airline suggestions....

[Ai li]

air china-vancouver -- (about $18k for 3) have flown them before. seats tiny, seat back entertainment didn't work (on either flight!). nothing for kids....

If Air China flies direct, I would go for Air china. I wouldnt concern too much about 5 & 7 years old. I personally this IPad can be more entertaining for them. Just worry about the battery life span.

 

[MommyTo3]

I would probably take Korean. My friends in Shanghai hate China Eastern as well. They bring their own meals, everything. I've had good experience with Philippine Airlines and their entertainment system is fairly reasonable. If you want to go cheap, I would take Air China and stock up on iPad and portable DVD. My children have never been awake the whole flight, maybe half so on a long haul they just need to entertain themselves for 6 hours or so which is doable. Even if you save $4000 it's still $4000 and if the layover isn't bad, it's still worth it.

We have the same issue, and try to find the middle of the road between the absolute worse and the directs. There is no direct to my parents anyway, so that gives a lot more options.

 

[AmyH]

I would definitely "rough it" in that situation with children as old as yours. As thanka2 said, if the children were nappy wearing and needed to be carried then the extra $10,000 would be worth it but not now. I would probably go with the cheapest in order to have the most spending money and really enjoy the trip while in Canada and just build yourself and the kids up by saying that "the next 24 hours will be really tough but it will be over then and we can enjoy ourselves!"
Maybe try to book the cheapest, but ensure you are flying at night time for most of the flight so that the kids can just get on the plane and sleep.
Exciting times for you all to go somewhere where Christmas actually feels like Christmas, instead of here where people are on the beach and shopping malls!

 

[carang]

amyH, after spending hours upon hours thinking about it last night, i think i've decided to rough it. at less than $15k on china eastern, i just can't bring myself to spend an extra $6k on airfare in order to fly korean.

i figure that even if i pay for a hotel in hk (flight leaves @ 730am, so we'd have to leave our house @ 430am) we'd still be $4000 up and have that much extra for fun stuff in canada... that's more than a day of skiing in whistler!!!

 

[AmyH]

I would just make sure the packing is done a few days in advance so that the day before you leave you have nothing to do. Get your husband or helper to take the kids out for the day so you can spend the day in bed reading/watching tv/surfing the net in pure relaxation.
Think of worst case scenarios for the flight and assume that they will all happen so that you can be mentally prepared and hopefully it wont be so bad so that you can be pleasantly surprised!

 

[erina320]

First off, congratulations on going back to Canada for a visit. I know you miss your Mom.

Second, Personally I would sleep at home and skip the preflight hotel. You might get 1-2 more hours of sleep, but I think people sleep better in their own beds so though less the quality of sleep will be better.

How old are your children? Unless they are under 3, I would imagine they can be well behaved on the flight with enough entertainment and snacks.

 

[charade]

I think at the end of the day, it's how much you can afford. I would probably go with Korean... sounds like a decent compromise. Btw, I have heard bad things about Cathay - the seats on many flights being very uncomfortable - so don't feel too bad about missing out on it. Imagine how pissed you'd be if you forked out that extra dough and found yourself uncomfy the whole flight.

I'd go for the most comfortable option in my/your budget and sacrifice on spending on the trip. Anyway it's a holiday visiting family I'm assuming so your expenditure can be simple. But that's because I always find long flights tiring and uncomfy (and I've flown great airlines, though always in economy) and end up exhausted on arrival. I'd imagine it would be harder with kids, even older kids.

 

[burrcl]

The only other thing I would add to think about, is what if you are delayed at HK, and miss your connection. Will they hold the plane, and how long until the next connecting flight? Does it mean staying another 24 hours to get the next one, or do they have, say, 6 options per day. My in-laws frequently take connecting flights and seem to 50% of the time miss their connections and get to stay in hell-hole airport hotels for the night (then make a huge fuss and get credit towards next flights, must be why they do it as they can well afford direct!). Just a thought...

 

[carang]

First off, congratulations on going back to Canada for a visit. I know you miss your Mom.

Second, Personally I would sleep at home and skip the preflight hotel. You might get 1-2 more hours of sleep, but I think people sleep better in their own beds so though less the quality of sleep will be better.

How old are your children? Unless they are under 3, I would imagine they can be well behaved on the flight with enough entertainment and snacks.

the problem is the flight is 7:30am. we would have to leave our place around 3:30-4am to make it in time to check in.... hence, a hotel room.

 

[carang]

The only other thing I would add to think about, is what if you are delayed at HK, and miss your connection. Will they hold the plane, and how long until the next connecting flight? Does it mean staying another 24 hours to get the next one, or do they have, say, 6 options per day. My in-laws frequently take connecting flights and seem to 50% of the time miss their connections and get to stay in hell-hole airport hotels for the night (then make a huge fuss and get credit towards next flights, must be why they do it as they can well afford direct!). Just a thought...

i've never missed a connection, ever. the cheapest option has a 3.5 hour stop over in shanghai and returning it's a 5.5 hour stopover. ick!