Video: Escape Lounge @ BDL Review

December 5, 2019 / babyflyerblog

We value our lounge memberships more than ever when traveling with family. It saves lots of money on airport food and drink, and gives us all a place to relax before our flights, or to get organized afterward. Click HERE or the image above for a quick review of the Escape Lounge at BDL airport with Baby Flyer. This lounge has free access with the Amex Platinum card (plus two guests), or is $45 for entry.

For more videos on lounges, flights, and miles and points, check out any of the other videos on @flyitforward.

-Baby Flyer Blog

Summer in Scandinavia Part 7 – Nakemiin, Hej Hej, and Goodbye

July 12, 2018July 26, 2018 / babyflyerblog / 1 Comment

Waiving bye-bye to Europe. See you next time!

Summer in Scandinavia: Preview

Summer in Scandinavia Part 1: Gear Up and Go!

Summer in Scandinavia Part 2: Well Connected

Summer in Scandinavia Part 3: This Is The Way We Board The Plane

Summer in Scandinavia Part 4: Hello, Helsinki!

Summer in Scandinavia Part 5: Old Town, New Adventures

Summer in Scandinavia Part 6: Hygge With A Chance Of Downpour Part 1

Summer in Scandinavia Part 6: Hygge With A Chance Of Downpour Part 2

And now, the conclusion….

Our trip home was, admittedly, long. We left early in the morning from the Copenhagen airport, which is relatively small and easy to navigate. There are a couple lounge options for Oneworld flyers. We stopped at the “Apartment” lounge, which was the best option at the time. However, CET has been back to Denmark since and they now have an even better option near the British Airways gate, past passport control that’s worth a visit.

Entrance to the non-Schengen (International) lounges. There’s a business class and first class side. First class for Emerald, Business for Sapphire

From Copenhagen, we connected back to Helsinki to catch our return award ticket to JFK. This gave us a chance to spend a few hours in the premium first class Finnair lounge accessible from the international gates. It’s always fun to check out the best lounge at a Oneworld airline’s ‘home’ airport. This one is unmistakably Finnish, complete with a real sauna, right in the airport (yes co-ed and everything).

We both took showers before the flight home, CET tried out the sauna as well.

There are also plenty of good food and drinks, as well as a nice kids’ are with all kinds of books, blocks, and other toys. Baby Flyer had a good time making a mess, which in the Finnish tradition, we then cleaned up ourselves before heading to our flight. This lounge, with or without littles, is worth a visit. It’s less crowded (at our flight time anyway) and with a higher level of amenities than the Finnair Schengen lounge we went to on our way to Copenhagen, and even that one wasn’t too shabby.

I don’t even know what half of this is, but I’m going to eat it. Plus, their glassware game is on point.

The Helsinki airport is clean, lovely, and quiet in comparison to many others, so we were able to let Baby Flyer stretch her legs on the way to the gate. She, of course, insisted on carrying her own passport. If you’re so inclined, there’s also plenty of food and shopping options along the way.

HEL Airport, middle of the travel day. Blissful.

The boarding process was fairly orderly, and we pushed back on time for JFK. With a few exceptions, flights from the US to Europe are overnights, with the return trips being in the day. This is good and bad- you don’t feel like you’re up all night, but babies also don’t sleep for as much of it. Plane time is play time, at least for awhile.

Baby Flyer checks out her Junior Aviator Logbook. Even though it’s an AA thing, all our Oneworld crews have happily signed it.

Finnair gave Baby Flyer an activity/coloring book, and another Moomins cloth/blanket for the flight. We’d packed all kinds of toys and entertainment, so she made herself at home in front of our seats to play. The food, drinks, and IFE were much the same as on the outbound, and we picked up a couple more of the Marimekko amenity kits to take home.

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Setting up shop on our Finnair a330. Soft sole ‘airplane shoes‘ are a must at this stage when they’ll be climbing on you, as well as the floor and everything else for 8 hours.

We made it back to the US fine, but ran smack into a painfully long line at immigration/customs. We have Global Entry, but Baby Flyer didn’t. This meant we had to wait in the ‘regular line’ which was an hour long, even for the automated passport control. This mistake won’t be made again, thanks to our Amex Platinum’s generous reimbursement program for Global Entry, all three of us are signed up now!

We did finally clear, and then had to pick up and re-check our bags to LAX. That all finally completed, we had a brief stop back in the Flagship Lounge to recharge for a few minutes. Really, the travel caught up with us when we boarded the flight home from JFK to LAX. Thankfully, seeing this coming, we’d cashed in some AA miles and booked two business class seats on AA’s best domestic plane – the 321-T. It’s business class is as good as many international routes, and features fully lie flat seats in a 2-2 configuration, which is perfect for two people and a lap infant.

Feels like coming home.

We barely made it through the meal service before all three of us fell soundly asleep for the remainder of the five hour flight. It was just what we needed to be in good shape to navigate LAX on landing, and get ourselves safely home. What is nice about the return flights is that they land later in the day on the west coast, so even if you don’t sleep much on the flights, you can go home and get everyone to bed and beat the jetlag.

They say that travel with kids isn’t a ‘vacation,’ it’s a ‘trip.’ It’s a good way to put it. You definitely have to plan more, improvise more, and have patience. Overall, though, the memories are worth it, and sometimes it’s nice to slow down and just do simple things in another country- like watching street musicians, or hanging out at a playground.

This trip was definitely one we’ve since looked back on fondly, even though we definitely learned a thing or two about what works traveling with an 18 month old, and what doesn’t. That’s all part of the adventure though, and as it turns out, we’re even going to try to do it all again, now with a 2.5 (!!!) year old.

Thanks for reading & Travel well.

~CET, CAR & Baby Flyer

Summer in Scandinavia Part 6- Hygge With a Chance of Downpour, Part 1

February 14, 2018July 10, 2018 / babyflyerblog / 1 Comment

A lovely break from exploring Copenhagen

The trip so far:

Preview

Part 1- Gear Up and Go!

Part 2- Well Connected

Part 3- This Is The Way We Board The Plane

Part 4- Hello, Helsinki!

Part 5- Old Town, New Adventures

It’s always a thrilling experience to arrive and feel at home someplace 5,000 miles from home. It’s one reason that returning to the same place years later, even with other destinations on offer, can be worth doing. It’s even more pronounced when you return, with a baby for the first time.

Almost exactly 4 years earlier, we traveled to Europe for the first time together as a couple, and Copenhagen was one of the first stops. Last time around we stayed a block from Tivoli Gardens in the Radisson Blu. It’s located right in the business/tourist district. We rented bikes from a shop around the corner, and toured the city (somewhat aimlessly, but with a plan).

Nyhavn- Probably the most iconic shot of Denmark. All roads lead here eventually…

The weather was unseasonably warm, and we enjoyed taking our (admittedly well worn, budget priced) bikes on the train to Dyrehaven, frequenting a quaint wine bar with friendly service, and staying out late (ish) to have ice cream sitting on the edge of the Nyhavn canal as the nightlife spilled out onto the streets around us from nearby bars and restaurants.

Copenhagen is (price point aside) a thoroughly livable city, which is what we liked about it. It has plenty of attractions, architecture, and culture all fit into a manageable footprint. There’s no high-rise skyline- few buildings are over 15 or 20 stories at most, and these are the exception to the rule. The old parts of the city are well preserved, while the new structures are clean-cut, and modern to the point of being a Scandi version of avant-garde.

Rosenborg Slot

Everything is accessible by bike or train, and with the possible exception of unexpectedly wandering into Freetown Christiana, easy to navigate without ever really feeling lost. This is also the reason, along with the family-friendly culture, that we decided to give it a repeat visit, now as parents.

So, back to the current trip report! We took the short flight direct from Helsinki on Finnair. Through our Oneworld status, we had access to the Schengen area lounge. It’s nice and ultra-modern, with plenty of food and drinks for free. We grabbed a few seats, and Baby Flyer thoroughly enjoyed going up and down the few steps nearby. In fact, she managed them by herself for the first time! It’s the little memories….

It doesn’t get more Finnish than this.

Mmmm….. Buffet with a view! I should also strongly point out the plugs in the background. Yes, you need to bring power adapters! Everywhere, especially in Airbnbs! We have two of the Targus Universal Adapters, and they’ve served us well. Keep in mind that one may not be enough, depending on how many things you need to plug in at any give time.

There was a small kids’ area in a corner, but it was smaller than one might expect for a lounge of this size, but a nice thought anyway. Baby Flyer was having too much fun hanging out with us to play in it anyway.

Kids’ corner.

Our flight went by quickly, and the service was good. As Oneworld elites, we could check bags for free, pre-select our seats, and were served free drinks even though we had purchased the lowest level fare. One more reason to pay attention to who you fly, even for short hops abroad. What looks like a cheaper fare with a competitor can come with some hefty fees you’re not used to having to think about.

All that fun in the lounge finally tired Baby Flyer out, and she spent the trip taking her nap. Quite unlike her, the nap even continued through deplaning, and all the way to baggage.

She knows how to wait patiently for checked baggage…

Our next destination was our Airbnb townhome on Oster Farimagsgade, in the city center, near the botanical gardens and lakes. We bought tickets for the Metro, headed for the Norreport station, but ended up on the regular train by mistake. As it turned out, all ended well, and this train was headed for that station also. Thankfully, no one checked our tickets! For the return trip, we had it sorted out. Both the trains and the metro here are good options to get to town, depending on your final destination. The main difference at the outset is that the metro doesn’t go through the central station, stopping at Christenhavn and Kongens Nytorv instead.

Welcome home!

Our Airbnb was wonderful, quirky, and homey- everything you want in a stay in Denmark, right down to the little Danish flags everywhere. This is standard, the Danes put their flag on everything! Might have something to do with it being the oldest one still in use…. might be a viking thing, who knows.

Sorry, no you can’t have your place back. We live here now.

The place was two stories, with a terrace and loft on the top floor. It was modern but cozy, and fully furnished. As per usual, the thing that took the most adjusting to for us Americans was the bathroom, as the shower water just drained right from the tile floor, and would flood much of the space if it ran long enough. But once again, this is par for the course in many of the old buildings in this area. We (mostly) got used to it. Plus, it would be far from the last water-related incident we learned to deal with on this trip.

More to come….grab your umbrella…

~CET, CAR & Baby Flyer

Weekend Trip to Whidbey- Day 1

December 7, 2017 / babyflyerblog

Since the holidays are just around the corner, and we’re planning our yearly trip up to Whidbey Island to visit family, it seemed like a good time to finish up this trip report from earlier in the year. We always enjoy going up north, and American’s new non-stop flights have made it even easier for us lately. Thanks for reading!

Last weekend we took a last minute trip to Whidbey Island to visit family. Whidbey is a beautiful and mostly quiet island north of Seattle. We try to go a few times a year to visit, CET’s Mom, and Madeline’s 96 year old Great Grandmother.

It took us longer than we expected to get to LAX, so we ended up taking the bus to the satellite terminal where our flight was leaving out of and going to the smaller Admirals Club instead of going to the main club in Terminal 4. The satellite club is small but has the same food offerings as the main club. A variety of trail mixes, cheese and crackers, hummus, fresh vegetables, olives, angel hair pasta with capers and tomatoes, and mini brownies and a couple kinds of cookies. It gave Baby Flyer a place to push around her Trunki before our flight.

Baby Flyer’s outfit by TEA (click for 25% discount), baby moccasins by FRESHLY PICKED

We were on a regional jet to Seattle. Before boarding we found out we were upgraded thanks to CET’s Executive Platinum status. Using Expert Flyer, we knew it looked good for both of us to get moved up, so we linked our tickets so our upgrade was based on her status and I used two of her 500-mile upgrade vouchers (about a $60 value if you don’t have enough available). We opted to sit together in the bulkhead and were pleasantly surprised with how much leg room there was. It felt quite spacious. Baby Flyer stood and welcomed our fellow passengers onto the plane. She loved it!

Welcome to our flight to Sea-Tac International Airport. Our flying time today will be approximately 2 hours, and 45 minutes. I’ll be your Baby Flyer ambassador for the day…

Much to our surprise, we were served a full meal. This regional jet didn’t have any way to heat entrees so we had the choice between a cobb chicken salad (with the chicken on the side, perfect for vegetarians!) or a curry chicken wrap. We were served a small slice of caramel cheesecake for dessert. Neither of us were expecting a meal, so we probably didn’t need to eat so much for lunch in the Admirals Club beforehand. Live and learn. Neither of us finished our entrees but we enjoyed a few bites. I’m a vegetarian and I had the salad and CET had the wrap.

Since Baby Flyer hadn’t napped yet, and she usually starts her nap between 12 and 12:45, she slept most of our flight up, which gave us time to kick back and relax ourselves.

We flew out of LAX around 2pm on Friday and flew back on the around 8pm on Monday. Leaving LAX at 2pm meant we arrived in Seattle in time for rush hour. Instead of sitting on the freeway in traffic, we opted to visit the Centurion Lounge in the Seattle airport and have some dinner before heading to the rental car center.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Centurion Lounges, they are an airport lounge provided by American Express for cardholders. The lounges offer regionally inspired food, drink, and comfortable seating. Some of the bigger clubs even offer spa services (15 minute massages, manicures, and facials) and have a kids’ play room. Currently, they are in Dallas (DFW), Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), New York (LGA), Miami (MIA), Seattle (SEA), and San Francisco(SFO). It seems like they are constantly working on expanding the network, and we’ve heard talk that in the near future there will be one in LAX. We have the American Express Platinum Card and try and take advantage of all of its benefits. At some point we will put together a post outlining the card’s benefits for any who’re curious.

The Centurion in Seattle just opened a new area with lots of additional tables and chairs as well as a full bar. Prior to this, they served beer and wine and it was served by the waitstaff. Baby Flyer appreciated the new expansion and spent time against, pushing her Trunki throughout the club. She made friends with all the waitstaff and loved the attention.

We left the club around 7 and headed to the rental car center. By the time we were on the road, traffic was still slow in some areas but was basically moving. We made the 8:30 ferry to Whidbey and soon after we were settling in for the day.

Up next- Some island time.

Summer in Scandinavia Part 3: This is the Way We Board The Plane…

November 17, 2017November 17, 2017 / babyflyerblog / 3 Comments

Here we go!

….Board the plane, board the plane.

The story so far:

Preview: Summer in Scandinavia

Part 1: Gear Up and Go!

Part 2: Well Connected

After our early morning and hop to Boston, it was nice to make it to our final stop before Europe. We don’t routinely find ourselves going through JFK, so spending a little time there was a nice change. Plus, we were traveling internationally and so CET’s American Executive Platinum status got us into the Flagship Lounge half of the Admiral’s Club.

Busy afternoon at the JFK Flagship Lounge

We had a couple hours before our flight, since it was an overnight (as most transatlantic flights tend to be) and so had time to have a meal at the buffet, and let Baby Flyer roam around.

This lounge has been recently re-done, and they did a good job. However, during peak times even this expanded space is full to capacity. We ended up grabbing a couple chairs along one of the walls, but almost every seat was taken.

Full buffett

The food consists of a full hot bar, as well as snacks and desserts. The drinks are self-serve, and included a wine/champagne bar, as well as a station with a refreshing ‘signature cocktail.’

Baby Flyer loves some lounge time, and especially enjoyed looking at the planes outside while walking along the wall of windows that makes up one side of the lounge.

At about 45 minutes out, we headed to our gate. They hadn’t started boarding yet, but it was good we were there on the early side as they needed to re-check our passports (standard procedure). Since we were in business class, we boarded early. Baby Flyer LOVED getting to walk down the jetbridge on her own two feet, and holding her own passport!

The plane was one of Finnair’s a330 workhorses. It has two classes- business and economy, and while the seats were lie-flat and functional, could use some updating. Finnair has been doing just that through their fleet, including newly purchased a350 long haul aircraft that look amazing inside.

AY a330 Business Class

We sat in 1A and 1C, which was a window seat and aisle at the front of the cabin. The interior is laid out in a 1-2-2 or 1-2-1 layout, depending on the row. This gives good options to both individual travelers and couples. One thing the service lacked was any kind of mattress pad, which would have been a welcome addition since the seats were on the hard side for sleeping.

Baby Flyer shows us how to fasten our seatbelts

Finnair does its best to be quintessentially scandi with their decor, including brightly patterned marimekko pillows and blankets, as well as amenity kits. Their signature pre-departure drink was sparkling wine and blueberry juice, served in ice patterned glasses.

Inspecting the amenity kit

Signature drinks before takeoff

The IFE was solid, and included a lot of things you don’t find on AA or Qatar, or probably anything outside of Scandinavian TV, including plenty of nature specials and outdoor adventure documentaries. Ice. So very much walking around on ice.

Rocking out!

I always enjoy checking out new airlines. Even though Finnair isn’t a true luxury airline like Qatar or Cathay Pacific, it’s a solid choice with pleasant service and a good reputation. What’s even better about them is that they’re a way to get to Europe that can both avoid the huge award fees that British Airways and Iberia tack on, and can let you skip the chaos of connecting in Heathrow.

The key to award travel to Europe is to just get to Europe, pretty much anywhere in Europe, and then connect from there to where you actually want to go. Bonus if you actually want to go to the destination, like we did with Helsinki.

The flight itself was long, and not too long at once. It was an overnight but only 8 hours including taxi, take off, landing, and meal service. This is the downside of flying East Coast to Europe- even the longest flight only provides for about 4 hours sleep if you’re lucky. We took off and watched the sunset out of the windows before settling in.

We’d brought her plenty of pack-able toys, and she was entertained for a few minutes here and there by watching the IFE, or listening to the ‘Finnish Kids’ song station through our Bose. She also played at our feet for awhile, and set up a fort of sorts in the bulkhead. They handed out Moomins themed towel/blankets to the kids, and she enjoyed ‘going ny-ny’ on hers.

Everything is Moomins

Making a fort

Traveling with a lap infant, especially a lap toddler, is infinitely better the more space you have. She eventually fell asleep, first on CET (much to CAR’s delight), and then moved over after awhile. We didn’t sleep much at all, but she did, and woke up grinning and happy on final descent. We should all be so lucky.

Someone got to sleep at least

Overall, it was a comfortable way to get the three of us to Europe, especially since we could handle some lost sleep since we didn’t have immediate plans for the day once we got there.

Travel well,

~CET

Up Next- Helsinki!

Hyvää päivää!!

DFW Centurion Lounge Children’s Room Review

July 11, 2017 / babyflyerblog

We often have a layover at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Especially when traveling across the country with Baby Flyer (LAX to BDL), DFW is almost in the middle. It’s a nice point for us all to stretch our legs and have a change of pace. Plus, it breaks up the travel time into two manageable flight times (less than 4 hours each, usually somewhere between 2 hrs 30 min and 3 hrs) which makes it seem less daunting, especially when traveling alone with a baby. We typically have 6am flights which equal an early morning for all of us. I usually can count on Baby Flyer to nap for at least part of each flight which also helps break it up.

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Since we’re American Express Platinum members, we have access to, and almost always visit the Centurion Lounge when we are in DFW, even if it means riding the Skylink and switching terminals. It’s worth it! They have a delicious full complimentary buffet that changes throughout the day, plus free drinks (both alcoholic and otherwise), and even offer 15 minute manicures, facials, and massages! They also have an excellent kids’ space that has never been crowded. We’ve always either had it to ourselves or shared it with one or two other kids.

The Centurion is located in Terminal D, opposite Gate D17, on the mezzanine. The Centurion can be reached from any other terminal via the Skylink train. Its current hours of operation are 5:30am to 10pm. Terminal D is the international terminal and was relatively recently renovated. The Terminal itself has high ceilings and an open feel.

The kids room is a bit hard to find if you don’t know it’s there. We’d been going to the Centurion for years before having Baby Flyer, and we never even knew it had a kids’ room. I was so delighted the first time I learned it was there. It is to the right of the entrance tucked in the far corner next to a conference room. To keep the room clean and tidy, no food or beverages are allowed. Aside from the slight inconvenience, I appreciate that the space is clean. I usually grab something to eat from the buffet and then once I’m done, we head back there to let Baby Flyer loose to roam around and play.

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The room itself is light and airy, as are the other spaces in the lounge. It’s not huge but has luckily never felt crowded. There are puffy ‘chairs’ to sit along the perimeter on one side, a young children’s height shelf with lots of toys, a large activity cube with things to do on all sides, as well as a television for older kids.

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Overall, it’s as good or better than any domestic lounge childrens’ lounge spaces we’ve been to, and the added bonus being that the lounge is awesome from an adults’ perspective as well, so truly fun for the whole family. It makes keeping our Amex Platinum membership make even more sense. There’s currently lounges like this also in Houston, Miami, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Newark, with more coming soon, including Philly and Hong Kong. They’re worth planning stopovers around!

Travel well, and enjoy,

~CAR

Monday Layovers

December 5, 2016December 21, 2016 / babyflyerblog

Baby Flyer hit the road again this week & enjoyed a stop along the way at the Centurion Lounge‘s kids’ room in DFW. It’s a great space for the little ones, and parents can enjoy free food, drinks, and spa services. Her traveling outfit for the day is by Tea who’s styles we LOVE! Happy travels!