Family Air Travel Stories: Even Young Kids Develop Brand Loyalty

Other posts by MudslideMama

Jet Blue Airplane, by Mike SoucieMy family spent a summer week in New York City, notable mostly for its daily downpours, alternating with scattered showers and incredible humidity. Needless to say, my family was looking forward to returning home to dry, humidity-free Los Angeles. Due to some travel planning snafus, we were round-trip passengers of Jet Blue for the first time. Jet Blue has a lot going for it, but its egalitarian layout may leave the luxury travel lover feeling a bit adrift.

My family typically flies American Airlines, as that’s where our frequent flyer miles are, and we manage, occasionally, to use these miles to get upgraded to business class. Ah, the luxury of flying cross-country in the business-class section! Forget the comfy seats which fully recline, forget being served a real meal with real cutlery; my older kid’s favorite part about flying business class on American Airlines, is the heated mixed nuts served by flight attendants at the beginning of the flight. She loves picking through both her and my bowl for her favorites, and is as hopeful as the title character in “Oliver” that she’ll get some more.

This fact occurred to her as we waited to board the Jet Blue airplane for our trip home. Jet Blue has very friendly flight attendants, but they sure don’t serve heated mixed nuts. The lack of prepared meals and pampering is one money-saving aspect of Jet Blue that helps keep their costs down, and this is reflected in their much less expensive tickets (we saved nearly a thousand dollars by choosing Jet Blue for this last-minute trip). But in the waiting area of JFK, my charming eldest realized the loss of business class amenities would continue as they had on our Jet Blue flight to NYC. I watched her freeze, momentarily and in mid-step, as this realization hit her with full force.

The only thing for a kid to do when facing such adversity, apparently, is to chant. And soWarm Mixed Nuts are a Real Crowd-Pleaser, by Janice Lo she did: “Warm nuts! Warm nuts! Warm nuts!” …This, repeated loudly in the hopes of inciting the crowd a la “Attica” in Dog Day Afternoon. Well. Al Pacino she’s not, and the crowd of travelers remained un-incited. I, however, was deeply embarrassed; I hushed her as quickly as I could, and bustled her through the security line. We couldn’t board fast enough!

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February 10, 2008 | Filed Under Budget Travel, Family Travel, Flying High, Luxury Travel 

Comments

7 Responses to “Family Air Travel Stories: Even Young Kids Develop Brand Loyalty”

  1. Great Travel Links for 02.18.2008 » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel says:
    February 18, 2008 at

    [...] **  Air travel with kids is always a challenge, especially for single parents.   If they’re treated well, however, that airline may have a customer for life. [...]

  2. MudslideMama says:
    February 18, 2008 at

    Thank you for the link, Seafarer! Glad you liked my humiliation. :)

  3. Carnival of Travelers Celebrates Family Travel says:
    March 7, 2008 at

    [...] Williams presents Family Air Travel Stories: Even Young Kids Develop Brand Loyalty posted at Traveling [...]

  4. A Traveling Mama Tries a Ski Vacation « Traveling Mamas says:
    March 22, 2008 at

    [...] family ski trip to Lake Tahoe. Yes, a ski trip. Yes, in the winter. Yes, me, alright already! The kids and their cousins had such a blast, and didn’t complain once about the physical exertion or [...]

  5. Best Ways to Kill Time in Any Airport « Traveling Mamas says:
    March 26, 2008 at

    [...] you’re traveling with kids, find the children’s attractions. Some airports have lame play areas (DIA’s goofy [...]

  6. Bye, Bye Miss American Pie « Traveling Mamas says:
    June 4, 2008 at

    [...] what does this mean for American families wanting to travel by air? I say look to airlines such as Air Jamaica to take up the slack and profit from the US-based [...]

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    August 19, 2008 at

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