Mum turns Air New Zealand skycouch into skycot flying with young kids

The Skycot: This mum's savvy Air New Zealand upgrade has gained praise. Photo / Supplied

A travelling mother's unique use of this Air New Zealand economy upgrade is getting the Australian flyers talking.

Adele Barbaro, an Australian blogger from Melbourne, has shown how for a couple of hundred dollars the Kiwi airline has an economy class seat upgrade that can help you and your kids to sleep like, well, a baby.

A bargain for anyone who has ever tried to fly long-haul with young children.

Pictures of the mum's flight on her Facebook page, The Real Mumma, shows her skycouch experience flying from Sydney to Los Angeles. The posts have attracted over 25000 comments from jealous travellers.

"We have arrived in Hollywood safe and sound," wrote Barbaro. "We got to experience the Air New Zealand SkyCouch on our way here."

We have arrived in Hollywood safe and sound! We got to experience the Air New Zealand SkyCouch on our way here and for...

Posted by Adele Barbaro on Tuesday, 20 August 2019

Explaining for the uninitiated, mostly Australian audience, she wrote "for those that don't know what it is, it is a unique economy option where your entire row becomes a bed."

She explained for only a few hundred dollars, it was almost as good as a cabin upgrade.

"Paul and Harvey had a bed and so did Chloe and I. It's the next best thing to business (but way cheaper) and perfect for long haul flights with young families. And we all slept."

The Skycouch was launched by the New Zealand national carrier in 2010. Giving the option of turning a row of seats into a lie-flat bed or 'couch' after takeoff was an instant hit with long-haul flyers.

However, not many travellers get quite as much use out of the seats as Barbaro did. Travelling to Los Angeles for a big family holiday she said it was perfect for a "large play or sleep area."

The Barbaros managed to turned the Skycouch into a skycot, as the pictures show with their youngest, Chloe.

We are off! Our California adventure begins! Paul and I have been to California before, then a second time with Harvey...

Posted by Adele Barbaro on Monday, 19 August 2019

In a previous post Adele said this would be the second time flying to California as a family. Although the family had grown by one since the last trip it seems they found plenty of space on board the flight.

In the thousands of online comments it seems that the upgrade is a favourite for many travelling families.

"Best thing we did was get the sky couch for our holiday kids slept 7 out of 14 hour flight that's a win for me," said one.

"Skycouch was amazing on our recent trip to USA," another added. "I wish every airline would allow this."