I think the most important thing is to travel at night when it's close to bedtime, frankly. Our son is 2 1/2 and has been to 6 countries, and we take road trips to visit family, but night travel is sooo much easier. Not only is the ticket often substantially cheaper, but he sleeps through much of the trip so I'm not jumping around trying to entertain him as much, AND Europe is AHEAD of our timezone, so sleeping at night could just be early morning their time; a short nap in the daytime instead of a "regular" nap (or skipping altogether, depending on how your child sleeps), and she could be ready for bedtime in the evening. Also, night flights usually have other passengers sleeping too, so there's less distraction. We put him in the stroller with his blanky and car so that we don't have to worry about him disappearing in a crowd, and he can be settling down. When we get to our gate, we'll feed him some dinner. I do agree that life is better if you bring the car seat on the plane-it is more comfortable and easier to sleep, but also you'll need it when you're hiring a car at your destination. They'll let you board in the first group so you can get settled in without the crowd, and right before take off, give her a sippy cup, pacifier, or those soft peppermints (she'll need to SUCK to keep her ears from popping). When you feel the cabin pressure level off, the ears won't be popping. I'd give a little packet of gummies to nibble on, read a book or whatever you do when putting your child to sleep, and "tuck her in". Maybe even pretend to sleep yourself a few minutes so she'll nod off. This works with my son because the little hum of the plane and slight vibration knocks him out. Have something already prepared for the landing, because the ears pop a lot longer than take off. Have little books, colors, stickers, or whatever entertains your child. Maybe even download her favorite music onto your ipod. I do suggest having more snacks and more diapers than needed because if you have to sit on the plane forever or some other inconvenience, which you can't predict, it's better to be prepared. While on the plane, drinks aren't that big an issue because the flight attendents are good at assisting you with that; they want happy babies as much or more than you do.
