Features, amenities, and (sometimes) failures of specific domestic and international airlines.
With the Oakland Airport just 12 minutes from my front door, my family flies Southwest Airlines a lot. Southwest is often a favorite airline of flying families as well, and with good reason. Since it has different rules and practices than other airlines, however, it can sometimes trip up inexperienced flyers, especially travelers with kids. …
Flying with toddlers is hard. They are fully mobile, totally opinionated, and incapable of all reason and logic at the most inopportune moments. But why stop there? If you are really up for a family travel challenge, fly with your toddler in your lap. Up until your little one’s second birthday, your child is eligible …
Air travel is quickly roaring back to life in the summer of 2021 within the United States. My family just returned from some pretty extensive air travel adventures (and a few misadventures) all over the country. We flew on 5 different days from mid-June to the first of July, passing through 7 different airports along …
While West Coast travelers often sing the praises of Southwest Airlines for families, my East Coast bias makes JetBlue my family’s favorite airline. While nothing can quite top the free checked bag benefit Southwest offers, JetBlue offers an in-flight experience and loyalty program features that really appeal to family travelers. If you’re flying JetBlue with …
Planning to fly to Mickey’s home in Southern California for a vacation? Even though my family lives in Northern California, we fly to Anaheim much more often than we drive. Flying to Disneyland is a totally different ballgame than flying to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Air travel to the Los Angeles area may seem …
Now is definitely not the time to be taking a casual international getaway. Borders are closed around the world, and quarantine restrictions are often in place for the few destinations that are still open to Americans. But some Americans nevertheless have to travel – even abroad – out of necessity. My sister is one of …
Late yesterday, United Airlines made some serious waves in the brave new world of 2020 air travel. The airline announced that it was eliminating change fees. United previously charged non-elite passengers who wanted to change their flights to another date or time a whopping $200 per ticket over and above any difference in fare. Just …
The novel coronavirus that emerged at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China has now spread around the world. When I first published this post on March 2, 2012, most of us weren’t taking COVID-19 that seriously. When I updated it again less than two weeks later, America had radically shifted to shelter-in-place. Air travel …
Frequent flyer miles can be a great tool to help families travel on the cheap. My own family saves thousands of dollars on flights and other travel costs every year thanks to miles and points. The frequent flyer programs of most major airlines, however, have gotten increasingly complex. The good news is that some of …
If you want to earn points towards free flights aboard Southwest Airlines, one of the easiest ways to do that is with a Southwest co-branded credit card. Chase currently offers three Southwest personal credit cards (in addition to two business cards) that are an excellent way to load up your Southwest Rapid Rewards account balance. …
Welcome! I’m Leslie, a mom of two (ages 12 and 7) who loves to travel. Trips With Tykes is a family travel blog devoted to simplifying the logistics of traveling with young kids. With a little knowledge of airline rules & good planning, family travel can be really fun, even if it still involves the occasional in-flight tantrum or battle with TSA over your toddler’s juice box.
