Let’s be honest: traveling abroad with kids isn’t exactly a vacation. It’s mostly hard work and very little rest. The stress starts the moment you step into the airport, as you try to reach the plane with minimal financial damage (snack and drink machines everywhere), minimal frustration, and minimal sibling fights. But in the heat of August, that mission is tough. Really tough.
After several trips like these with our kids, we decided to at least make things easier for ourselves at the airport in Israel and spare the exhausting experience of standing in long August lines.
Yes, it turns out there’s a service for that, and here’s how it went:
At 8:30 a.m. we arrived at the entrance to Terminal 3, where a lovely hostess was already waiting for us. She greeted us with a smile, took our passports, presented them along the entire route whenever needed, and spared us the stressful conversation:
- Where’s your passport?!
Do you have the passports?
You don’t have the passports??
I have 3 kids and only 2 passports!
Kids, take out the passports.
Kids, give back the passports.
And so on and so on…
Another attendant helped us with the luggage (after all, two adults and three kids means tons of bags 🙂), and together we quickly headed toward the fast check-in.
Then the unbelievable happened: we reached a red carpet that led us straight to a security checkpoint reserved only for fast-track passengers. Quiet, calm, and even a few minutes to take photos (remember, it’s peak August).
Our amazing hostess was still holding the passports, leaving our hands free to hold our coffee cups.
Before we even realized it, we were past the security check, walking past a long line stretching into the distance…
We scanned our biometric passports, and just like that, we were in Duty Free.
In less than 30 minutes from arriving at the terminal, we were already in Duty Free.
That’s how you start a trip abroad with kids. Next time, VIP service on arrival too 🙂
The Lang Family
