Children in Business/First Class - what are your thoughts?

Discussion in 'The Social Club — general chats, meet ups & more' started by tommyl, Apr 1, 2016.

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Should children be banned from premium cabins on planes?

  1. Yes

    3 vote(s)
    42.9%

  2. No

    4 vote(s)
    57.1%
  1. tommyl

    tommyl Co-founder Staff Member

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    Mark (Milesfromblighty) got a fair bit of comment going recently when he mooted banning kids from premium cabins on planes.

    While I am fairly strongly in favour of keeping premium cabins entirely open, I do at least see the argument of those opposed to giving screaming kids access.

    I think my position largely comes from the elitism of any restriction: "I'm in First Class therefore I deserve not to be disturbed by kids (and generally for all things in life to run smoothly)". A crying child is just bad luck, whether you're in Economy or First Class: I don't see why you should be shielded from that just because you're in a premium cabin.

    I also think blaming the parents is misguided - if they are allowed by the airline to bring their baby into the premium cabin, then I think it's the airline whom your issues should be directed at.

    Anyway, feel free to disagree with me vehemently below, or just vote in the poll! You'll note I have limited the poll choice to "children" rather than trying to put a specific age limit: that's a separate debate in itself, so I've kept things simple - you know the general principle.

    (And yes, I do have young kids :))
     
    tommyl, Apr 1, 2016
    #1
  2. GnarlyOldGoatDude

    GnarlyOldGoatDude Active Member

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    For me it has always been a matter of space. My 3 year old typically flies 3-5 hour segments so the front cabin is nothing to be proud of. However, the little bit of extra room that you get from either increased seat pitch or blocked middle seats makes it easier for him to lie down and sleep.

    Of course, when he's not in a resting mood he will give-up on the grumpy neighbours in the front and disappear behind the curtain to find some play mates.
     
    GnarlyOldGoatDude, Apr 1, 2016
    #2
  3. Ian

    Ian Active Member

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    I'm going guess that people without kids are going to vote "Yes", and those with kids (like me) will vote "No".

    My son experienced BA Club World at the age of 11 and behaved like a perfect little gentleman, politely ordering smoked salmon and fillet steak. His favourite part was probably the LHR lounge where we met 'Thor' (actor, Chris Hemsworth), which I think was also the highlight of my wife's holiday :mad:

    My money (or miles) is/are as good as anyone else's, so don't see why I shouldn't be able to bring my son along. I'd like to see ill behaved children banned from all forms of transport, and public places, but that's probably not practical. So yes, I blame the parents.
     
    Ian, Apr 1, 2016
    #3
  4. JoeD

    JoeD Well-Known Member

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    Haha, tricky. I think ultimately it's up to the airline and what they believe suits their business best. That's probably quite difficult for them to work out though, because the same customers prefer different things at different times.

    If I was on a business trip I would probably want the cabin as calm and quiet as possible ideally, but if a business rejected my little nephew I wouldn't be at all well disposed towards them.

    Also, if a kid was crying/noisy/excited because they were very young or their ears hurt or whatever that's just life (put your headphones on), and if a kid was behaving badly repeatedly I would definitely blame the parents rather than the airline. But, If an airline had a policy of banning children and that impacted my family or friends directly I would hold that specifically against that airline. Similarly, I have a real soft spot for businesses that treated me well when I was young or make a fuss of my nephew now.

    If I was an airline exec, I might be tempted to try banning children from the Business cabin on certain routes/times (eg red-eyes from NYC to LON), but imagine you'd have to be mad to ban them from First from a business pov.
     
    JoeD, Apr 5, 2016
    #4

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