Brian Lehrer: Brain Lehrer on WNYC. We're ending the pledge drive each day with travel tips from a travel expert. Back with us again for the last two days is Brian Kelly, who founded the travel website The Points Guy in 2010. His new book, How to Win at Travel, provides advice on all kinds of things. We talked last week about how to book the best deal, how to handle when things go wrong and how to stay healthy while traveling. We continue now with How to Win at Traveling With a Family. Uh-oh. Brian, welcome back to WNYC. Thanks for doing these segments with us.
Brian Kelly: Thanks for having me.
Brian Lehrer: You write, "Travel starts to change even before your child is born." Of course, you recommend any new parents check with their doctors. Generally, is it safe to fly up until a certain point in pregnancy?
Brian Kelly: Yes. Most doctors, board certified physicians will say healthy women who are having "normal pregnancies" can travel almost up until their due date. I think most pregnant women traveling the second trimester is the sweet spot for traveling and that's when it's best to take baby moons, so to speak. Yes, women traveling while pregnant can do it healthy and in a safe way, but definitely make sure you get up, move around, keep your blood circulating, especially as you get further along in your pregnancy.
Brian Lehrer: What was I ignorant about there? Did you use the word baby moons?
Brian Kelly: Yes. Baby moon is a popular trip that pregnant couples take before the baby to have that one last hurrah of independence.
Brian Lehrer: Oh, like a honeymoon. Ah, got it. What age can babies fly at? I think you say it depends on the airline.
Brian Kelly: It depends on the airline. I had my children through surrogacy, so I wanted to get home pretty quickly. Children can fly as soon as three days or upon doctors' blessing the flight. A lot of airlines do have policies, a seven-day or 14-day policy, you might need a doctor's note. In general, I think most board certified physicians recommend waiting till at least three months. That's the point when if a baby gets a fever, they don't have to go to the hospital and potentially get a spinal tap. Three month is the sweet spot to start traveling safely.
Brian Lehrer: You write-- staying with the young kids for now. "Flying on either a domestic or international airline with an infant under the age of two also comes with a dizzying assortment of seating rules." Is there a general rule that can be helpful?
Brian Kelly: Within the US, you're actually able to buy a seat for your child under two and put them in a car seat, which most passenger safety technicians recommend. We've seen a lot of turbulence. If anything goes wrong, your baby is safer when they are in their own carrier. However, for a lot of traveling parents, they will hold infants in lap, and that's very much a personal decision. Internationally, a lot of airlines won't even let you bring a baby carrier on board because kids shouldn't be in carriers for over two hours. On those long international flights, there's sort of a balancing act. In general, with parents, I recommend just know the airline rules, so that if you do decide to bring your baby in a carrier, sometimes the flight attendants will push back on that, and it's very important to know what the FAA rules are and to make sure that your baby carrier is certified for use in flight.
Brian Lehrer: Huh? You write, "Baby wearing during takeoff, taxi, and landing isn't permitted." Now that I didn't know what a baby moon was, what do you mean by baby wearing?
Brian Kelly: That's simply a lot of having a carrier where your baby's on your chest or even nursing your baby in one of those carriers during takeoff and landing, they have to be out of that. Same thing, bassinets on planes, which are cribs, basically, that attach to the bulkhead wall. Those can be great for traveling families. During takeoff, landing, and any turbulence, you'll have to take your baby out. All things to know for traveling parents.
Brian Lehrer: A car seat is a good option for kids in cars, also on airplanes?
Brian Kelly: Absolutely. There's actually a car seat called the Doona for babies, usually around under a year or so. A car seat that turns into a stroller, so you can put it into a rental car or an Uber, and then you click a button and all of a sudden it becomes a stroller. You can actually bring that on the plane and snap it into the seat so your baby has a car seat that also doubles as a stroller. One of my main tips for traveling parents is less is more. You want to be able to have hands free and not be laden with too much luggage.
Brian Lehrer: Right. Of course, you have to buy a seat if you're going to use the car seat for the kid. I noticed that one of your reminders is that babies need passports while traveling abroad. I actually got caught in that. My wife and I, with our firstborn, were flying to Canada when he was a baby, and it didn't even occur to us. They said, "No, no, he can't get on. You don't have an ID." We had to go back and change the flight and everything. Talk a little more about that.
Brian Kelly: Oh, yes. One of the first things that I do-- Once you get your birth certificate, usually in the mail these days, apply for a baby passport. Basically, traveling anywhere these days outside the US, you need to have a passport. However, if you have TSA PreCheck or CLEAR, those airport expedited services, your baby can go along with you. However, if you have Global Entry, which I highly recommend, if you're an international traveler, that's the service that when you come back to the US you go through a kiosk and are usually through immigration in under a minute.
Your baby, even as young as a week old, needs to have their own Global Entry. Luckily now the government just changed the rules where Global Entry is free for children. You used to have to pay $100, so now it's at least free, but you have to apply for it. I recommend when your child's born, apply for Global Entry and a passport right away because there can be delays.
Brian Lehrer: All right. Last thing, you write, "The best way to get toddlers or older kids to behave on planes is to get your kids excited about flying." What might that look like?
Brian Kelly: I think reading books to your kids about travel, setting them up for the big day. Also, I'd recommend just keeping your kids busy, so bringing brand new toys that they've never seen, or maybe their favorite snacks that you only give to them on special occasions. The more you can associate flying with excitement and happiness and new adventures, the better it is for everyone on the plane.
Brian Lehrer: You answered that so efficiently. I'll throw in one more. Unaccompanied minors. How does that process work, very briefly?
Brian Kelly: Children can fly-- It depends on the airline, by themselves. The airlines will have-- They'll put them in a certain part of the plane and make sure that they get on the flight. Here's what I recommend, because we've seen unaccompanied minors actually get on the wrong flights. As a parent, even if you're not flying, you can get what's called a gate pass, so you can accompany your child to the gate. You can watch them with your own eyes board the correct flight. I highly recommend that. So many parents don't know that that's an option, but always ask for the gate pass. You can see them get on the plane with your own two eyes.
Brian Lehrer: Brian Kelly, AKA the Points Guy and author now of How to Win at Traveling. Thank you for today. You'll be back one more time tomorrow with more travel advice. Talk to you then.
Brian Kelly: Safe travels.
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