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Can a Flight Change Your Vacation?

November 23, 2014 By Lena

You’ve planned your vacation; you’ve charged it to your credit card. You’ve taken time off work and taken the kids out of school and you’ve even arranged for someone to come and water your plant.

You’re ready.

But let’s be honest – how often do you take your flight into consideration when booking your vacation? Often, the flight is simply seen as a necessary mode of transportation to get you from your home to paradise. And that’s why it’s easy to overlook the small stuff – like who you’re flying with and the flight options you’ve selected.

Trust me, that stuff isn’t so small.

Your vacation begins and ends with your flight. The experience is what sets the tone for your time away and is the last memory you’ll have upon your return. And that’s why I happen to adore Transat Holidays. Year after year, Transat Holidays is named best tour operator by travel agents in Canada – and it’s not just because they offer flawless family vacations at stellar prices. It’s because of the detail and attention they place on every aspect of your holiday – from the moment you book to the moment you return. And of course, that includes your flight.
Transat HolidaysThe Air Transat Kids Club is for children between the ages of 2 and 11 who are residents of Canada, the UK and France. This program is designed to make air travel a fun experience for young travellers (and for their parents, too!).

Children who are members of the Air Transat Kids Club benefit from exclusive privileges:

– Check-in at a specially identified counter, so you don’t have to wait as long (main airports)
– Pre-boarding at the gate, ahead of regular Economy passengers, so you have more time to get settled into your seats!
– Priority baggage retrieval, so you can collect your baggage earlier and start your vacation sooner
– Free regular roundtrip seat selection
– Automatic entry into an annual draw for a one-week vacation for 4 at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, or a vacation package at a South destination served by Air Transat
– A young traveller profile in which members can update their flight history and personal information

The boys – and every child on board our flight – were treated like royalty from the second we boarded to even after we landed (I’ll explain in just a moment). In fact, the flight crew aboard our Air Transat flight to Cancun was undoubtedly the most spectacular I’ve ever encountered, from their attention to our young travellers needs (hello! activity books and card games) to their generosity and flexibility (don’t like chips? how about some fresh cut fruit?).

My husband and I often looked at each other and smiled, confident the next 3.5 hours would not be nearly as torturous as usual. And trust me, we’ve had some torturous flights.

There’s just something to be said for a flight crew who can both relate to and cater to children. After all, when you step off that plane and your vacation begins, the last thing you want is to be mentally sending your kids back home.

Not that I’ve fantasized about that. I swear. (*Fingers crossed behind my back.*)

So, how else did Air Transat go above and beyond to make the flight epic for my boys? A visit with the pilots in their flight deck! And I only had to bark at Ryder “Don’t touch ANYTHING!” three times!
Transat HolidaysBooking an all-inclusive vacation down south this winter? Don’t underestimate the importance of a great flight. It can change your vacation – by putting you in the right frame of mind to enjoy your time away. To the crew aboard Flight 838, thank you for setting the tone for an amazing family getaway.

Click here to visit Transat Holidays.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: Air Transat, family travel, flight experience, Transat Holidays

Previous Post: « Beaches Resorts + #FamilyTravelCA = Paradise.
Next Post: Holiday Traditions. With Chocolate. »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chandra Christine O'Connor

    November 24, 2014 at 5:49 am

    sounds so much better then the on call military flights we had to use when hubby was in military. very unpleasant trips.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:42 pm

      Oh no! That doesn’t sound good.

  2. Mike

    November 24, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Don’t forget about the complimentary champagne :)

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      HA! Yes!

  3. Anne Taylor

    November 24, 2014 at 12:14 pm

    I love this! What a great way to make a flight more pleasant for everyone involved!

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      Totally agree – it was great!

  4. Florence C

    November 24, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    Great way to take a flight. The plane trip is definitely important especially when travelling with Children.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      Yes, it definitely is!

  5. Treen Goodwin

    November 24, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Its been awhile since i flew anywhere , but i think if you have a bad flight it would certainly change a vacation … the flight is what gets you to the vacation spot , and i would def want a great flight experience as well :)

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      Agreed Treen!

  6. Flora M

    November 24, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    Excellent that they look after the kids so well on their flights ! Makes it fun for the kids and less stressful for the parents (and everyone else on the plane) :)

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm

      Indeed!

  7. SueSueper

    November 25, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    I never heard of The Air Transat Kids Club, it sure is a huge benefit.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:44 pm

      Happy to introduce you to it!

  8. Judy Cowan

    November 26, 2014 at 9:22 am

    I so agree that a great flight sets the stage for a great holiday! That is great that Air Transat has a kids club!

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:44 pm

      So agree with you!

  9. Guppy

    November 26, 2014 at 3:16 pm

    What a great program. Pre boarding for the young, old and infirm is becoming more common but I love the free seat selection and priority baggage pickup.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:44 pm

      Me too. It’s the little things that count!

  10. loucheryl

    November 26, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    WOW! That is awesome how they took special care of your boys! My 5 year old son would go crazy to sit in the cockpit!

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm

      The boys were so happy!

  11. Athena

    November 26, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    I think it’s great what they do for the kids. They truly make it an experience!

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm

      They truly do!

  12. MrDisco

    November 26, 2014 at 10:17 pm

    pre-boarding is a great perk

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm

      Always is!

  13. Stephanie LaPlante

    December 4, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    Sounds like a lovely flight

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:45 pm

      It was spectacular :)

  14. Jennifer P.

    December 7, 2014 at 11:09 pm

    The flight absolutely can make or break a great vacation!! I didn’t worry so much about it before kids, but now that I travel with my kids a good flight, airline etc is key!! I have messed up by booking non-direct when direct was an option, just to save a little bit of money – I know now that my sanity is worth more than $$!! And I will always stick with my usual airlines after I ventured out to a new one last spring break and almost ended up staying home because of a major system mix up on their end. And although I haven’t travelled on Air Transat with my kids yet, I have always liked them as an adult passenger, and your experience was great, so if the opportunity came up I wouldn’t hesitate to book with them again.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:46 pm

      Thank you so much for the feedback, and that is so great to hear!

  15. Victoria Ess

    December 15, 2014 at 11:50 am

    I love Air Transat, and fly on it often. Your boys look so happy in the cockpit!

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:46 pm

      Love that you love them!

  16. Paula-Marie Kucharczyk

    January 5, 2015 at 10:22 am

    Sounds wonderful! It’s nice your boys got to see the flight deck :)

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      It was such a treat!

  17. Emilia

    January 6, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    My grandchildren came from the UK on an Air Transit flight and loved their little pack sack full of goodies.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      Aw, that’s so nice!

  18. Kathy Fowler

    February 17, 2015 at 7:43 pm

    What a great program to make the flight pleasant. Even though my grandchildren are great travelers this would make it the highlight.

    • Lena

      March 5, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      Yes, it’s great for kids!

  19. kathy downey

    January 6, 2016 at 10:34 am

    Leaving and returning is definitely important especially when travelling with Children.

  20. Debbie White Beattie

    March 8, 2017 at 4:43 pm

    It’s so true the airlines are the beginning and end of your vacation. I’m a quadriplegic and airline seating is hard for me because I need room to be able to put my legs up and a little privacy for other things. When I went to Hawaii Air Canada gave me a free upgrade just so I could have a great flight. Our flights were amazing and I’ll never forget how kind they were. Other airlines have tried to accommodate me as well and it’s so nice when people go out of there way to help !

  21. kathy downey

    August 18, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    What a wonderful airline and so much fun to sit up front and see how things work,maybe some day one of your boys could be a Pilot !

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Lena Almeida

Toronto Blogger, Social Media Strategist for Listen to Lena Inc. Television & Radio Personality, Columnist and Speaker. Family Travel Expert. Star Wars Fanatic. Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion. Read More…

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