Flying or taking a long road trip with young kids can be very daunting. In my experience, we try and hold off on introducing the tablet until it is absolutely necessary and distract with fun, new activities.
A few tips:
1. Do not show them these toys until you are in flight or on the road, the curiosity of something new adds to the fun and keeps them engaged even longer.
2. Break out the toys one by one, have a magical bag of tricks and maximize the attention span of each activity vs showing them all the options at once.
3. Make sure to save some new activities for fun on the way home.
4. SNACKS. They make every situation better.
5. To me, traveling is always worth it. Often the anticipation is worse and the destination is worth the trip no matter how chaotic it might get. You can do it!
Happy traveling! Affiliate links in bio.