Originally Posted by
JHIN
IMHO - NO kids NO babies in first or business class period end of story! I guess if you are above a certain age then yes it is acceptable but be that 16 for a drivers license point of view or a 12-14 year old I don't know.
Here's my point - and for context since none of you know me I am not ordinarily an exclusionary type of person however....
Last Friday I was in First Class on a BA 747 LHR-SAN when two seats in first class were filled with Mom, Dad, a toddler and a newborn (as in less than 6 months old). First was full except for one seat. Baby cried yet the toddler threw fits throughout the first 1/3 of the flight before they both fell asleep until landing.
First class is the last respite in a travel world filled with chaos and yes it's a class-ist system but if I can afford to pay for First Class to avoid the chaos or cattle cart and get peace quiet and comfort along with hopefully better service then I will and I won't take it lightly with misbehaved or crying/screaming temper tantrum kids.
So with that NO kids in first class. And when I take my niece of 10 and nephew of 8 with me - the same rule applies to me and I will be back in coach in a middle seat as they like the window and aisle and yes I will be fine with it.
I think airlines should put in policies and rules that help this notion too. There I said it. If you feel the need to flame me then be objective or don't flame me at all.
You would have a point
if the airlines advertised their First Class as being "peaceful and quiet". In that case you could reasonably expect that the airlines would do whatever they could to deliver the promised peace and quiet, including possibly imposing age restrictions. But they don't. They advertise comfortable lie-flat seats and excellent service but they do not promise peace and tranquility. There is no reason why anyone should feel that they need to impose their noisy kids on the teachers and firefighters in coach instead of the important investment bankers sitting in First.