International Travel with Kids? We got you covered. When Mads landed at Paris Charles de Gaulle with a one-year-old, there was only one thing left to think about: lunch.

No searching for the right corridor. No checking a pocket for the passports. No looking for a bathroom or a taxi stand. A greeter from Royal Airport Concierge was waiting, and from that point the airport was someone else’s job.

“It felt like a true vacation from the moment we got off the airplane,” Mads wrote after the trip. “I didn’t have a single thought about where to go, where my passports were, where the nearest bathroom was or how to get a taxi. The only thing on my mind? Lunch.”

International travel with kids is hard for a simple reason. The airport asks the most of you at the moment you have the least to give. This guide looks at what makes it hard, and how to hand most of it to someone else.

Traveling With Kids Means Two Kinds of Weight

The first is the one you can see. As Mads put it, traveling with kids “usually means 17 bags.” There is the stroller, the car seat, the diaper bag, the carry-ons, the checked luggage, and the child. You have two hands.

The second is the one nobody sees. It is the list of small questions running in your head from the moment the plane door opens:

• Which way is passport control?
• Who has the passports?
• Where is the nearest bathroom?
• Which carousel has our bags?
• Is the stroller coming out here or at the aircraft door?
• Where is the driver waiting?

None of these questions is difficult. The hard part is answering all of them at once, after a long flight, with a tired child on your hip.

This is what surprised Mads most. “I knew booking with Royal Airport Concierge would take some of the physical load,” Mads wrote, “but I didn’t realize the mental load they would take too.”

International Travel with Kids: What an Airport Meet and Greet Does for a Family

An airport Meet and Greet gives you one person who knows the airport and stays with you from start to finish. On an international arrival, it works like this:

1. A greeter meets you when you get off the plane. They hold a name board, so there is nobody to look for.
2. Escort through the terminal. Your greeter walks with you to passport control and stays with you there. At airports that offer fast track for arriving passengers, it is included.
3. Help at baggage claim. Your greeter watches for the bags while you sit down with the kids. Porter help covers up to three standard bags, and you can add a porter if you travel with more.
4. Handover to your driver. Bags, stroller and car seat go to the car with you.

On departure, the order is reversed. A greeter meets you at the curb, helps with check-in, walks you through security using priority lanes where the airport permits them, and takes you to your lounge or gate. You still need to be present for check-in and document checks, as airlines require.

One thing to know. A greeter cannot make a border officer work faster, and at busy times you may still wait in line. What changes is that someone who knows the way is beside you, and your hands are free for your child.

Here is what that looked like on one afternoon at Charles de Gaulle. A parent traveling alone with a baby, a stroller, a car seat and two checked bags arrived at Terminal 2E in August. The time from meeting the greeter to closing the car doors was 45 minutes. That is one arrival on one day, not a promise, but you can read the full CDG arrival walkthrough to see each step.

Four Things to Sort Out Before You Fly

A greeter takes care of the airport. A few things still have to happen at home first.

1. Check every child’s passport early. For US travelers, passports for children under 16 are valid for five years, and they cannot be renewed by mail. You apply in person each time, with both parents or guardians present, according to the US Department of State.
2. Carry a consent letter if one parent stays home. USA.gov advises that a child traveling with one parent should carry a letter of consent from the other. It is preferred that the letter is in English and notarized.
3. Know what happens at the border in Europe. The Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational since April 10, 2026 at all external Schengen border crossing points. Children under 12 do not have fingerprints taken, but a facial image and document checks still apply. Each child has their own step, so allow time for it. Our guide to EES for families explains more.
4. Ask your airline about the stroller and car seat. Rules differ from one airline to the next. Ask before you fly whether your stroller comes back at the aircraft door or at baggage claim, and tell your greeter, so nobody waits in the wrong place.

Let Your Vacation Start at the Airport

A family trip does not have to begin at the hotel. It can begin when you step off the plane, with someone there who already knows where to go.

You will still carry your child. You will still be tired. But you will not be the one finding the way, counting the bags and looking for the driver. You get to think about lunch.

Greeter availability is limited at short notice, so it helps to ask as soon as your flights are confirmed. If you have a trip with kids coming up, enter your flight details to see your quote.

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