Trip Preview: My Daughter’s First Flights

About a month after I got home from Canada and Europe, I went on a short domestic trip with my wife and daughter. While the trip had no interesting flights review-wise, at 6 months old, the trip’s flights were my daughter’s first three flights. We also stayed at a couple of hotels worth reviewing and I briefly visited a lounge that I will review.

Continue reading to see what flights we took, where we stayed, and what articles related to this trip you can expect to come out in the coming weeks.

ANA Lounge Haneda Playspace
With this being the first trip with our baby daughter, the playspace in Haneda’s ANA Lounge came in handy.

Flights

With my wife wanting to visit a friend in Osaka and a botanical garden in Kochi on the island of Shikoku, we decided to combine those two into a two-night trip. It was also a good chance to practice flying with our daughter on some short flights before our trip to Europe that is coming up a week from today.

After considering which direction to go in – i.e. Osaka first or Kochi first – I booked an ANA flight from Tokyo Haneda to Osaka Itami. This meant my daughter’s first flight would be on a Boeing 777-200ER. While I considered using miles, in the end, I booked the tickets with cash as it was just 80 dollars per person or so.

From Osaka Itami, I booked another ANA flight – this time operated by an ANA Wings Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. At just over 50 dollars per person, I didn’t even consider using miles for this flight.

ANA Coca-Cola
The flight from Tokyo to Osaka was the first one I took after ANA started offering Coca-Cola in domestic economy class.
ANA Dash 8
Arriving in Kochi.

Lastly, to get back to Tokyo, I decided to book a Jetstar Japan flight from Kochi to Tokyo Narita. While this meant we would arrive further from home than if we were to fly to Haneda with ANA or JAL, it was considerably cheaper even accounting for the more expensive transportation from Narita to Tokyo.

Considering that I reviewed flights on Jetstar Japan and on ANA’s Q400 before and that we were traveling with our daughter, I won’t be reviewing any of the flights. That said, I will likely compile some of my thoughts on flying with a baby.

Jetstar Japan Seatbelt Extension
Seatbelt extension on Jetstar Japan.

Lounges

Before departing from Tokyo Haneda, we spent some time in one of the domestic ANA Lounges. More specifically, we enjoyed the privacy of the ANA Star Wars Kids Lounge – a small, fully-enclosed kids’ room within the lounge that provided a great space for my daughter to stretch and play a bit without disturbing other passengers.

We also stopped by the ANA Lounge at Osaka Itami Airport. Our stay there was very brief, though, as our flight to Kochi was very early (7:25AM).

While I will not be reviewing these two lounges – I reviewed the one in Tokyo before and we were in a bit of a hurry in Osaka – I will review the lounge that I visited very briefly in Kochi. While the Card Lounge Blue Sky was, like other credit card lounges in Japan, nothing to write home about, I will write a separate in-depth article about it.

Card Lounge Blue Sky
Card Lounge Blue Sky.

Accommodation

Lastly, we stayed at two different hotels during the trip.

As mentioned, our flight from Osaka Itami to Kochi was departing at 7:25AM. Because of that – and to avoid the hassle of having to take a bus or walk from one of the hotels around the airport – we decided to stay at the Osaka Airterminal Hotel which is located inside the terminal.

In Kochi, we wanted to stay in the city center and, after initially booking a different hotel, we ended up changing that to the JR Clement Inn located just a very short walk away from Kochi Station.

I will be reviewing both of the hotels.

Osaka Airterminal Hotel
Osaka Airterminal Hotel.
JR Clement Inn Kochi
JR Clement Inn Kochi.

Summary

Compared to the typical trips I cover here, this trip was shorter with much less “review materials.” It was a family trip after all.

Still, there were a couple of hotels during the stay worth reviewing and one lounge too, so stay tuned for the upcoming articles.

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