It was an exciting moment when we finally boarded the plane in Vancouver to fly over to Maui. Everyone was tired from the previous day of travelling, but we all knew that this was the last leg of our journey to complete relaxation! I don't know if I was the only one who gasped in surprise when we stepped onto the plane, and into the Executive Class seating area. WHAT ON THE PLANET EARTH WERE THOSE?!? The plane was set up with new, futuristic POD seats. To accurately understand the concept, just check out the photos below. Alright, so they are very cool-looking, comfortable (they fold completely flat to make a bed), and a luxury - if you AREN'T travelling with toddlers! Travelling with a toddler requires almost complete assistance from a parent at all times - and you have to be seated beside each other to do this! I didn't know how it was going to work - James was basically in his own little room. When we had finally got it all figured out, and settled in (with me in a POD across the aisle from James, and Ryan in front of him), we were informed by a flight attendant that one parent would have to be in the POD behind James, for safety purposes. After rearranging again, we were all set - with all three toddlers in PODs, and parents seated behind them. Frustrating. It actually went better than I thought, although there was a lot of moving from POD to POD to keep the kids happy. It was funny because the POD seats have all kinds of buttons, and can move around like an automatic car seat. We would see the kid's heads just above the half wall partitions moving up, down, back and forth when they played with the buttons! On our way back we had the same situation, except the flight attendants made a big deal about us having James in a carseat. Apparently the PODs "were not really designed for infant travel", and thus the carseat was a safety problem because of the built-in airbags. Yes, airbags. So I had to hold James on my lap for takeoff and landing. Anyway, this is just a warning for all you parents of toddlers who may fly Executive Class in the future. Enjoy the photos - it actually looked really cool when all the lights were off, and the room was lit by blue neon light.
Ryan in his POD.
James' POD. 
James watches TV in my POD.
These tables actually worked well for this.
The POD seats lit up in the dark.
10 comments :
Neato! I have never seen anything like that before! It definitely seems more spacious that the conventional plane design.
That is really cool - too bad you couldn't enjoy it a little more by relaxing without a busy toddler :)
My kiddo thinks James is on a train in this picture.
That is SO COOL! I've never seen anything like that. Was this Air Canada???
Wow! Looks like you were traveling in a space ship! lol. Those look so neat. Air bags? Really? I don't know quite what to say about that! lol.
Those are so cool looking!
is it weird that the thought of airbags in a plane actually makes me feel a little better? even though - for goodness sakes, like a little airbag is gonna save you when you pummell into the ground at a zillion miles an hour. but they look cool! how will i freak out on Rod's shoulder in one of those???
That is so neat!! What a concept!
In one photo James is playing with what looks like a fold out suitcase play yard (?) Where did you find something like that?
I have a feeling that would go over really well when we go to travel in a few months.
Anna - That fold-n-play pack is awesome! We got one for James after seeing one of his cousins with one. We save it for special occasions, like going to a restaurant. It always works to keep him busy for a LONG time! We got a new one for our trip, and it was the same thing - he played with it for a LONG time, and many times over. They are from Matchbox Toys, and we got them at Toys R Us, but I have seen them at Walmart & Zellers.
That is really cool. I wish I could have flown in that plane during my many over the ocean flights!! I would have not been happy with the whole being separated from your toddler problem though. The extra space must have been lovely.
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