First family holiday abroad to San Francisco help please

eggyteapot

Hiya my name is Jo i have never booked a holiday abroad before and now having a family i think it will be a little more complicated.As last time i traveled abroad i was a little girl i don't know much about airports at least my partner knows a little more as he traveled abroad in his teens.We live in the UK.

I need to take my mothers ashes back to our family in California so they have offered to pay for flights and a rental accommodation.No one has room for us to stay and my grandmother is retired living in tiny place so we need to book a holiday rental.Thing is i need to book flights myself and were we will be staying.So would like to keep costs down.

We are planning for next June as for now i have allot of paperwork to sort i cant get my passport becuase i lost my social security card so need to sort that first.I wont be booking anything until all of our passports are sorted.I am american/British my partner/daughter British. Right now is planning and research stage.

What advice can you give

what things should i know before traveling with a child we have a little girl she will be four at time of travel

what things should we know about were we are going,i know i can ask family but as their first language is Spanish and my mother didn't teach me her first language.Its probably best i do research myself

what advice can you give with finding and booking a rental accommodation abroad

what things are there for children to do were we are going of course when were out there we plan to see the sights and spend time with family but i would like to consider our daughter too.I doubt a young child would to interested in looking at scenery.

please share your experience of traveling abroad

jpsartre

Advice about booking your flight: Avoid 3rd party booking sites and book direct from the airline.

wallbash

San Francisco with a four year old , quick trip to Disney Land ( shortish flight ) and would be a shame to go that far and miss out.

growler834

San Francisco is a large city so it depends whether you want to be close to where your family live or in the centre where all the tourist places are. Where do your family live? We have been to S. Fran several times so we know the areas & you may get a better holiday rental if you look in the suburbs where your family live & then travel in to the tourist sights (good transport network - car parking very expensive so try to get a property on good transport links). Try looking at sites such as
https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/ or
https://www.homeaway.co.uk/
to get an idea of what is available. As for travelling with a young child, I would get advice from a flight consolidator such as Trailfinders - they can advise on the different flight options ie. direct flight (less time for child to get bored) or flying in two sectors to break the journey.
San Francisco is a wonderful city for all ages. Golden Gate Park is huge with lots to do (boating lake etc), there is a brilliant zoo, there is a great beach (with views of the Golden Gate Bridge) however the ocean is very cold & wild so not good for swimming! At Pier 39 there are the sealions & a carousel & you can catch a ferry over to Sausalito etc so I'm sure your little one won't be bored.

eggyteapot

Hiya thank you for advice so far my family lives just outside of San Francisco in the bay area for example my grandmother lives San leandro area so will be looking for bay area for places to stay.I guess i will need to get a car rental but i guess when it comes to central San Francisco i will need to use pubic transport as with most city's using a car not a good idea.

I herd there was a Disney land in California but the idea of booking more flights seems very complicated not sure how you would travel from San Francisco to there how much time you would need for that or whether you need to book more accommodation

wallbash

With such a youngster a overnight stay would be best, but any travel agent in SF would be delighted to tie up the trip,

I herd there was a Disney land in California

To be correct , that one IS Disney land , it was the first.

prowla

If you're there on a Sunday, you could check out whether hotels are doing unlimited brunches.

*j*

Please make sure you speak to your undertaker and airline as there are strict rules and regulations for transporting cremated remains in either checked baggage or carry on baggage. Thinks like fully sealed, x-ray-able containers, for example.

You wouldn't want to find you hadn't fully complied with the rules when you arrived at the airport check-in.

Murphy_The_Cat

If you are travelling with a 4 year old, go the extra mile in your flight research and make sure that you fly with an airline/plane that has selectable seat back TV's (sometimes referred to as AVOD - audio visual on demand).
Seat Back TV = Happy Child
Happy Child = Happy Flight

With AVOD, you little'un won't care about length of flight, connections etc

Seatguru is invaluable in that respect.

eggyteapot

*j* wrote: »

Please make sure you speak to your undertaker and airline as there are strict rules and regulations for transporting cremated remains in either checked baggage or carry on baggage. Thinks like fully sealed, x-ray-able containers, for example.

You wouldn't want to find you hadn't fully complied with the rules when you arrived at the airport check-in.

i was thinking about calling someone and getting a strait answer as i am unsure but who do i call, my mothers remains are in a sealed bag in a plastic container i also have all the documentation including my mothers death certificate.But i will be adding this to a list of things i need to double check.I want to make a list of things that i need to do,that i need to book,stuff of interest and things that i should look into.

*j*

When you have decided which airline to fly with, phone them to check exactly what their regulations are.

If you are flying non-stop, you are unlikely to have trouble with the US Transportation Security Administration. This could save a lot of trouble.

Here are some websites giving information, but you would need to check with your chosen airline to confirm exactly what they require.

http://www.funeralethics.org/cremains.htm

http://kern.humdrum.net/memorials/tips-for-traveling-with-cremated-remains/

http://kern.humdrum.net/memorials/tips-for-traveling-with-cremated-remains/