5 Airport Woes You Can Avoid by Staying at an Airport Hotel

Even though inconveniences during air travel don’t always happen, they can become a source of frustration when they do. These disruptions can quickly unravel even the most carefully planned itinerary, and in these moments, most travellers would feel pressured to improvise or tolerate unnecessary discomfort. Booking your accommodation at an airport hotel introduces a more controlled way to manage those situations. Its proximity to the terminal changes how you handle disruptions, providing several advantages when plans shift unexpectedly. Below, we explore how staying at an airport hotel helps reduce the impact of common airport woes and explain how this simple change can enhance your travels. Missing Flights Missing a flight is rarely the result of carelessness. Congested roads, delayed airport transfers, public transport service disruptions, and unexpected bottlenecks at check-in or security can all undermine even the most carefully planned timelines. Any one of these issues can be eno......

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4 Life Hacks for Parents Flying with Kids

* Affiliated Content As a parent, you may love the idea of traveling with your young children, because you can think of no better way to expand their horizons and cultivate their curious minds than by introducing them to new countries, new cultures, new people, new sights, and new experiences! However, as we know from the Star Wars movie franchise, there is a dark side of the force out there somewhere — and for so many parents out there, it is that dreaded time in the air. Indeed, while some kids love flying and decorate their rooms with pictures and models of airplanes, many kids would almost rather go to the dentist (almost!) than board a flight. Of course, they are too young to know or care how airplanes work. But that is beside the point. They know what they like, and they know what they are not keen on and for some flying is firmly in the latter bucket. Fortunately, if you’re the parent of an unwilling or unsure passenger, then you don’t have to limit your adventur......

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How to always be ready for a last minute trip

Over the past few years we have had the odd occasion where the opportunity to go away at the last mintue has popped up, in fact that happened this month. We have now learnt how to pack very quickly for a family of four and getting this skill down to a tee means you can take advantage of those last minute travel deals in which time is the essence. Of course it is easier if you are traveling solo or as a couple but even as a family if you adhere to some basic rules and hacks than a quick break away at the last minute shouldn't cause to much stress. Firstly the most important thing to do is travel light! We very rarely every check any luggage in, instead we always have carry-on luggage. I actually managed to get my clothes and both of my boys into one small carry-on for a weekend, then usually John will take a small bag for him and between us we have our Kanken (small day pack) for small things like food, water and nappies on the go.  Essentials for last minute tra......

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Renaissance Hotel Heathrow with World Privilege

When travelling with kids you want to keep stress down to a minimum so when we recently took a trip to Helsinki we knew we had an early flight from Heathrow and decided to stay at Heathrow the night before so we could get some rest and not have to rush breakfast before flying to Finland.  We wanted to be as close to our terminal while still managing to keep costs down and by using my World Privilege card I managed to get our hotel discounted more than half price, making our stay come in just under £45! This meant we could treat ourselves to nice family meal that evening.  We opted for the 4-star Renaissance Hotel overlooking terminal 3 and we really enjoyed watching all the planes take off from our room, which added to the excitement of our own trip.  The entrance to the hotel parking was a little tricky to find but we got there in the end and check in was quick, easy and the staff were fantastic with the kids. The reception was really impressive a......

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How to Dress for a Long Haul Flight

Having done long haul flights, mainly from South Africa to the UK, from the age of 1yrs old I have a fair amount of experience when it comes to packing and thoughts I would share some top tips with you, if your planning on a trip this festive season. Choosing what to wear when going on a long haul flight can make what is often a long, boring and gruelling experience a little more comfortable and less hassle if you choose wisely. If like many of us you dress for the destination that you’re going to, you’ll probably find that half-way in you’re shivering thanks to the fact that planes turn their air-con up pretty high. This might not be too bad on a quick flight to Spain, but a 22-hour flight to Australia and you’ll feel like a block of ice. But, if you wear warm clothes on the plane, you’re going to be sweating as soon as you step off. What to Wear on Top When it comes to picking tops, it’s all about the layers. You’ll want to be able to layer up on the plane if it get......

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Taking the stress out of overseas travel

Mr A on one of our adventures this year When it comes to a family holiday it's really important for it to start off on the right foot. There is nothing worse than a 5 hour drive to Heathrow or waiting in long departure queues, bored and whining children who have been waiting for hours before you have even boarded the plane or simply having to navigate a massive airport and, inevitably, the terminal you are looking for is the furthest away from where you are. Things like this can make the mood go down pretty drastically. Whenever we plan a holiday we always look at ways to make it as stress-free as possible because with kids excitement can quickly turn into frustration, especially when you’re flying, a tired and irritable child boarding a plan can be a recipe for disaster. So it's really good to hear that local airports now offer far more choice than before, and last year we had first-hand experience of that when we flew from Cardiff to Amsterdam with KLM . I can h......

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Gifts to get kids outdoors

Let’s try to steer clear of only electrical games and gadgets this year. Get your kids active, outdoors and inspired with gifts that encourage new or budding interests and come with a healthy dose of fresh air. Binoculars There are some good quality smaller-sized binoculars suitable for children on the market, and alongside an inexpensive book on wildlife - they make a lovely present. Whether it’s just in the garden or on a trip into the countryside, they’ll have fun identifying birds and other animals. You never know, you may have the next David Attenborough on your hands. Don't know about you but I would love a pair of antique binoculars for myself ( image ) Bike Nothing beats a bike for Christmas. A ticket to independence, the great outdoors and a whole lot of released excess energy; a bike ticks all the boxes and will never go unappreciated. Telescope Introduce your kids early to the mystery and beauty of space. You can opt for a basic teles......

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Our Amsterdam Adventure Part 2

So as some of you may already know last month we flew off on a little weekend adventure from our local Airport, Cardiff with KLM to the Dutch Capital of Amsterdam. It was great being back in a city I had been privileged enough to have lived in for a few months before having Mr A. We were really lucky with the weather and the whole weekend was dry, sunny and warm which meant we got to walk around the city and enjoy places like Jordaan, the flower market, the Buddhist temple on the outskirts of the red-light district and all the beautiful canals in the city centre. One of the things we want to do as a family was a little cruise on the canals but after walking past some peddle boats the little man was immediately taken by them and was desperate for us to hire one, which we did and well what a hairy thing to do - those canals are so busy with boats of various sizes but once we got a hang of the peddle boat and found a few quite waterways we really had a lot of f......

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Amsterdam Family City Break Part 1

Mr A loved all the street art in Amsterdam  So a couple of weeks ago we had the chance to go on a very exciting mini adventure, a short city break to Amsterdam right from our home base of Cardiff with KLM Fly Local campaign and I have to say flying from our local airport really does beat driving to Bristol which is where John flew from to Berlin two weeks prior to our trip. There is something very convenient about knowing exactly where to go and how long it's going to take you to get there and the whole check in was so quick and easy, I think this was helped by the fact we took the 6am early morning flight so the airport was pretty quite anyway. The lovely staff at Cardiff Airport invited us in to the executive lounge before our flight which added to the excitement of Mr A's first flight. The lounge was well stocked with various drinks and light snacks as well as a moment of calm before we boarded the KLM city hopper. The Executive lounge at Cardiff Airport Our......

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