Go, Baby, Go! Our Picks for the Best Baby Travel Gear

Having a baby doesn’t mean it’s the end of your traveling days. With the right baby travel gear, you can keep exploring the world. It just might be a different kind of adventure than the ones you are used to having!

In this series of articles, we’ll review the items that will make your life easier when you travel with an infant, and give you our advice on some specific brands to consider. We’ll focus on the things you’ll need to travel internationally, but you’ll find this baby travel gear useful even if you are staying in the States. Today, we’ll look at transportation items to keep your baby on the move.

Umbrella Stroller

We can’t imagine traveling with a baby without bringing a stroller. (Okay, maybe we can - if we were doing a backwoods trek, we’d skip the stroller. If that’s the kind of trip you’re taking, skip to the next section!) If your trip will involve wandering city streets, visiting museums, going to amusement parks, or anything else involving a lot of walking on flat surfaces, you’ll be glad to have a stroller. The stroller isn’t just for pushing the baby around. It can do extra duty as a place for the baby to nap, or even a secure place for baby to sit while you dine at a restaurant. Even more importantly, the stroller can help you carry all your other baby travel gear!

When shopping for a baby stroller for travel, you’ll want to look for a sturdy collapsible “umbrella” type stroller. Your stroller needs to be able to fold up into a slim shape so you can easily transport it on planes, taxis, buses, and trains. You can find extremely cheap umbrella strollers at big box stores, but it’s worth it to spend more for a stroller that will hold up, and will be comfortable for you and your baby, like the aptly named Maclaren Globetrotter. Look for a stroller with solid construction, smooth-rolling wheels, and handles that are high enough that you are not hunching over to push. A sunshade and a reclining seat will keep your tot cool and comfortable - remember, you want him to be able to nap in it while you’re out and about! You’ll also be glad to have a cargo basket on the bottom of the stroller to stash diaper bags and other gear.

Baby Carrier

Even if you’re taking our advice and bringing a good-quality umbrella stroller, a baby carrier is an important addition to your stash of baby travel gear. As you travel, you are sure to run into situations where your stroller just won’t work. Perhaps you aren’t allowed to push your stroller in to that Renaissance church you want to explore. Maybe the hilly, cobblestone streets make pushing the stroller more trouble than it’s worth. If you want to hike around a nature park, your stroller won’t do well “off-road.” And no matter where you are, you know that sooner or later baby will decide that she needs to be picked up, now!

Having a baby carrier will allow you to “wear” your baby. It keeps your hands free, and saves your arms the ache from carrying your infant for ages. Are you a nursing mom? Using a baby carrier to wear your baby on your front will allow you to discretely nurse your babe, even while you shop or sightsee.

There are a lot of different kinds of baby carriers out there, from slings and wraps to structured hiking carrier. If you’re already a babywearer, you probably have a few to choose from… or maybe more than a few! But if you are new to babywearing, a soft structured carrier like the Ergobaby is a great option. A soft structured carrier allows you to carry your baby either on your front or on your back, like a backpack. They are easily adjustable so both parents can take turns carrying the baby. There are other great options for soft structured carriers - Tula makes carriers in tons of fun patterns, and Infantino offers a well-respected budget carrier. It’s the Ergo’s large storage pocket and dirt-hiding neutral colors that make it our top pick for travel.

Car Seat

Should you take a car seat with you when you travel? That depends on your travel plans. If you will be renting a car and driving at your destination, you should definitely bring your child’s car seat. We also highly recommend that you bring a car seat if you are buying an airplane seat for your child. The safest way for your baby to fly is in his own seat, not on your lap, strapped into a FAA-approved car seat. (Almost all car seats on the market are FAA approved for air travel.)

If you are bringing a car seat for your baby, you’re likely going to bring the one you already use at home. But if you are in the market for a new car seat, and think you may use it for travel, look for a seat with great safety ratings that is very easy to install. Our top picks are the Britax ClickTight series. They install quickly - very important if you’re trying to secure it to an airplane seat with a line of impatient travelers behind you! Even better, they make an audible click to let you know it is installed properly. That will be helpful if you are trying to put it in a rental car when you’re jetlagged after an 8 hour flight.

Some traveling families prefer to purchase a separate car seat just for travel. It makes sense - if you’ve invested $300 or more in a car seat, you might not want to risk having the airline lose it! If you prefer to get an inexpensive car seat that you won’t have to worry about, consider the Cosco Scenera Next. This seat gets excellent ratings from safety experts, and costs less than $50.

How to Fly With Baby Travel Gear

Your days of hopping on a plane with just a single carry-on are over, but don’t let that stop you from flying internationally with your baby! Airlines are very generous in the way they deal with baby travel gear.

Strollers

Your stroller can be gate-checked. You can just roll it down the gangway all the way to to the door of the plane. Remove the baby - that’s a very important step - and fold it up. An airline employee will then tag your stroller and stow it for you.

When you land, you can wait at the bottom of the jetway (or in a designated area near the plane, if you are disembarking onto the tarmac) for an airline employee to bring you the stroller.

Most airlines don’t charge any fees to gate-check your stroller.

Baby Carrier

Your baby carrier won’t be any problem to fly with. They’re made of soft, squishable fabric, so you can easily pop them into any of your bags. You can also use your baby carrier to tote your baby on to the plane. However, you will need to take the baby out of the carrier during the flight, or at least during takeoff and landing.

Car Seat

If you bought a plane ticket for your baby, and she has an assigned seat, you can use your car seat on the flight. Airplane seats don’t have LATCH anchors like cars, but you can install the seat using the seatbelt.

You will also have the option of gate-checking your car seat if you will not be using it on the plane. Some travelers like to use a protective bag over the car seat so it stays clean and so the straps won’t snag on anything. Like strollers, most airlines allow you to gate check car seats for free.

Whether you’re gate-checking or using the car seat on the plane, a car seat can be a bulky, awkward item to haul through the airport. There’s a baby travel gear solution for that, too! You can purchase a strap that connects to the LATCH hooks on your seat to attach it to your rolling suitcase. You can then even use the seat/suitcase combo like a stroller in the airport.

What are your favorite travel items for the baby on the go?

Source: https://passportinfo.com/go-baby-go-the-best-baby-travel-gear/

Biometrics Update: More Biometrics Technology at the Airport

Biometrics enthusiasts tell us about a world where travelers no longer need to use physical documents like passports, credit cards, and boarding passes. Instead, biometrics devices would be able to scan your face, eyes, or fingerprints and quickly clear you to go straight to your flight. Does that sounds like science fiction? It's science reality! Biometrics technology exists, and more and more airports and airlines are incorporating it into security and boarding procedures.

Read on for the latest news about biometrics technology at the airport!

JetBlue Testing Facial Recognition at Boarding

JetBlue has just become the first US airline to test biometrics technology at boarding gates. Starting on June 12, they have been running a test at Boston's Logan Airport. On some flights from Boston to Aruba, they are allowing travelers to use biometrics instead of presenting their passport and boarding pass at the gate.

The biometrics used by JetBlue rely on facial recognition. Passengers who agree to try the program will have their photo taken before they board their flight. Their facial features will be checked against data provided by US Customs and Border Patrol. It takes just 5 to 7 seconds for the facial recognition data to be analyzed. When it shows that the face is a match for the passport and airline ticket data in the system, the passenger is allowed to board.

JetBlue's testing in Boston will run for 45 to 60 days this summer. If the program is successful, the airline will look to expand it to more flights and more airports.

Delta Airlines has also announced that they will test biometrics boarding. They will run a test in Washington, DC, using fingerprint-based biometrics. Their test will be limited only to members of their SkyMiles loyalty program who are also enrolled in the CLEAR system.

Dubai Airport Aims to Go Passport-Free with Biometrics Technology

Dubai is well known for having one of the world's most beautiful airports. Dubai International Airport is also the world's busiest airport for international arrivals and departures. To keep travel moving smoothly, the government of Dubai is investing heavily in biometrics technology.

Dubai's government has signed a major agreement with the UK-based technology company ObjectTech. The company has been tasked with creating a system to eliminate the use of passport books at Dubai International Airport. It's part of Dubai's “10x Policy,” which embraces digital technology in an effort to keep the nation 10 years ahead of the rest of the world.

When the new technology is fully developed and rolled out, passengers arriving at Dubai International Airport should be able to get off their flights and go directly to baggage claim, without stopping to have their passports reviewed.  Instead, passengers will all be pre-approved for entry using an electronic system. We imagine this pre-approval system will be similar to an eVisa process, applied for online. Biometric scanning will allow passengers to be verified quickly, either at boarding or on arrival.

TSA Trials Fingerprint Screening at Two Airports

This week, the Transportation Security Administration has begun testing fingerprint screening at two US airports. Passengers at Denver International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport can try the biometric fingerprint screening at the PreCheck security lanes.

The fingerprint screening will occur at the point in the security process when you'd normally pull out your passport and boarding pass. Actually, during the trial, you still do need to show your passport and boarding pass, in addition to having your fingerprints checked! By using the physical documents as a backup, the TSA will be able to test how reliably the biometrics technology is working.

Trials may be extended to other airports. The ultimate goal would be to revamp the initial screening by a TSA security officer. Instead of having passports and tickets manually reviewed, passengers would be able to touch their fingers to a pad and quickly be green-lighted through to the next stage of security.

Have you experienced any of these or other biometrics technology at the airport? Tell us in the comments!

Source: https://passportinfo.com/biometrics-technology-at-the-airport/

Trump’s Plan to Privatize Air Traffic Control – What Will it Mean for You?

On Monday, June 5, President Trump announced a plan to privatize air traffic control in the United States. Air traffic control is currently a function of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), part of the US Department of Transportation. Air traffic controllers are unionized federal employees. Under Trump’s plan, air traffic controllers would become employees of a non-profit private corporation. This non-profit corporation would also take over the modernization of the air traffic control system.

This week’s announcement doesn’t mean that the plan to privatize air traffic control will go into effect immediately. Instead, the plan will likely be included in legislation to reauthorize the FAA. It will have to pass Congress before it will become a reality.

Assuming that the privatization of air control goes into effect, what will it mean for you as a traveler?

What Does Air Traffic Control Do?

When you travel by air, you will encounter quite a few people whose job it is to keep you safe. You’ll have your ticket, passport, and carry-on bags checked by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers. You’ll see police officers patrolling the inside and outside of the airport. You may get to greet the pilot and co-pilot as you board your flight. And don’t forget about flight attendants! They’re not just there to bring you Diet Coke and pretzels. A flight attendant’s most important duty is making sure that safety regulations are followed in the cabin of your flight, and to take charge in case of emergency. But you won’t see some of the people with the most crucial role in keeping you safe in the air – the air traffic controllers and other employees of the Federal Aviation Administration.

In a nutshell, air traffic controllers are in charge of directing aircraft traffic both on the ground and in the air. They supervise all civil aviation. Civil aviation comprises all non-military flights, both commercial aviation (passenger airlines and major cargo operations) and general aviation (private, charter, and corporate aircraft). They monitor all flights to make sure that aircraft don’t collide either in the air or on the ground. They maintain communication with pilots to help aircraft avoid hazards like thunderstorms. The FAA also sets aircraft routes — if you don’t have noisy airplanes flying over your house all day, thank the FAA!

Controllers monitor air traffic in a number of ways. At airports, some air traffic control is done visually. Controllers both on the tarmac and in the air traffic control tower will literally keep their eyes on the planes. The FAA also requires all flights, commercial and private, to file a flight plan in advance of takeoff. But by far, the most important way that the FAA monitors flights is by radar.

Why Does Trump Want to Privatize Air Traffic Control?

In his speech on Monday, Trump minced no words about the Federal Aviation Administration. He called the current air traffic control framework “an ancient, broken, antiquated, horrible system that doesn’t work.” (We would argue with that, as US commercial aviation is a remarkably safe way to travel!) The biggest complaint about the current state of air traffic control is that modernization efforts have not gone as quickly as some in government would have hoped.

The FAA has been working on a multi-faceted modernization program called NextGen. One major part of NextGen will be to replace the radar-based air control with a GPS-based system. Under the current radar system, aircraft can’t fly directly from point A to point B. Instead, they have to fly from one radar waypoint to another, so that the FAA will never lose track of them. With a GPS monitoring system, more direct routes would become possible. This would also make it possible to have more flights in the air at once, and those flights would be shorter and more fuel-efficient.

Sounds great, right? The only problem is that it’s a very complex set of systems that have to be put into place, for a very important purpose. The life of every air traveler depends on it! But Trump is disgusted that NextGen has not been pushed through quickly, and he believes that a private corporation could do the job faster.

The US would not be the first country to privatize air traffic control. Germany, Italy, and Luxembourg are among the countries that have air traffic control run by a government-owned private corporation, which is funded by user fees included in air ticket prices. The plan that has been put forward by the US presidential administration is very similar to the system currently used in Canada. Canada’s private non-profit air traffic control company, Nav Canada, has been successful in bringing out new technologies quickly, without government red tape. This has allowed for shorter, more fuel-efficient flights while maintaining safety.

Would Privatizing Air Traffic Control be Good for Travelers?

Experts are split as to whether Trump’s plan to privatize air traffic control would be good for travelers and the aviation industry. Of the two major air traffic controller unions, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association is in favor of privatization, but the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union opposes it. Most of the major US airlines have backed privatization plans, with the notable exception of Delta.

We know what you’d results you’d like to see. We want air travel to remain extremely safe, but we’d all love to have shorter, more efficient flights. It would be great to have our ticket prices drop because the airline’s fuel cost is less. But would we see lower ticket prices? Delta Airlines released a study last year suggesting that privatization of air traffic control could result in a 20+ percent increase in passenger fees.

Privatizing air traffic control is far from a done deal. Attempts at privatization have been made since the Clinton administration, and none have yet succeeded. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the development of this story. If there is news that affects travelers, it’s important to us, and we’ll bring it to you!

Source: https://passportinfo.com/trumps-plan-to-privatize-air-traffic-control/