travelerguru

I would like to know what the rest of you would do or how you would handle it once landed. I was on a JAL flight, partnered with AA recently. As the JAL flight was on the AA booking I guess AA would be the airline to contact although I contacted both.

JALs response: " As to answer your inquiry of compensation, we regret to inform you that we cannot meet your expectation. We do sympathize with your situation and understand the great deal of frustration you must have felt in this matter, but your understanding is highly appreciated "

AA's response is more comical and my followup pissed them off: "... Additionally, we, along with other airlines, do not discriminate against passengers regarding age. If parents wish to travel with their children, then they will be able to do so. My suggestion for the future, is if you are unhappy with your seat assignment, consult with the flight attendant to see if alternative seating arrangements can be made. " So I rebutted with something along the lines of... so if an adult cried and screamed for the entire flight would the airline discriminate against me? Or would the flight attendants have me in handcuffs and law enforcement waiting for me on the ground?.. It didn't go over very well with the AA customer service staff, but I don't care.

I had to tolerate this screaming kid in business class for four hours. The flight crew did nothing. The parents did nothing. The business class section on JAL is only 30 seats. 2-2-2. What I would like to know is since when do airlines even allow infants in business class? And since when would they tolerate such behavior? I am dumbfounded. Those business class tickets are expensive. I pay extra to avoid things like this plus the leg room, but not on this flight! Wow! And the answers from both airlines make me wonder. In addition right behind business class are the bassinet seats in economy class, and guess what? Another crying baby was sitting there, but that one was at least intermittent. Sorry to say it, but infants should not be allowed to fly unless there is a medical reason or the family is moving house. These people were just on a holiday. It is high time that airlines start locking up parents and children in there own little tiny soundproof room for the duration of a flight. I am sick of this situation. AAs stupidity is dumbfounding, talk to the flight attendant for another seat, like it would have done any good... As I said above, business class is small, and the infant should not have been there to begin with. Says me.. But not sure what JALs policy is.. I suspect, nothing...

What would you guys do? Drop it and forget it? They are obviously not going to compensate me, I have tried, to no avail, would the Dept. of Transportation like to hear about this? Skytrax? I don't know....

mvoight

What would you expect the flight crew to do, gag the child? And, what was AA supposed to do about a child on a JAL flight?
Earplugs and ear covering noise cancelling headphones generally help with this.
Are you expecting DOT to ban children from business class?
Other than changing seats, it is unclear what you expect the airline to do. They aren't going to ban children

travelerguru

If that is possible, yes!

At least talk to the parents? Ask THEM to move? Deny them boarding to begin with!

I wore earplugs it did nothing.

And JALs flight was on my AA ticket as it was booked through AA!

aztimm

Ok folks, I just did a cleanup on aisle 4 and deleted a bunch of posts.

As I always comment in these posts, if you haven't read the rules in a while, now would be a great time to acquaint yourself with them:
https://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php

I'll focus on this one:


Thanks.


aztimm

aztimm

On a personal note, I had a similar experience on a flight in January. It wasn't AA, it was AY, for JFK-HEL (what I called the flight to HEL )

There was a couple with what looked like one of their mothers, a toddler, and a baby. They boarded just before the doors closed. The kids were truly horrible (I had some choice words that I said to myself), and the parents did nothing to help. They were seated in 4 seats of row 1, I was in row 2, behind some of them.
At one point when I saw an FA walk by I asked if there were any other seats. Nothing in business. She checked coach...there was 1 seat left. I put on my headphones, played my, "mellow music," playlist, and perhaps got a little listless sleep.
Chatting with others on the aircraft, it sounded like not a soul got more than a few minutes of rest.

I chalked this one up as a learning experience. I didn't contact AY about compensation; the thought didn't even occur. When we were deplaning, I overheard the family asking the FA about time before their connecting flight, and thankfully it was different than mine. I nearly passed out when I got on my HEL-SIN flight after a full day in HEL.

bse118

AA is not going compensate you for a crying baby on a JAL flight. Nor should they.

If you want a guarantee of a cabin environment exactly to your specifications: fly private.

ijgordon

Is this a serious question?
DROP IT AND MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE. Seriously.
Bring earplugs or fly a private jet next time. Or I think Malaysian Airlines bans children from first class (not business), so fly them. (Though I'm not sure that's still the case, or if they even still have first class.)

As a side note, I personally do think airlines should consider banning lap children from premium cabins, but a paying passenger is a paying passenger. It is a public form of transportation, so if parents pay for the seat there's nothing you can do.

aaupgrade

Crying babies are a part of life. Etymotics noise isolating ear buds work like a charm for me.

And on a lighter note, this reminds me of a story a former boss told me. She was pregnant, flying in first and was curious about traveling with her baby once it was born and asked the FA if babies were allowed in first class. The FA responded, "That's all we have in first class".

joethekay

Remember we were all babies once. Somehow we made it to adulthood, though sometimes I wonder if the baby in us has ever left us ! (sarcasm)

QueenOfCoach

I would drop it and forget it.

thibderoc

Yes ! Thank you for bringing some common sense here!

EuropeanPete

I would drop it and try to move on. Forgetting might be tricky, but your appreciation of noise cancelling headphones no doubt has reached new levels.

econometrics

Most of the discussion that is going to come up in this thread can likely be found here: Not Allowed to Walk Toddler Between Classes

Uhh, since business class, or any other seat, has ever been offered on an airplane. In other words: since flying has been a thing.

BA even has bassinets IN business class.

...Look, OP. You had a bad flight. I really do understand. It happens. But you cannot unequivocally state that the parents did nothing to control the child. That's very unfair.

Some parents on flights like this are not as active as they should be, sure. But most parents are trying their hardest to calm their children when they freak out.

My daughter went into a nearly 1-hour freak out on a PHL-TLV in the middle of the night a few years ago when she was 2. Fell asleep very hard, woke up totally disoriented and could not be calmed because she was so delusional and tired. We were in Y, and I felt terrible for waking the other pax, but what can you do? Not much sometimes.

Again, sorry you had a bad flight, but this happens from time to time. Move on.

rjw242

I bring earplugs and eyeshades to mitigate potential light and sound issues from fellow passengers of all ages. A little personal responsibility goes a long way.

kb9522

This is precisely why kids do not belong in premium cabins, or really in airplanes at all. There's not much that can be done about it unfortunately...