Travelling in buisiness class with baby?

[Rhys Xanthis]

I kinda sit in the middle on this one.

I think if parents want to fly business or first, they probably have some sort of responsibility to ensure their childrens behaviour will be acceptable. However kids will be kids...

And I think what we have to keep in mind here as others have said before its essentially public transport at a premium, thats all.

[NickN]

And you need to learn respect for those of us who choose to fly with our children. Respect is a 2 way street, don't think just because you travel solo you automatically earn that respect or right.

Children are children, they are at times unable to control their behaviour as they are immature. I am sure if the airlines had your opinion there would be a significant drop in the amount of families who travel and the impact would be felt through lost revenue.

From what I have seen from all the airlines I have flown they have bent over backwards to make sure children and families are well catered for and looked after.

[Stephen Brown]

Your arguments don't seem to gel Nick. From my post I said that I certainly respect the right of parents and children to travel. But if the parents can't control their children and they impose themselves on other pax then the parents aren't respecting the private space of those other travellers.

I have sat next to, in front of, and behind children on planes. Some were good, some were bad. But in those bad times my travel experience was ruined by the lack of care from parents towards their out of control children.

Look at it like this. I respect a persons right to smoke cigarettes. Smoke away to your hearts content for all I care. BUT what I don't respect is when you breathe your smoke out and into my lungs. I made the decision not to smoke, please do not inflict your choice on me.

The same for children. I chose to work hard and at a holiday time paid the extra to treat myself by flying Business/First class. I expect that by paying the extra I am entitled to the services I paid for. Now I certainly respect the right of a fellow passenger to have children and travel with them. But when they inflict themselves onto me whether it be because of a lack of care, or a lack of control of those children, since those children are under the care of those parents, the parents are not respecting the other travelers.

I am actually of the opinion that when you travel with children and you see them crying in pain because they can't equalise the pressure in their ears that it's a form of child abuse. But that's my personal opinion.

Another of my pet hates is unaccompanied minors. I had to travel Bris to Newc sitting next to a little girl, couldn't have been more than 7 or 8, who was unaccompanied. She was so scared and frightened. She then spilled her drink and she was even more upset. What sort of a parent inflicts that on a child?? It was heartbreaking to watch, no matter how much we (myself and the FA) tried to reassure her.

It's all about respect.

[Andrew P]

Originally Posted by Stephen Brown

Another of my pet hates is unaccompanied minors.

Last Saturday my youngest kids (10 & 8 years old) travelled as unaccompanied minors in Y class on the QF SYD-MNL run, and will do the same on MNL-SYD flight on the 4 November.

Stephen – suggest you don’t catch that flight then, if your pet hate is unaccompanied minors

Per the flight crew, who kept me continually informed on my kids during the flight, they were excellent travellers, no problem whatsoever to anyone.

Banjo

Ps I was in J class on the same flight, but per QF rules they had to travel as unaccompanied, with all the necessary paperwork

[Stephen Brown]

Kids in cattle, Parents in J different to kids on plane with no parents at all, which is my dislike. If your kids are well behaved then all is okay, it's the non-behaving kids that are the problem.

But then again I would never have my kids travel alone on a plane, nor let anyone else assume responsibility for them.

[Mike Scott]

Actually Nick's right about a couple of things...my attitude towards noisy kids on planes does stink (no apology though) and no I dont have kids...nor do I want any (no apology there either). Regarding the people with the kids paying more than the single person....that maybe so too but in many cases not since the kids are travelling on frequent flier miles....earned by the parents usually through a lot of business travel flights....without the kids in tow

MS

[Kelvin R]

When I was a kid I travelled on my own a few times, it was great. I also travelled with my parents a great deal as well. I was never any trouble however, not even flying from Colorado Springs to Adelaide via Los Angeles, Tahiti, Sydney (nearly) and Melbourne with a 10 hour delay out of Colorado Springs and a diversion to Melbourne instead of Sydney. I was 8 years old.

My mum had us well trained I guess but those were the days when parents took responsibility and boys will be boys wasn't socially an acceptable excuse for bad behaviour.

I generally don't have an issue with babies in business, loud mouthed Americans who stand next to your seat and bellow at their friends talking all night on QF108 is another story.

My one gripe is the trend for kids to have the wheel aboard bags of their own which are essentially empty and just consume space. I am sure a small bag which can go under the seat in front would be just as adequate. My second gripe is parents with babies who are unprepared such as refusing to place the baby bag in the overhead locker for take off and landing and not having anything for the baby to suck on for take off and landing leaving the child unable to equalise the pressure in their ears.

You can get jerks and badly behaved people on any flight in any class and I think to limit this to children is a bit unfair. I have seen many DYKWIAM's behave far worse. If I ever find myself having been allocated the bassinet row and I notice someone in a normal seat with an infant I will always offer to swap, it is just the right thing to do.

[NickN]

Misbehaving kids has got to be better than drunken passengers who assualt flight crew and pilots and who need to be shackled to their seats

[Stephen B]

Hi All,

My first post after only viewing for a long time, and thought I'd wade in on this one.

The basic theme here seems to be about respect. I've worked in various customer service positions for over 20 years, (none airline related), and respect is one thing our society today lacks severely.

I've flown quite a bit in the last three and a half years particularly, and have to say the main people who cause issues are self important business men who like to read their newspaper across all three seats, young go-getter men and women who's conversation about nothing is much more important than the safety demonstration, and all the generally ignorant fools who know they can get off first if they undo their seatbelt and get their luggage out as soon as the main wheels hit the tarmac. I've not yet had what I would call a "problem" with a child.

I too hate anyone annoying me, not just kids, anyone, and usually that person is an adult. To have the expectation that the seat you bought on the public flight which is open to any member of the travelling public entitles you to absolute privacy and complete uninterrupted comfort is ridiculous. As said in a previous post, hire a private jet. Equally so, to think you can let your kids run amuck, draw on walls and kick seats is absolutely unacceptable. Parents (AND ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF SOCIETY) need to teach their children BY EXAMPLE that a little bit of self restraint goes a long way.

It's up to us all to example basic respect to everyone, and yes that does include tolerance, especially of others who are attempting to do the right thing. Children do not have the mental capacity to behave as adults, and like it or not they require more effort and tolerance.

I have a three year old daughter who has flown, and was absolutely fine with it. We planned ahead with things for her to eat and do. She was well behaved the entire time. Unfortunately there were yet again adults on the flight who continued their conversation the entire way through the safety demo.

It's offered as public transport people, exactly the same as a bus or train. Get over it!

[Scott Loveday]

Back in Dec 06, I travelled PER/MEL/AKL/LAX/ORD in J with a 9 month old who had a nasty ear infection. It was so bad, she was on antibiotics and we were debating whether or not to travel, but on medical advice, continued as planned.

But plan we did, making sure on every take-off, climb and descent she was drinking or at least swallowing. We had toys and various bits and pieces of entertainment for her too (not the extra wheely case though Kelvin, it was all in the wife's handbag).

Itinerary wise, we also tried to choose flight timings around sleep patterns

The amazing thing was, she did not cry at all, and I exaggerate not.

In my opinion, it's about planning effectively, then considering the needs of others as a priority to your own. If only this happened in the context of normal daily society...

On the way back, flying CX on a BKK/SIN sector, the crew were so fantastic, they asked if they could take my daughter and look after her so we could relax. She spent 30 minutes being shown off around the airplane and we managed an uninterrupted meal. They also carried our bags through the terminal in BKK and onto the aircraft.