How to survive flying from the UK to Australia with 3 kids!

I don’t know where the time goes sometimes. One minute you’re making travel plans, and then in the blink of an eye that adventure was 6 years ago! It’s been 6 years since we went to Australia. It wasn’t mine or Jay’s first time but the first time we did it with the kids. And thanks to covid it’s still the only time we’ve done it with kids. I can remember the planning so clearly. It was so exciting, almost as exciting as the trip itself. But I also remember the thought of travelling from the UK to Australia with kids as being so daunting!

It wasn’t even the first long-haul trip we had done with kids, but the furthest we had been on a plane with them. I’m not scared of travel, but we know kids are unpredictable! I know my kids can travel, but if they were going to be on their best behaviour was anyone’s guess?

Planning our Flight from the UK to Australia

Planning as always is key. It’s in my nature (and my profession) to plan these things. It helps. Research the airline that you are flying with. What’s the entertainment like? The comfort? Are there kids’ meals? Can we pre-book seats together? How long is the stopover and how many stopovers? All things that should be considered. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, it’s a blooming long flight from the UK to Australia.

We flew from Birmingham to Perth via Doha with Qatar Airways. The first leg from Birmingham to Doha was almost 7 hours. The second leg from Doha to Perth was 10hrs 30 mins. Combined with the 2-hour layover we were travelling for around 20 hours… factor in then the 1hr 30 journey from home to Birmingham and 3 hours in Birmingham airport before the flight. All in all it’s a heck of a long day for adults never mind the kids.

Pre-book seats from the UK to Australia

If you can, absolutely pre-book your seats for a journey like this. I know it stings a bit that most airlines will charge to pre-book a seat on the lowest fares but I guarantee you will be glad you did. We tend to choose a seat at the back of a section in economy for 2 reasons. The first Is that I get annoyed with people standing up and pulling my chair down. The second reason is this is usually closest to the galley and the toilets. This makes it easy to nip into the toilet when it’s free and when the kids want it. Also, it’s a bit of a bonus for me to be near the cabin crew for drinks etc.

Keep your hand luggage minimal

It’s tempting to put everything in your hand luggage for a trip like this. Yes, it’s a long journey, but the in-flight entertainment is so good you probably won’t need all those extra games. We always let the kids take one small game each like playing cards or something like Pass the Pigs. A small toy too maybe and a drink bottle. A change of T-shirt and underwear may be handy too! Most international airlines include food and drinks so you don’t need to clutter up your small space with extra food and drinks.

Pre-order your kid’s meals

Just because you have children booked on the flight doesn’t mean the airline will automatically allocate a children’s meal. You may need to log on and check. while you’re at it, make sure your meal is suitable too. These days there are so many options apart from Chicken or Fish! Vegetarian, Vegan, Kosher, something to suit everyone! If you feel comfortable, you’ll feel better looking after the kids that’s for sure! 

Decide how to spend each leg 

Personally, when my kids were younger 2 legs of a flight were more than enough. So we broke the journey into 2 but I think 3 would have been a bit too much. You might do this differently depending on flight times. We flew out at midday and chose to keep the kids awake as much as possible for this leg, as they would have been at home. Lots of chatting, watching movies and playing games. This enabled us to get on the longer flight, get everyone settled and let them sleep on their natural cycle. This helped so much. The second longer leg was then taken up by sleep for a lot of it for the kids.  

A flight from the UK to Australia might sound crazy with kids. But it is really doable and even enjoyable! It 100% is worth the journey too, and I can’t explain enough how much I love Australia!

 

Whatever it takes, it is worth every little bit of planning. The land down under will forever have my heart, and I will return. You can read more about it here.

Becky x