baggage<\/strong>: AirTran was recently acquired by Southwest and follows the same baggage policies as Southwest. \u00a02 carry ons per person fly free (one personal item and one larger); 2 checked bags per person fly free\u00a0(which includes any baby equipment, strollers can be checked for free at the gate).
\nCar Seats<\/strong>: We had a similar problem with car seats on AirTran as we had with Spirit, while the girls’ seats fit fine, Doodle’s (very small) rear facing seat did not fit rear facing and at only 4 months old at the time, forward facing was not an option. \u00a0I was ready to fight and argue with the flight crew when I realized it didn’t fit but before I could say more than “his seat won’t fit…” the flight attendant asked the people in the row in front of me (a “extra leg room” row) if they would mind switching with us and offered them free drinks!
\nSeating<\/strong>: \u00a0When we flew AirTran (it was actually the second leg of a Southwest ticket), it was shortly after the merger and they were still assigning seats to all passengers. \u00a0We were seated together (2 in front and 3 behind) as we preferred until Doodle and I were reseated one row up. However, I believe AirTran now follows the same boarding procedures as Southwest.
\nBoarding<\/strong>: \u00a0\u00a0Families boarded after the frequent flier passengers but as above, I believe now AirTran follows the same boarding policies as Southwest.
\nEntertainment<\/strong>: There was no on board entertainment when we flew AirTran.
\nSnacks<\/strong>: Snacks and beverages are now free on all AirTran flights.
\nOverall Family Friendliness<\/strong>: \u00a0Overall our trip on AirTran was fine. \u00a0Now that Southwest and AirTran are fully integrated, I expect the experiences to be very similar though the aircraft may still be slightly different between the two carriers.<\/p>\n

Delta<\/h2>\n

\"DSC01776\"<\/a>Baggage<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta allows the standard one carry on bag and one small personal item per person. \u00a0They charge for all checked bags unless you fly Business or First class or internationally. \u00a0Domestically, bag fees start at $25 for the first bag. \u00a0Delta allows strollers and car seats to be checked for free (though car seats should never be checked as they could be lost or damaged). \u00a0They also allow a booster, car seat or bassinet\u00a0to be brought on board for free and not part of the passenger’s baggage allowance.
\nCar Seats<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta allows and encourages the use of car seats on board. \u00a0They allow you to \u00a0bring your car seat on board for your unticketed infant to use if the flight is not full but this usually only works if there is a seat open near or next to the one you are assigned (it is always best to buy a ticket for your infant<\/a>\u00a0to ensure they can use their car seat on the plane). \u00a0Delta also offers baby bassinets on some of their international flights if you have a lap baby but, again, a car seat in your child’s own seat is always the safest way to go!
\nSeating<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta uses a standard assigned seat process. \u00a0We’ve never had a problem getting placed together as a family and usually end up towards the back of the plane.
\nBoarding<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta often pre-boards families after the first class and frequent fliers though the ages and exact timing of family boarding can vary by flight.
\nEntertainment<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta offers\u00a0individual TVs at each seating location with the option to purchase movies and shows or you can opt to watch whatever is scheduled for your flight, free of charge. \u00a0WiFi is also available on board some planes for an additional fee.
\nSnacks<\/strong>: \u00a0Delta offers free standard beverages and small snacks on their domestic flights.
\nOverall Family Friendliness:<\/strong> \u00a0The last time we flew Delta was quite awhile ago but we were fine with the service. \u00a0They are not usually on the top of our travel list due to their fares being higher and lack of direct flights to the places we want to go but aside from one horrific international experience<\/a> when we moved back to Florida, we’ve always been fine with Delta’s service and aircraft.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss\u00a0Part 1 of my Family Friendly Airlines<\/a> reviews.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pin it!\"Reviews<\/a><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the second part of my analysis of airlines when traveling with children and all information was accurate at the time of posting. \u00a0For information on Southwest, JetBlue and United, see\u00a0Part 1\u00a0of the series. Spirit Baggage: Spirit charges for all baggage, even larger carry-ons. \u00a0Prices vary depending on your ticket type and when you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[571,441,346],"class_list":["post-7012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tiny-travellers","tag-airlines","tag-family-travel","tag-flying"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7012"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12440,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7012\/revisions\/12440"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}