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Air Canada - Flying Fun
for Kids
Toronto to Kelowna
On a recent family trip to Big White Ski Resort, just
outside Kelowna, British Columbia, we decided to try Air
Canada’s new direct service to Kelowna. This direct flight
provides an alternative to flying into Vancouver and driving
for 3 hours to get to Big White or a connecting flight from
Calgary or Vancouver to Kelowna. It also gave us an
opportunity to see the services for children on Air Canada.
This was the first time we used an E-ticket and leaving
for the airport without an actual ticket in hand was a
little eerie but the system, I must say, is great. We were
pleasantly surprised to find the advance check in for Air
Canada at the airport parking. Show your identification at
the check in desk (in this case at the advance check-in) and
your boarding passes are printed before your eyes. We didn’t
have to worry about losing our tickets for the return
flight. Being a domestic flight, our bags were checked in at
the advance check-in, not to be seen again until Kelowna.
While we were a bit nervous about losing the bags (including
all our skiwear), we had nothing to fear and it makes things
much easier to pre-check the large baggage right away.
Boarding passes and carry-ons in hand, off to the airport
we go. Our Air Canada flight left from Terminal 2 at Pearson
International Airport.
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Imagine our surprise when we
discovered a playground right beside our boarding gate.
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| Designed for children ages 3 to 10, the play area provided a
great way for the kids to burn off some energy on the
slides, tunnel, climbing wall and the large matted area
beside the wall of windows that allow the kids to view
planes
parked at the boarding area. |
The kids had to check out the moving
sidewalk that runs through part of the terminal as well, under
supervision of course and after the groan when mom said
"Only once".
We opted to pre-board our flight. As with most airlines,
Air Canada provides this option when travelling with
children and it allows families to settled in our seats
before everyone else comes aboard. The flight attendant was
waiting with a kid’s log book, activity book and stickers
for the boys. Hand-held electronic games, which we brought
along, can not be used during take-off and landing but the
kids didn’t even notice because they were so busy with the
activity book.
Shortly after we were airborne snacks and drinks arrived.
Pretzels and juice were the order of the day and about an
hour later, serving the kids first, breakfast arrived. With
a resounding "This is great!", the meal of
pancakes, syrup, fruit, sausage and ham was thoroughly
enjoyed and cleaned up before we knew it. Having the
children fed before our food arrived allowed us to enjoy our
meal in relative tranquility.
Next came the visit up front. The captain and co-pilot
invited the boys to view the cockpit, see the view from the
front, learn how fast and high we were travelling and ask a
few questions. All those buttons are just fascinating to
kids and it was a thrill to be able to see how the plane is
flown.
The April Issue of Enroute provided a focus of Air Canada’s
"Air Smiles" program. This program was created by
Purser Guy Brodeur. Young travellers are photographed during
their flight and presented with a framed souvenir with the
date and number
 of their flight and destination.
Pursers sign out cameras on a voluntary basis. While not
available on our flight, the boys were given a picture of
the flight deck from the Captain with some information about
the plane.
Well, before we knew it, the fasten seatbelt sign was on
and it was time to land and voila our luggage made it too!
We had a great flight on Air Canada and were very
pleasantly surprised by the service provided by the flight
and ground crew of Air Canada that helped made our trip both
to and from Kelowna "Flying Fun For Kids".
To obtain more information or to view details of services for
children on Air Canada Go to Kid Friendly Airlines - Air Canada's Policies and Services for Children
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See Travel News:
Port of Seattle issues Press Release - Do Your Part- Pack Smart - remove "innocent but inappropriate items from Carry-on Luggage
As our Family Prepares to Fly, We Will Adjust to Changes in the Sky
For travel information about Kelowna,
British Columbia see:
Tykes Can Tour - Family Biking in
Kelowna
Families Flock to Kelowna's
Waterfront
Manteo Resort - Deluxe Family Resort on Lake
Okanagan
Rediscover Kelowna's Fabulous Lake Okanagan Resort,
Kelowna
For more information on Kid Friendly
Planes & Trains go To
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