I was dreading the long flight weeks before because I know he will be restless and I will not have a yaya with me, plus it's my first time to fly PAL long haul, so I don't know if their service was fine.
Some notes and realizations on this trip.
1. PAL is not baby friendly
They do give their bulk head seats to passenger with a baby, note that it only for one- the paying passenger and baby on lap. Any accompanying passenger with the one carrying the infant must pay the extra amount to be seated in the bulk head seat, even if no other passenger is occupying it.
PAL will not give you a bassinet if your infant is more than 6 months old.
They base it in age and not in weight, so even of your baby is a 9 kilo one year old, the use of the bassinet is not permitted.
I usually fly CX and they always let babies below one use their bassinet even if the baby is beyond 10 kilos. A bassinet for a sleeping baby would have really been a big help.
PAL does not have an infant on lap seat belt. I asked the flight attendant for one and she simply told me, there isn't any. My son was jumping and kicking and twirling during take off and landing, totally not safe.
They gave out two Gerbers for baby food going to Heathrow then gave two bottles of baby juice and 4-5 baby food on the flight going back. I would have appreciated if a blanket was given for Gavin and a small toy to keep him entertained in the long flight.
The worst thing ever was that PAL lost our stroller, even if I left it with them at the actual gate of the aircraft.
After the flight, they said that they checked in the stroller and I would have to get it in the baggage carousel. Unlike other airlines that give you back the stroller after getting off the aircraft, PAL didn't do it on this particular flight. I hope hey understand that parents need the buggy so you can use it to transport your child since there are long walks required in traversing big airports and strollers are brought to carry infants at all times, right? Well...not PAL apparently.
The stroller never came out of the conveyor belt and was declared lost when I reported it.
They said at they will send it to our hotel wherever we are and I gave them our itinerary and hotel addresses. It didn't show up at the hotel either.
I got two missed calls from a UK number which I assumed from PAL, but never got any message.
The website simply stated, stroller en route.
Before headin back home, I went to the lost baggage office and lo and behold, the stroller was there.
They said they sent it to our first hotel, but we weren't there anymore.
They didn't want to send it to Scotland because it's too far and they simply gave up when the mobile phone wasn't picked up after two tries.
Pre-flight with his stroller at NAIA, waiting to board.
2. Everything bad that can happen will happen
Food dropped on the blanker, chair and myself...check!
Poo during the flight....check! Poo again during the flight....check!
Lost items...check!
3. Make sure you have electronic and non electronic toys on hand to keep the baby busy
Books are really useful, a teether, a musical toy, Mickey Mouse and some wooden toys to keep the little hands busy.
4. Bring extra clothes for the adults
Since food was dropped a lot of times, great that I was able to change my shirt before arrival :)
5. For Heathrow flights, they check the breast milk and all baby food in their special machine to check if it is safe to be brought in-flight. Be patient while this is being done!
6. A neck pillow for baby and mommy is a big help when sleeping with a baby on your lap.
7. Feed the baby during take off and landing so his ears won't have any problems. We were lucky that Gavin drank milk during both instances and had no trouble with his ears.
8. Make sure you have a steady supply of infant wipes, diapers, soap free baby cleansers, etc.
Bring a baby carrier (Baby Bjorn) so in case all he'll breaks loose and you loose the stroller, you still have a baby carrier to help you carry your child :)
9. Best to use disposable bibs and bottles during a long haul flight.
10. Pray that both you and baby have a great time...in spite of :)
Pray that you survive. Pray that you will have enough rest to go on for the rest of the trip, haha!
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