Flying with kids: the practical guide
Travelling with kids is not travelling with more complications: it is travelling with more planning. The families who seem to float through airports are not luckier, they have just settled in advance the ten details that derail a departure. We built this list from the questions families ask us most often before leaving Quebec City.
Choosing family-friendly flights
The best family flight is the simplest one: direct if possible, otherwise with a generous connection, because running through an airport with two kids and a stroller is not a plan. Leaving from Quebec City has a real advantage here: the airport is quick to get through, and in winter several sun destinations can be reached nonstop.
Schedule-wise, a mid-morning takeoff avoids waking everyone at four a.m. while keeping the day manageable. For long distances, the overnight flight lets kids sleep through the bulk of the trip.
Seats, babies and young kids: the useful rules
Under two, a child can travel on an adult's lap, free or for a fraction of the fare depending on the destination; they are still generally entitled to a bag and often a checked stroller at no charge. From age two, every child has their own seat, at or near full fare.
Do not pay for seat selection blindly: Canadian airlines must seat young children near a parent at no extra charge. Check the assigned seats at check-in, and if needed, the counter fixes it better than stress on board. The stroller usually goes right to the aircraft door before being checked.
The family carry-on, the version that works
Plan for the cabin: food (plane snacks are expensive and come late), a change of clothes per child and one for the parent, medication, and more diapers than the reasonable calculation. Screens get charged the night before, with kid-friendly headphones, and one or two new toys kept in reserve work miracles mid-flight.
For ears at takeoff and landing: a bottle or nursing for babies, gum or a chewy snack for older kids. It is the old trick, and it works.
Departure day, family edition
Add half an hour to what you would normally plan: everything takes longer with kids, and a buffer turns hiccups into anecdotes. Family priority boarding is worth it to get everyone settled, but if boarding runs late, letting the kids run until the last minute is sometimes the better choice. And remember that every child needs their own passport, with a consent letter if only one parent is travelling.