upgrade

Parents might be eligible for an essential suitcase ‘upgrade’ without asking

There are some specific perks that families can take advantage of at no extra cost when flying with Jet2. The airline has two policies in place to make travel easier for families with young children – and they are both completely free.

Some of these perks will only apply to families with children born between certain dates after 2024. They are usually applied automatically at check-in by the customer service team, but knowing about them in advance can mean parents can take full advantage.

When flying with Jet2, any infant (under the age of two on the date of the flight) can travel free of charge. During the booking process, families can select the option to have a child who meets the age requirements sit on an adult’s lap at no cost.

Even though little ones don’t get their own bag with this ‘free’ ticket, adding them to your booking will increase the amount allowed in an adult’s checked luggage by 10kg, the airline confirmed. This allowance is added to an accompanying adult’s 22kg hold bag, giving one suitcase a maximum weight of 32kg.

A spokesperson for Jet2 said: “Although infants don’t have their own checked baggage allowance, if you have hold luggage on your booking, we’ll automatically increase your allowance by an extra 10kg per infant, free of charge. That gives you some more room for any extra items you want to check in for your infant. This additional allowance does not need to be pre-booked.”

While this allowance is often technically added to one adult’s allowance, families report that total baggage allowance can usually be pooled across multiple cases, provided no single case exceeds 32kg. Infants under two when they fly can also benefit from extra items, in addition to the luggage carried by family members in their group.

At no extra cost, Jet2 allows families to bring up to two items on board. These can include:

• A collapsible pushchair, pram or buggy
• A car seat or booster seat
• A baby carrier
• A travel cot

In Jet2’s rules, it claims that “each item must weigh no more than 32kg”. Families are allowed to bring more than two items if needed, but the airline stated that any extra items (or weight beyond your allowance) “will be charged as standard excess baggage”.

This kind of policy is typical of many family-friendly airlines, such as easyJet and Ryanair. These items can either be checked in on arrival and put in the luggage hold or taken to the gate.

In other travel news, Jet2 has recently issued an ‘arrive early’ alert for anyone travelling to a popular European destination. The budget airline is advising people to arrive ‘as early as possible‘ to avoid disruption to their travel plans when flying from Faro Airport, located in southern Portugal.

A statement on Faro Airport’s official website reads: “Passport controls on arrival at Portugal may take up more time, as the passport will have to be stamped and there are additional questions that may be asked by the border control officers.”

The new system being put in place is the European Union’s European Entry/Exit System (EES), which started on October 12, 2025. It is a new digital border system that has changed requirements for British citizens travelling to the Schengen area EES checks are being introduced in a phased way for non-EU and UK travellers, with full operation expected from April 2026.

It can be difficult to choose which class to go for when booking Eurostar. Recently, I tried Plus, and while it was a pleasant experience, here’s why I think it’s not worth the money

Eurostar offers a fast and efficient way to get from London to the continent, and if you’re doing a day trip or a short break, it can be much more time-efficient than flying.

When you choose your Eurostar train time, you’ll usually be presented with three fare options: Standard, Plus, and Premier. Recently, I took two trips in the space of a week, one on Standard and one on Plus to see how the two classes compare. With Plus tickets often costing double, triple, or even quadruple the cost of a Standard ticket, is it worth the upgrade?

I took the Eurostar Standard from London to Lille, which at just 90-minutes is the shortest journey from London St Pancras. I managed to pick up tickets for £35 one-way in a flash sale, so going to Lille was cheaper than visiting many UK cities by train.

Standard

Standard is a no-frills service. You get a luggage allowance of two bags up to 85cm long on routes to and from London, plus a small item such as a handbag and laptop bag. There are no weight or liquid limits like you’d find on planes, although you do need to heft your bags up and down the steep train steps, so keep that in mind before stocking up on wine at the supermarché.

There are two rows of two seats, which are comfier than most UK trains and have headrests and footrests. Impressively, Standard tickets are flexible up to an hour before departure, so if your travel plans change you can swap your ticket for no fee. You simply pay the difference for your new fare.

Seats come with a power outlet, and you technically get access to WiFi, although on all my journeys, this barely worked, so bring a book. Once settled in, we had some snacks and the journey flew by, and we stepped off the train into the centre of Lille ready for a city break.

Eurostar Plus

A few days later, I tried the Eurostar Plus, this time on a journey from London to Paris. The journey through St Pancras station is exactly the same, you don’t get access to a priority queue, lounge, or boarding, so you don’t really notice the difference until you board. Luggage allowances and rules around flexibility are also the same as Standard class.

The carriages are also very similar to Standard, except with one less seat in a row, so you have two seats on one side and single seats on the other. The single seats seemed popular with business travellers who quickly whipped out their laptops, although with the patchy WiFi, I’m not sure how much work they got done.

Unfortunately, I think I had bad luck with this train: half the toilets were out of order, and the other half were less than pleasant. I had to wobble my way up and down the aisles with a child in tow, trying to find a loo.

The main upgrade on Plus is that you get breakfast or a light meal, plus a choice of drinks, including wine and beer. Dishes are served cold, so they tend to be salads with chicken or fish or pasta dishes. My salmon and lentils were tasty enough, but about on par with what you’d get in Marks and Spencer at the station.

The staff on Eurostar Plus are also extremely friendly and helpful, and it was nice to sit back and be served a meal with wine and coffee on a well-presented tray. But is it worth the upgrade?

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However, I will admit that the Plus carriage did have a slightly calmer, more business-like vibe, so if you’re on the way to an important meeting, it might be worth the money. Likewise, if you’re traveling alone and don’t want to risk ending up with a chatty neighbour, the thought of booking a single seat might appeal.

Otherwise, take your own sandwich and save your Euros for when you arrive at your destination.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

THE UK’s busiest train line is just hours away from being shut down as Network Rail looks to complete essential upgrades.

Commuters will not be able to use the route for six days starting tomorrow.

The West Coast Main Line (WCML) service between London Euston and Milton Keynes will be paused from April 3 to April 8.

The line closure is part of a £400million project by Network Rail to make upgrades to the line.

New tracks will be laid out in Willesden, north-west London, with Harrow and Wealdstone station getting repairs and upgrades.

A bridge in Ledburn, Buckinghamshire will also be receiving additional waterproofing to prevent further damage.

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More than £7million will be spent on signal upgrades to help reduce failures and improve the reliability of journeys.

Network Rail described WCML as “Britain’s economic backbone”, connecting major cities with “thousands of trains and tonnes of goods every day”.

It said that parts of the line could not manage the service’s more recent demands and needed investment to prevent disruptions.

The network owner said it would provide replacement buses between Milton Keynes Central and Bedford or Potters Bar for passengers to get trains to reach central London.

The WCML operator, Avanti, has warned commuters that its train lines are expected to be busy and has lifted peak restrictions for today.

Normal services on WCML are expected to resume on April 9.

A HUGE new playground has just opened in the UK as part of a huge multi-million revamp.

Forget it’s football team and towering transmitting station – Crystal Palace Park in London has opened a new playground right by the famous dinosaur sculptures.

The park features “hands-on play” with a “world shaped by scales, skeletons and stories from deep time”.

‍There are a number of pathways to explore with dinosaur-details as well as a few different shaped slides on the embankment.

A huge dinosaur-like skeleton also offers kids the chance to climb and hide, with the curving tail forming a play trail.

In the sandpit, which is shaped like a dinosaur’s footprint, young children can also dig and discover fossils.

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There’s also jumping discs, a log scramble and swings.

And a lot of features in the park are accessible including a wheelchair accessible roundabout, accessible swing and tactile games.

For parents wanting to rest and watch whilst their children play, there is a picnic area too.

The Dinosaur Playground is close to the main park toilets, as well as the cafe.

The new playground replaces an old one that had become rundown over the years.

After enjoying the new play park, make sure to head on the dinosaur trail to see around 30 Grade-I listed statues scattered across the park.

These are the world’s first life-sized prehistoric animal sculptures which were all inspired by fossils found by Victorian palaeontologists over 170 years ago.

Many of the dinosaurs look rather different to how we imagine dinosaurs now and that is because the statues were created from the scientific information Victorians had at the time.

It is free to visit the park as well as the sculptures, which can be found across islands and lakes in the park.

And by this summer, there will be a new £17.75million Visitor Centre.

It will be a single-storey and will have an ‘Interpretation and Activity Room’ which will showcase the park’s history and future through a number of displays, objects and information panels.

The park’s Grand Centre Walk is also being restored to create more space for events, with the path becoming wider and a new entrance being built at Penge Gate.

In total, the park’s revamp is expected to cost around £52million.

For more free attractions in the UK, these are the 20 most-visited attractions in England that are completely free to enter.

Plus, one of London’s most popular free attractions to get massive £231million upgrade.