In defense of Ben: in person, I'm sure he's fine. He's an introvert, so you probably wouldn't get much out of him.

In critique of Ben: a few of his recent articles irked the crap out of me. Asking questions and then immediately answering them comes across as though he thinks his answer is definitive: "should babies be allowed in First Class. Of course!"

Then in the content of "is it "unfair" to earn elite status with credit cards" "yes, people earning status with credit cards is 'fair'".

These are questions of opinion, but they're answered as though they're questions of fact.
Maybe not the intent, but certainly how it comes across.

Further, the attitude that if you want relaxation free from crying babies, fly private, then to go on to complain about people with no headphones (not to say I think people shouldn't wear headphones)... very self-serving.

I guess I have to take him at his word that he's always been OK with babies in first. If he ever wrote about it before, I can't find it (doesn't mean he didn't scrub the page first).