Ranking of Best and Worst Airports for Kids
Traveling with kids can be a thrilling adventure for the entire family, but it also brings its own set of unique challenges, especially when it involves air travel. To assist you in making informed decisions and embracing stress-free travel, Upgraded Points has published a guide that looks at the most kid-friendly airports in the country.
The ranking looks at several factors that affect travel with children, like family restrooms, play areas, average wait times, WiFi speeds, and more. Additionally, 800 parents were surveyed about their biggest travel woes and most important amenities for family travel.
What Matters: Insights From 800 Parents
A whopping 49% of parents describe traveling with their kids as an overwhelming experience, highlighting the need for airports to prioritize family-friendly facilities and services.
Access to fast Wi-Fi and charging stations are the most important airport amenities for parents traveling with children, with 78% sharing this sentiment. Additionally, 56% of parents say lounges with family rooms are important when traveling with kids. Just 37% of parents say having plenty of play areas in an airport is essential when traveling with kids.
34% of parents have slightly reduced their travel frequency since becoming parents, and 25% travel much less. Despite this, nine in 10 parents consider their children to be “good” flyers.
Best and Worst Airports
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) stands out as the most kid-friendly airport. LAX offers excellent amenities for families, including an average Wi-Fi download speed of 157 Mbps, the highest overall. Additionally, LAX provides plenty of charging stations, ensuring easy access to power for electronic devices. It also has 3 lounges with family rooms, offering one of the highest concentrations of family-friendly spaces in our study. The only aspect where LAX performs below average is the number of nursing rooms given its size. However, parents will be pleased to know that the airport does have a designated play area for children on level 4 of the international terminal, suitable for 2- to 11-year-olds.
In addition to LAX, LaGuardia Airport ranked No. two for kid-friendly travel, boasting over two nursing rooms per mile and the most accessible family-friendly restrooms. Boston’s Logan was the third-best in the study.
Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is the least kid-friendly airport in our study. RSW lacks many family essentials, including lounges with family rooms, listed family restrooms, and kid-friendly entertainment options beyond designated play areas. The mean Wi-Fi download speed is only 7.5 Mbps, one of the lowest in the study. However, RSW does have plenty of nursing rooms compared to its size and maintains a low passenger density.
Despite being a hub for family vacations, Florida airports fell behind. Orlando and Tampa International also ranked in the 10 worst for family travel.
With the lowest on-time flight percentage in the study at 60%, Chicago Midway ranked third-worst in the study. A high passenger density and a lack of kid-friendly entertainment options are also challenges at this airport.
The Most and Least Kid-Friendly U.S. Airports
