Flying with kids is a different experience for everyone. In this blog I’m going to tell you what you can expect and share some tips I’ve learned while flying with my five children ages three months to fourteen.

Children under one fly for free as a lap infant. In my experience, the airline that we flew with, (Allegiant) wanted us to bring Brielle’s birth certificate as proof of age. You can bring a photo copy of the original but it cant be a picture on your phone. I feel they do this for kids who may have just turned one and could pass as under one. Obviously you know a three month old is younger than a year, but that’s how they protect themselves from losing money.

Carseats, strollers, diaper bags and baby carriers fly for free. We checked all three of our kids carseats and our double stroller with our checked bag. You can gate check these items or bring the carseats with you on the plane but only for the kids you have purchased a seat for. I choose to check them because its less things to worry about going through TSA with.

For some people they dread TSA with children. I prefer it for two reasons. One, you don’t have to go through the backscatter passenger scanner. You know, the big one that you have to stand completely still, and put your hands up in. With kids, you walk through the metal detector with them. Easy peezy, lemon squeezy, as Kalani would say. Two, you get through the process much faster, most likely because you don’t have to wait for the backscatter scanner.

Kids also don’t have to remove their shoes. You still have to take off yours but you don’t have to hassle with taking your kids shoes off.

When purchasing your tickets you have the option of paying to pick your seats or being assigned seats when you check in. Personally, i feel like that money is better spent else where. I have our seats assigned at check in. As long as you purchase all the tickets in the same transaction, you check into the flight as soon as check in is available, and they still have a section of however many seats you need available together, your whole family will be seated together. This is what I have done and I’ve never had a problem getting a whole row for the family. Now, I have seen other families split up on a plane. I don’t know if that was their choosing or if they didn’t check in until arriving at the airport instead of online. Good thing is, the airline will always keep kids with an adult. If that ended up being a situation we were put in, I would be okay with it.

Alright, we made it onto the plane, now let’s keep these kids entertained for the flight. Obviously, this is where everybody’s experience is different. With my kids, flying is fun and enjoyable for the first 30 minutes once we’re in our seats. When we’re in the air and all they see is clouds over and over again, they’re bored. With most airlines each passenger gets a personal item, I make sure that each of my kids personal item has just enough to keep them entertained but not too much that they aren’t able to carry it on their own. I include snacks, a coloring activity, drawing pad, favorite stuffy, water bottle, a neck pillow and a jacket. The pillow nor the jacket have to fit into their bag. They can be worn or carried onto the plane.

Some people might want to include electronics. My kids don’t have tablets so I download a few of their favorite shows onto my phone and let them watch something once they get board with whats in their backpacks. As for the baby, I bring toys for her to play with, but she’s always really content if someone is holding her so she was happy the whole time just being passed between dad and I.

Once you’ve made it thought the flight, getting off the plane is easy. If you gate checked any items you can wait for them at the jet bridge them make your way to baggage claim for any items you checked when arriving to the airport. At this point its just navigating the airport and sticking together. If you need help finding baggage claim most airport employees can help point you in the right direction.

In my experience, flying with my kids has always been easy and fun for us all. I hope this blog has answered any questions you might have had about flying with kids and that you have fun and easy experiences traveling with your children as well.