Our kids loved British Airways.
We found the airline very friendly and accommodating compared to other airlines we've traveled with our kids so far. Here are a few reasons why:
Here is a picture of our fully grown 18 month husky testing it out. It is literally a bouncer chair they bring out after take-off and attach with straps to the table (as you can kind of see in the picture on the below left). So, it's not the most secure thought for wiggly children, but this little bugger did just fine and it was a huge arm saver.
I definitely saw several mothers giving me envious dirty looks as they patrolled the aisles with their fussing children and mine was bundled up safely and sleeping soundly while I caught up on the latest movies and entertainment. The only draw back about the bulkhead is that it makes mealtime difficult, it is not always available, and you can only have it up at certain times. But on this flight, I can hands down say it was a humongous life saver!
We found the airline very friendly and accommodating compared to other airlines we've traveled with our kids so far. Here are a few reasons why:
Baby Bassinet
First off - If you get the "bulkhead" seat (usually the first row of the coach class - but check your airline ticket and website for an online map of your plane layout), British Airways offers a set number of baby bassinets. It sounds like it would just be for a newborn baby, like a rolling bassinet, but it is equivalent in structure to a bouncy chair, just slightly bigger to accommodate larger children (up to 2 yrs old).Here is a picture of our fully grown 18 month husky testing it out. It is literally a bouncer chair they bring out after take-off and attach with straps to the table (as you can kind of see in the picture on the below left). So, it's not the most secure thought for wiggly children, but this little bugger did just fine and it was a huge arm saver.
I definitely saw several mothers giving me envious dirty looks as they patrolled the aisles with their fussing children and mine was bundled up safely and sleeping soundly while I caught up on the latest movies and entertainment. The only draw back about the bulkhead is that it makes mealtime difficult, it is not always available, and you can only have it up at certain times. But on this flight, I can hands down say it was a humongous life saver!
Kid-Friendly In-Flight Entertainment
Obviously every set of flight attendants will be different, but when we asked for child- friendly/coushy headphones (not earbuds that don't stay in little kids ears well), they were willing and able to let us borrow a set from the business class. Many other airlines will not do this because they are strictly not allowed. This made the trip much more enjoyable for all!
Our kids loved playing "Little Miss Hollywood." Many airlines will have only games that are generic, rip-offs, or clunky in general and hard to manipulate. This was super easy for our girls and they could easily do it on their own which was wonderful. What made it more fun is we could actually download the app when we got home to remember the fun times we had on our Vienna overnight flight adventure.
Our kids loved playing "Little Miss Hollywood." Many airlines will have only games that are generic, rip-offs, or clunky in general and hard to manipulate. This was super easy for our girls and they could easily do it on their own which was wonderful. What made it more fun is we could actually download the app when we got home to remember the fun times we had on our Vienna overnight flight adventure.
Kid Welcome Pack
When we arrived they greeted us (even in coach) with little tote bags for each of our kids filled with really well designed coloring books, crayons and all kinds of British Airways swag. This made our kids super happy and excited for the long flight ahead.
Fruit Shoots
They carried Fruit Shoots! Okay so this is a drink we've encountered mostly in Europe (so maybe you haven't heard about it), but seriously - what other airlines carries kid-friendly drinks? I know some must, but we had never seen anything like this designed for kids and we loved it! Additionally, Fruit Shoots are no sugar-added which is great compared to the sugary sodas they usually want to order. Because it comes in its own pop-top bottle, we didn't have to worry about juggling where to put a cup to keep it from spilling while traveling with a million other things going on. Lastly, when we landed if they wanted to they could take them with them for later. Fantastic win!
Overall Family Oriented
Overall, everything else checked out for us very well. There wasn't anything negative as a parent, adult, or child we could find. We flew coach and it was about average what you would expect for the seats, and leg room. Because we got bulk head seats we had more leg room, but that meant our screen also came out of our arm rests which was a little tricky with the bassinet and maneuvering your trays.
We found that where some airlines perform poorly, British Airways was at least average or directly on par. For instance, some airlines will have non-reclining seats on the first row which negate the benefit of the added leg room. On other airlines the screens on the front row are too far from your seat, or the front row is a traffic flow nightmare (we never had anyone pass through us because there was a hall just on the other side of the wall), etc.. We didn't experience any of these and were pleasantly surprised how much easier the trip was because of it.
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