Saturday, March 29, 2008

Delta Airlines - Travelling with Infant & Kids






For those who may be travelling with infants on Delta Flights internationally, here is some information about the bassinet, including pictures.


Seats for the bassinet area are available only on first come first served basis. So be sure to reach early for check-in. Check for the age restriction, but a child beyond age 1 will most likely not be comfortable in the bassinet. Please post your experience regarding this below.


If your international flight out of USA contains a domestic leg, in that case the bassinet won't be available. Only when the international flight segment begins, the bassinet will be installed once the flight reaches the cruising altitude. Again, it will be removed before the flight begins to descend down for landing. It is a good idea to carry some small sheet which can help in 'padding' the bassinett, which is made up of netted and plastic type of material. Of course you can use the blanket provided on the flight.


For us, the availability of bassinet was a boon as our baby slept quite well in there.


For older kids like 3-8 years old, the on-screen personal entertainment can help a lot. There are a few cartoons films and also games they can play (for free when the international segment of the flight begins). Then there are full length movies too, many of which are for family or kids. So all this will hopefully keep the kids (and their parents) from getting bored for quite some time.


The only disadvantage for these bassinet access seats are that the food tray is stored into the armrest. So the middle armrests cannot be lifted or raised, they are fixed. Also the food trays are relatively less stable.


What have been your experience on Delta or other airlines? Please post your comments below.