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Airline Launches Teddy Bear Check-Ins For Children
Fact: Each month, London Gatwick Airport receives up to 30 forgotten stuffed animals. That's one airport alone. The loss of a furry friend can be devastating for a child, and unfortunately, the chaos of travel leads it to happen way too often.To help combat the problem, Thomson Airways has created the "teddy bear check-in." The program allows kids to check in their stuffed animals at the airport's front desk. Each furry friend will receive a special boarding pass, which can be exchanged for a "Very Important Buddy" (VIB) tag at the gate. The idea behind the unique check-in is for children to pay closer attention to their toys when flying.
"As a family-friendly tour operator, we like to make a fuss of children travelling on our holidays, both in resort and on their flight," says Carl Gissing of Thomson Airways. "We know that kids will love checking their toys in and taking home the VIB tag as a souvenir."
While we're not so sure this will really help cut back on the amount of lost teddy bears, it is a fun idea.
Do you think this service will help kids keep track of their toys when flying?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Clay Telecom Jun 12th 2012 5:24AM
This is a very interesting way of attracting children and their parents to fly with the airlines. This promotes traveling a lot. Quite innovative and cute too.
Rohit Roy Jun 15th 2012 4:03AM
I like this idea. Children would also learn to take care of their belongings while traveling in a fun way.
Joan Emerson Jun 13th 2012 7:46AM
Anything that makes a child feel special and treasured gets my vote. Cheers to Thomson Airways for recognizing the importance of their "special friends" to the children and creating a unique and clever way to address the issue of them inadvertently leaving cherished toys behind.
Caroline Feb 13th 2013 4:39AM
This is a wonderful idea! Someone deserves a lot of credit for this. For children, their furry friends are actual family members. The idea of one being lost and alone in an airport is definitely enough to ruin a child's vacation. This will teach them to take care of their belongings and have fun doing it.
Melodie DePaola Jun 13th 2012 8:43AM
I love this idea! I can't tell you how many times on vacation my son, when he was little, left something precious behind (although never on a plane). One time on a road trip to Canada we had to have his teddy bear shipped overnight from one hotel where he had left it behind to the next hotel on our itinerary. So look at the great lenghts parents will go to! Although a teenager now, my son still has his favorite teddy bear.
kate reeve Jun 13th 2012 8:59AM
Brilliant! And, if the check-in includes some form of contact info, the toy can be shipped back to the child if it is found by the airline.
Tom Jun 13th 2012 9:48AM
Could have used something like that for my wife's cell phone that got left behind in a Continental seat back. Tried to get it back, by the way, using their website's lost and found. Waste of time - but I should have known that to begin with.
Paula Jun 13th 2012 9:53AM
Very good idea. In 1985, I rescued a teddy bear that had been left in a booth in a restaurant in Florida by a little boy who was there with his mom. The bear was wearing a pair of shorts and a Mr. Bubble T-shirt. The bear sat in the back office for 30 days as was required but the little boy never came back. I adopted the bear and named him Henry. I still have him (in case the little boy is reading this right now).
Phyllis Jun 13th 2012 9:54AM
While I think this is a great idea, why not take it a step further and give the teddies a tag that the parent(s) can fill out with a phone number where they can be reached to make arrangements for the teddies to be returned home. No adresses, of course, in case they fall into the wrong hands and the airline should have some kind of code or something to varify that they ARE the airport officials and not some crackpot. You know, some way the teddies can be sent home if the initial tagging doesn't work and one gets left behind anyany. Does that make sense? :)
kerry wenrich Jun 13th 2012 11:38AM
it would save some real headaches for a lot of kids they're the only friend they have
leon Jun 13th 2012 7:08PM
Americans are insane. They have this insane love for teddy bears and fuzzy stuffed dolls and animals and go as far as to make cartoons about them. Americans spend more money on stuffed toys than they do to donate to real health concerns such as Cancer or homeless people or even donate to The Red Cross. Americans are insane.
BT Jun 13th 2012 7:48PM
I know how some kids feel and no americans are no crazy, just like one of the other posters made not all kids have a great deal of friends, I recall when I was growing up how I had very few friends because of my speach, till this day am still not out going, and my late brother had given me a dolphins since I collect them. The toy means a lot even kids that are lost are given toys by the police to claim them, till the parents show up.
Today even hospitals give kids toys to help them feel comfortable about operations and so fort. I agree should have some way for the air lines to contact the parents when the little one forgots his best friend and family member. way to go airlines, keep the kids happy and feel specail, today not many kids are feelin specail with our economy as it is.
KLWall Jun 13th 2012 8:57PM
@Leon: This story is about an ENGLISH airline. Why are you suggesting Americans are nuts? Americans aren't the only folks who like stuffed animals or who travel with small children who have stuffed animals. As another poster pointed out, sometimes the toy is the only friend the child has. I was in the Red Cross 15 years and I can tell you we handed out donated bears after fires and earthquakes. The kids loved them. Frequently, the parents thanked us, telling us the other favorite toys were either buried, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable. You've obviously never spent a night (or 2 weeks) in a gym with a bunch of strangers, feeling completely uprooted and pretty scared about the future because a wildfire just burned up your house and you're 4.
Hooray to Thomson Air!