Which airline for domestic travel?

[~kellie~]

I was wondering what peoples thoughts and opinions were on which airline is best for domestic travel? We are travelling from melb to the Gold Coast and I have been looking at virgin, jetstar or tiger?

Also, apart from hiring a car, what other ways can you get from the airport to accomodation easily with a bub?

[Junglemum]

Hi Kel,

I have flown Virgin, Qantas and Jetstar with DD and none really stood out, they were all fine.

You can catch a cab with a baby. It is legal to have them on your lap in a cab but not a regular car. wierd i know! I have done it, with DD in a HAB or ERGO and i put the lap seatbelt on. i 'think' you can order a cab with a car seat. Don't quote me on that but worth checking out. Otherwise alot of hotels offer a transfer service with mini bus or something similar.

[Olive]

i know you didnt ask this question but we also hired all baby equipment whilst in QLD saved lugging stuff up there! we hired a car! how about the bus?

[christy]

The gold coast has good public transport down the beach, its around 30-45 minute though, but you can catch a bus easily enough. Taxi's are okay, and you can hire them with car seats ahead of time. We have done that a few times. If you are staying near the beach, the main road has buses which go everywhere. Its all good. I've often taken the train down to visit my friend & then hopped on a bus from Brissy... saves driving.

[Beckibee]

When travelling with Maddy I swore by Virgin Blue. We've flown the Brisbane to Sydney route since she was 9 weeks old and I always found them very attentive and helpful. If you're flying with an infant (under 2), you can use your pram in the airport and drop it off at the boarding counter a few minutes before you board. They usually give you priority boarding (along with those who need assistance) and they tend to reserve the back few rows for the parents with children.

Did Jetstar once (Bris to Newcastle) and it was was a red-eye early flight but went smoothly. Haven't done Qantas yet with Maddy, but we will just before Christmas when we go home to see family.

You can travel in Qld in a taxi holding your child under the age of 2 in the backseat as Falguni pointed out. Not recommending it, but I know Ive been in a spot before where there haven't been any available taxis with carseats and ours has been with DH in the car at work - I did the HAB thing as well.

[Girl-23]

Any airline but Tiger Airways. You can't even contact them (Tiger Airways). I recently had a very bad experience with Tiger Airways. I missed my flight and couldn't contact them, so I had to go to Melbourne Airport to purchase a whole new return ticket back to Perth. They made me purchase a new ticket! Can you believe that? They refused for me to pay the extra charges despite the fact that I was told that their counter was closed after my flight left me. They are ridiculous! I would suggest Virgin or Qantas. Both are good in my eyes, as I am speaking from experience. I have yet to fly with JetStar, however heard its good also.

[visitor1]

I found Jetstar or Virgin to be the best when flying with kids (I mainly use Jetstar). Virgin were very helpful when i flew alone with Chelsea.

I love Tiger for their flight crew..but horrid for anything else and refuse to fly with them again!!

As for getting to and from airport accomodation...bus, taxi.....but def hiring a car with a car seat is sooo much easier!! In QLD we used Europcar and they were fantastic. Made sure the seat was the right way, had the car organised when we arrived. Just made us feel very at ease.

[shansamkelly]

hi......
i actually work for virgin at melb airport....
i cant really say much except that we do have a few strollers that float around occasionally that you can use.in saying that they are often being used.....we can offer these so you can check your pram in at the checkin counters.....
and we are more than happy for you to take your own pram to boarding gates....it can only be a single pram you can not take a double pram down as they are to big nd bulky for the pit crew guys to carry up and down the stairs.....when you checkin your pram u need to be at the gate 30 mins prior to dep so we have time to organise the tags and the guys to oick it up to make sure it gets listed and gets on the aircraft
we do a pre boarding announcement for ppl who require extra time to board(old ppl ppl with crutches etc) and ppl travelling with infants or to age of 5 to board first......
i have travelled on the bus(its orange cant remeber the name of the company) and it was very easy mind u i dont have a baby yet but i would still do that evn if i had a baby.....
i often see our cabin crew walking up and down the aisles with a baby on their hip while we finish boarding and have seen it several times in flight....which im sure would be a nice break for mums and dads!!!!
i cant say much about tiger have never flown with them but get HEAPS of really bad reports they only have a 15kg weight limit also....
same with jetstar..i have flown with them but with no baby but found all their crew to be decent...

hope it helps