Updated: 4/23/2024 | How to Make Long Flights Easier
Traveling together as a family can be a lot of fun but taking a long-haul flight with kids is not so exciting.
Anybody can get bored on a lengthy flight – even grown adults – so it’s no surprise that kids find this part of traveling really boring. Thankfully, with some preparation, you can make a long haul flight easier and more entertaining for the whole family. No matter where you are planning to travel to, don’t let boredom on a long haul flight with kids ruin the start of your trip; these ideas will keep everybody happy.
How to Make Long Flights Easier
Purchase WiFi
WiFi might be expensive on some airlines but when you are traveling with kids, it can be well worth investing in.
Being able to connect to the WiFi can make the flight less boring for teens and pre-teens who can easily keep in touch with their friends back home, make and post TikToks, and play online games, and even for younger kids who might have a wider range of games available for them to play online games.
Bring Games
Playing board or card games can be an ideal way to pass the time on a long flight and they don’t always have to be a smartphone or Nintendo Switch games either. While you might want to avoid taking larger board games with lots of pieces that are probably going to get lost on an airplane, you can play card games or UNO together as a family while you’re on the flight, even if you’re taking up two rows.
Watch Movies
If you are on a long-haul flight as a family, then make sure that everybody’s in-flight entertainment is working before you set off. If you can, consider buying an additional entertainment package like Disney films or something else that you are going to enjoy so that you can really make the most of it. Everyone has their own TV in the back of the seat in front of them, so this can be an ideal way to either watch films together or all watch something different and then discuss it afterward.
Read a Book
If you are trying to encourage your kids to read more, then a long-haul flight can be an ideal time to bring some books along.
If you don’t want to buy WiFi, then it might not take much to convince your kids that reading a book is going to be more entertaining compared to just sitting there until landing. It may even be worth investing in e-readers – Amazon does some reasonably priced ones that are good for kids – since you can easily download lots of different books onto them without having a massive weight in your luggage.
Do Something Creative
While there are obviously limits to the creative things that you can do on board a plane, this can be a fun way to keep the family entertained. A coloring book and some colored pencils or crayons can be an ideal way to keep your kids entertained for a few hours during the flight, and you could even hold competitions or play games with it, such as everybody taking a turn to color in parts of the same picture to create something unique.
Plus, it’s a great way to have something that you can hold on to and use to remember your trip. Craft sets can be fun to take on board but avoid anything with small parts that could easily get lost.
Play with Toys
You can take some toys on board a flight for your children but of course, you may want to be mindful with what you take as you won’t want to add too much weight to your hand luggage.
If you have younger kids, then it might be worth considering taking some interactive toys in their hand luggage since these are more likely to be entertaining for a while on a long flight. When you are booking your flight, check how much hand luggage you can take on board for your kids, as chances are that you can take a hand luggage bag on each for them, which can be ideal for packing entertainment items, toys, and things to do for them on the flight if their essential items are all in the hold.
Take an Overnight Flight
Finally, while there are plenty of things that you can do to keep everybody entertained during a long flight together, one of the best travel hacks we’ve learned is to take overnight or “red eye” flights.
Book your long haul flight as an overnight flight, so that you will arrive in the morning and get the chance to sleep on the plane.
Overnight flights will usually have dimmed lights with blankets and pillows provided so that you can all get some shut-eye. Your kids are more likely to be tired as you are boarding, so they will sleep most of the journey, and once they wake up it won’t feel quite so long and draining compared to being awake for the entire time.
Take your kids on the flight in their pajamas or comfortable clothes and take blankets and pillows to create a comfortable environment in your seats so that it’s easier for them to get some sleep.
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