Perth Travel Forum

I was wondering if anyone can help. All my husbands family have recently moved to Perth and he wants to go and visit them. Of course I want to as well, but I have a few concerns. I have 2 children, 9 and 3 and I am seriously worried about the flight for the little one. Has anybody done this journey with a little one in tow and do you have any tips to make it as stress free as poss. Also, we were considering going over at Christmas and New Year 2008/9, but I am worried about the heat with my 2 little pasty English cherubs!!!! We do have to fit it around school holidays in the uk, so the only other options would be July & August which I know is winter there, or possibly Easter - does anyone have any thoughts on this??

One last one - in your experiences are flight better with Quantas, singapore airlinesor Emirates. Is one more child friendly or not?

Thanks for your help.

HI!

I live in melbourne and I have a cousin in Perth & yes the weather is very hot... the best time to go would probably be May - July as this is winter and would be the coolest...

I have flown internationally with SIngapore Airlines and they are lovely - Qantas are ok But Emirates is probably the best... I have had friends say that Emirates are one of the best airlines around...

My Perth ex-pat friend suggests going during the Easter season, if you have the choice. Christmas/New Year will be broiling. This year, Perth set a Christmas record of 44C/111F.

Perth's climate is very warm but dry: similar to San Diego and other areas in the SW USA, or similar to southern Greece, southern Spain, Cyprus, etc., in Europe, and North African countries.

As for the kidlings, the fussiest times are the hour or so at take-off and the hour or so at landing. Betweentimes they should be OK if you have things to occupy their attention as well as help them sleep. Prep the smaller one to expect a big adventure and get him/her in a mood to be upbeat, involved, ready to help Mom & Dad on a wonderful journey, a "big" kid, not fearful or anxious. Plenty of rest, relaxation the night before with pre-trip stress & jitters the day of at a minimum. You'll need to set the mood; he/she will quickly pick up on it.

Look for an airline with seatback video screens; I believe Singapore Airlines has them.

I agree with yma123 on the choice of airlines.I personally travel with Q but have friends that have travelled other airlines and Emirates seem to be v/g.
The age of your 2 children are fine and would probably enjoy it,although a stop-over would be more relaxing for you.
Xmas and N/Y can be hot but we do have a/c here and the city is on great beaches and the Swan River.Easter is usually lovely weather going into the start of winter.July can be cold and wet but August is a nice time of the year with wildflowers and everything is green,much like the UK

Also bear in mind that a Perth winter will not be anything like an English winter, think a lot warmer. The days will be shorter if that is of concern.

Hi yma123 :)

I recently moved away from Perth after living there for a year. I am originally from the east coast of Australia and I am accustomed to humid hot weather.

I found Perth quite a refreshing change. Due to the large span of coast line Perth has the most wonderful breeze which keeps the city cool most of the year round. I found the morning quite refreshing, whilst the heat would normally set in at about 11am and last until about 1 or 2. The heat is drier then what I am used to and I personally found summer not very summery.

Perth's heat normally doesn't set in until early January. However when I lived there, it wasn't until late January that it really heated up.

If you are worried about the heat for your little ones I would recommend going around october/november or march/april. The days are then still warm but quite cool at night. Always remember, there are nice airconditioned places to escape to if the heat is a little too much!

As for airlines, I would only recommend Qantas for economy travel in which they are fabolous for. For international, they are terrible! Note that Qantas are quite child friendly (after just about living on their planes as a kid!). I highly recommend Emirates, they are by far the best airline I have ever been on.

And in to regards to being child friendly, unfortunately I don't have children of my own so I couldnt say. You could consider have a break from flying by stopping over somewhere for a couple of days to give your little ones a rest? Or I guess you could always run the guantlet and get it over in one go. For your 9 year old I recommend getting him/her a little gameboy, ds or a psp with lots of games. I used to find my gameboy would entertain me for hours on long flights when I was a kid!

Hope this helps :)

In terms of choice for Airlines I would say your best options are Emirates or Singapore. Have flown both of these more than once to/from Aus and last trip was with a small person on Emirates and they were great.
Both these airlines are very geared to having kids on board and have excellent entertainment systems (100s films and TV channels you can pause/rewind etc - plus video games to play). The cabin crew on Emirates were great with our baby and I have never seen a Singapore cabin crew stressed about anything ever ;-)
One option to think about is taking a night flight for the first 'long' part of the flight (Emirates and Singpore both have flights that leave about 6 pm and then 9pm/10pm) as the theory is then you/the kids will sleep for a good part of that journey as its usual bed time... All the lights are turned down for a good portion of the flight so it helps.
Also seriously worth considering is a stop over - even if its just overnight - and Singapore would be best choice for this - they have excellent deals at hotels and transfers included. Having a decent sleep (and a shower) en route can make all the difference.
In terms of weather - is all said in the previous posts - will be roasting at Christmas ;-)

Hope this helps.

Lucy

Hiya and welcome to the wonderful world of vt. Hope you stick around and enjoy this site as it is the best on the net! :o) In light of what the others said, Emirates would be the best and cheapest airline. Forget Qantas, it's overpriced and overrated as far as I'm concerned. Singapore airlines is very good too but I still think that Emirates is the best value. I would say April is the best time to come from England.....although bear in mind that Easter is an expensive and busy period here. Hope you have a wonderful holiday and if there is anything else we can help you with here on vt, then please by all means ask. That's what this site is all about :o) Cheers, Ann.

dont bother with qantas!! I only fly singapore airlines when i fly international as their service is excellent...i will however be flying emirates for the first time in september as i am flying to dubai! singapore airlines are excellent with children...as is singapore airport...it has playgrounds for the kids while you are waiting in between flights.

a perth winter is like an english summer....the temps are around 16C-25C dont come in summer...i arrived back home in january after being in the uk and it was horrible...i had to wear my winter clothes but have summer clothes packed...the extremities of the temperatures are too vast as well...you come from 5C to 35C-40C

easter would be the best time to come, the temperatures are nice and you can still enjoy the beaches and all the outdoor activities. if you come in jul/aug, although it can still be nice there is always the chance some horrible storm might blow through the city! it can get REALLY windy here and its not pleasant!

Most places in Peeth have air con and swimming pools (although we didnt venture out to the pool on christmas Day this year due to the 44c!!. Kids are very adaptable and the family will love to have you here for Christmas. We had all my husbands family for Christmas 2006 (parents, sister, husband & 4 kids) they loved the relaxed atmosphere spending Christmas eve on the beach lounging round the pool and not spending half the amount they do in the UK. Information from family & friends with kids prefer Emirates as they have a good flight schedule there is also the possibiility of a stop over in Dubai. I wouldnt bother with a stopover in Singapore if it was just to refresh we are only 4 hours away. Check out if your in laws have air con etc. I dont think July August is a good option yes it is warmer than a UK winter but can still be a bit miserable. Easter is a lot cooler but generally clear and sunny I believe the temps are still often warmer than a UK summer. Hope this is helpful.

I would add bring Paracetamol on the plane for your smaller child as some get earache and get distresed. Even just to ge your child off to sleep if necessary. I flew from Germany back to Australia last year with Qantas and a litle boy cried almost the whole way, the staff did not offer any assistance which I found terrible.
For time of year, out of the ones you have selected I would choose Easter, still warm but not the fierce heat of summer.

We have lots of friends and family that fly between Manchester and Perth. We all agree Emirates are the better airline and going via Dubai makes the flight heaps easier for children. Singapore can be stinking hot! Perth will be hot but the worst heat is in Febuary. Even though July and August is winter to us, you will think it is very mild (we think 15 degrees is freezing!).
Easter is probably the most perfect weather.

Dec/Jan is the best time to go if you want to spend time outside at the beach in the pool stuff like that. The flight is pretty crazy but as long as you have lots of stuff to keep the children ocupied they should be fine, it will probly tire them out so the will sleep. wen we 1st come over to aus my lil bro was only 2. yes it is very on in those months but as long as you cover up and put lots of sun cream on you will be fine beacuse u will spend most of your time in the swimming pool or beach.
we flew with singapore once and it was the best airline we flew with they give my brother little packages to play with on the flight and they looked after you really good and as for the films you can controll what you watch and when you watch it, you can even pause it to go to the loo and they also have gamees on there like mario and things like that

Good Luck perth is a lovely place

Thanks to everyone who has replied (I can't beleive there are so many!!!). I will take all of your points on board and presumably will have lots more questions for you all soon.

Thanks again xxx

As you can see, we are a happy bunch and vt is just like a big world-wide family :o) And don't forget that if you and hubby would like a night out without kids to meet some locals, (palm them off to the out-laws for the night haha) then you are quite welcome to flick me an email a couple of weeks before you arrive here and I'll arrange something :o)
Or even if you want to have a family day out and bring your children and hubby's parents, then why not? We're always up to a family picnic day out.
Cheers, Ann :o)