Tuesday 9 October 2012

Flight Review: British Airways - London Heathrow to Boston with 16 mth old

Who:  My sister Georgina, with her husband and 16 month old toddler
What:  British Airways BA0239 departs Heathrow 7.30pm and arrives 9.40pm.  The return leg BA0238 departs Boston 8am and arrives Heathrow 7.25pm

Check-In and Departures
Heathrow Terminal 5 is pretty easy to navigate for families:

  • Family friendly lanes at security
  • Baby milk and food available to preorder from Boots
  • Plenty of places to eat, Carluccio's landside, and Wagamama, Giraffe and Plane Food airside
  • Plenty of baby changing facilities that are separate from the male/female toilets so that you can go in together
Boston Departure (International Terminal) was pretty basic.  Baby changing facilities were in the toilets so you can't go in there together (dad was pretty happy to get out of nappy changing duties).  They made me taste my baby formula at security and I could not see anywhere in the terminal to buy more formula (or baby supplies).

Bassinet
BA offers 'car seat' for older babies that fits in the same place as a bassinet in the bulkhead seats.  They generally carry enough of them on board, but just in case there weren't enough, we asked for one at check-in, at the gate and when boarding as well.

Onboard
The car seat was big enough for our (large) 16 mth old but she wasn't totally happily sleeping in it. She spent the flight partly on our laps and partly playing on the floor. We lined the car seat with our Moorck baby hoodie which did keep it nice and cosy and also acted as a barrier when she vomited everywhere.

Arrival
We were greeted on arrival in Boston with an horrendous queue that was over an hour long.  We waited for a few minutes with an overtired baby and no buggy (you have to wait until baggage reclaim to collect it) and I then went up to the front to ask to be let through as we had a young baby and they let us through straight away.  Taxis into town are easily available and pretty affordable.

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