Taking the trauma out of travelling with children

Taking a flight with young kids needn’t be too much of an ordeal – by planning ahead you can ensure that everything goes smoothly when you arrive at the airport

‘FANCY A TRIP to London with the boys?” my sister asked. Great in theory but slightly more difficult in practice. With dad otherwise engaged, the thoughts of bringing an almost five-year-old and a one-year-old through the airport and on a flight to England left me feeling slightly travel sick.

Airport Genie is a service available at Dublin Airport. To my son’s disappointment it wasn’t all smoke and turbans but rather a regular guy in a pink T-shirt. The ability to glide through a priority check-in was pretty magic, however, and without the extra set of hands my Airport Genie provided I would have struggled when it came to folding the buggy, emptying the contents of my pockets, keeping an eye on a distracted four-year-old and holding the baby.

I think the fellow was slightly taken aback when I thrust the baby at him and said, “Erm, can you hold him for me please?!” but he rose to the occasion. He helped to carry my bag and had we chosen to purchase goods at The Loop shopping area he would have helped to carry our purchases also. He escorted us to the boarding gate, using his own system when the public display screens had yet to reveal our gate number, allowing us to make our gate with plenty of time to spare and without wasting money hanging around.

I found the service convenient and we were attended to promptly, the chap was punctual and easy going and for groups or large families the convenience of the priority check-in would be worth the spend.

There are various packages including the Genie Family Care package – valid for up to six people – which costs €45 and includes access to the fast-track boarding channel and help with shopping and hand baggage. The Genie Lounge package may appeal to those wanting space to work or relax pre-flight – it costs €24.95 per adult and provides access to the fast-track boarding channel and to the executive lounge. For €4.95 you can avail of the Genie Fast-Track, which gets you through the fast-track boarding channel. See airportgenie.comfor more details on available packages.

Trunkies definitely take the pain out of travelling with kids. You may have seen kids whizzing around on these hard novelty suitcases at the airport. Not only do they look great, but with 18 litres of space they can hold quite a lot.

Because children can sit on them there’s no more moaning about tired legs and the fact that you can wheel the child along keeps your children under wraps in crowded areas. Trunkies are available from Halfords, Littlewoods and littledreamers.ie.