JetSetBabies: Making Traveling with Kids Easier
By Gwen Morrison

A new shipping service aimed at helping parents traveling with young children and infants has made traveling with children a whole lot easier. JetSetBabies is the brainchild of two Minnesota moms, Cecilia Savela and Patty Opoien, who thought that there must be an easier way to bring baby along on your next vacation without the stress of lugging around all the extras that kids need.

JetSetBabies offers a ship-ahead service for various items that you will need when you arrive at your destination. A cool idea, the service allows you to go online and shop for what you will need for the trip: diapers, baby food items, changing pads, baby wipes, and other baby and infant products. When you arrive, the special care package will be at the hotel waiting for you. With the tighter airline regulations on weight of luggage, it is impossible to pack a week’s worth of diapers, food, toys and baby items in a carry on. This service saves you the hassle of carrying it to the check-in and keeping track of it! Now parents don’t have to run around when they reach their destination, trying to find the right formula or the right size diapers for their infant. Everything is neatly packed and waiting for you.

We had the opportunity to talk to the owners of JetSetBabies this week:

iNetVacation.com: What is JetSetBabies?

Cecilia & Patty: JetSetBabies is a service for parents who are traveling (generally by air) with little kids or babies. We help lighten the parents' load by shipping diapers, wipes, food, formula, and many other essential baby items directly to the traveler’s destination.

iNetVacation.com: How did it begin?

Cecilia & Patty: It began when my partner, Patty, stumbled upon this idea when she had to visit two different online retailers to get the things her baby needed, and still wasn't able to order everything. She and I were catching up after her vacation and she mentioned that it didn't make sense that she couldn't get all the baby stuff in one place. That's when we decided to make it happen for other parents.

iNetVacation.com: What items do you ship?

Cecilia & Patty: All the basic necessities a baby or a parent may need when on vacation: diapers, swimmers, wipes, changing pads, sunscreen/sunblock (we have the wonderful new towelettes that BabyBlanket makes), formula (powdered or ready-to-feed, if you don't trust the water where you're going), Gerber baby food (fruit, veggies, rice, finger foods), feeding sets (disposable or reusable), bibs... the list goes on and on. We carry many of these items in handy single-serving packets so if your plans include a day at the beach, you can take just what you need, and not have to return with half-empty containers.

iNetVacation.com: How are you different from other places where you can order baby supplies online?

Cecilia & Patty: Several things make us different. You can place an order today for a trip you're taking three months from now, and we'll work backward from your arrival date and ship just in time for your package to get there just before you do. You just order and forget about it.

Also, we can ship to hotels, resorts, grandma's house, etc. And we track the package, check to make sure it has arrived and is waiting for you, and e-mail you to let you know it's there. Nowhere in the world of online grocery stores are you going to get that sort of one-on-one customer service.

iNetVacation.com: How do you think JetSetBabies makes traveling easier for parents?

Cecilia & Patty: Have you ever packed for a baby? You have two suitcases, right? You take the one that looks like a gym bag and pack your things. Then you take the one that looks like you can fit a small Volkswagen in it and start packing for the baby. JetSetBabies.com tries to lighten the load a little. Imagine how much lighter you would travel if you didn't have to pack a week worth of diapers, food, formula, swim pants, etc.! Of course, you don't have to pack all this stuff. Some parents (like I used to) will travel to their vacation spot, then spend the rest of the evening dragging hungry, tired, wound-up, road-weary kids around a new town looking for a grocery store. I can guarantee you this is not fun. I wish I'd had a JetSetBabies service when I had little ones!

iNetVacation.com: Are your prices affordable?

Cecilia & Patty: Our prices are extremely competitive. We always keep an eye on what other online retailers are doing and try to be in the ballpark. Our goal isn't to get rich off the backs of harried travelers. We're moms who have traveled with kids in the past. We just want to offer a much-needed service and help support our own families in the process.

iNetVacation.com: Do you have any return visitor bonuses or programs?

Cecilia & Patty: We're currently offering 10% off of any order placed before the end of the year (even if your travel plans are after January 1). To get this discount, enter the code "406040903" in the voucher area as you check out.

iNetVacation.com: Where do you see the company going as it grows?

Cecilia & Patty: We already are in a partnership with Wyndham Hotels to offer Wyndham guests a free gift when they use our services. In the near future we hope to be offering similar perks in conjunction with other family-friendly hotels. We also are looking at expanding to fill the need of friends and relatives wanting to send a gift to a new baby. We are excited about moving in this new direction. We currently fulfill so many gift orders we've purchased pretty printed tissue and matching bows to pack gift orders in (at no extra charge). We even have a couple standing orders for "a year's worth of diapers" for a new baby. I think when you make taking care of the customer your top priority, all the other pieces fall into place. Regardless of what direction we grown in, customer care will always be our core value.

iNetVacation.com: Thanks for taking time to talk with us!

Meet Patty and Cecilia!

Patty Opoien, Co-Owner and Business director, has a two-year Marketing and Management Degree from Lake Superior Technical College, and a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. In addition, she has six years experience as Assistant Manager in retail sales, three years experience in public accounting, and 12 years experience as Senior Operations Officer of a $100 million community bank.

Cecilia Savela, Co-Owner and Web Developer, has eight years experience in web development, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota and is fluent in Spanish. During her tenure as an administrator in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth she developed one of the University's first collegiate web sites, and spearheaded the implementation of a university-wide development database. She is proficient in various web development and graphics applications.

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