Families First
 

Only 23? 😋

no problem with a young couple and an infant or toddler...which any parents know takes a little extra time to settle, which in the big scheme of things helps with boarding...

I do somehow object to middle aged parents, Kevin their nose picking teenager glued to his mobile phone, along with all six members of their extended family, each carrying three pieces of hand luggage (obviously not Kevin as that would require putting his mobile down) ..... 😂

Surely, it should be families with SMALL children ?

As my username suggests, we have 4 children (aged between 1 and 7 incl twins). We are flying all together for the first time next Feb. (with another airline alas). However, my wife's preference is for us to be LAST on. We want as little time cooped up and without boredom having set in before we have even set off. Indeed, it's probably easier for others to get boarded without having little ones roaming into the aisles tripping them up.

Are we the only ones that feel this way? Is it more for the airline's benefit (can take a while getting belted up perhaps, and getting that buggy in the hold)

On another note- how would BA seat 2 adults, 2 kids and 2 lap infants on a 3-3 layout plane? AIUI, the lap infants have to be in separate rows. What about the older 2, would it be two rows of 2(+1) I'm already feeling sorry for whichever other passenger has to share the 2 banks of 3 with us!

Stay in the lounge as long as possible, arrive at the gate 21 minutes before departure, and all of the children (small or otherwise) are already out of the way. Pick a seat in an exit row, so there is a 0% chance of a child sitting next to you. Use noise-isolating earphones as soon as the safety video is over. I love flying! ^

Being in Group 1 - I haven't really cared about getting on any earlier with the kids - and it can be even worse at LHR because they can put you in the 'pre boarding' area where you can't get out again without explaining. At least in the queue you can nip off to the loo with the small ones if necessary.

But even in Feb with my 7 and 5 year old - we were pulled forward out of 3rd position in group 1 to board early.

For FamilyOf6 - you aren't the only one who wants to be on last with a family. But I think the biggest benefit (ESPECIALLY with lap infants and on SH) is making sure your hand baggage is RIGHT over your head. Bottles/medicines/toys etc all are then in easy reach. Board last and there's no guarantee you won't be in row 10 and your bags in row 25.

Thanks, good point. Worked ok when we had just the one (child), but probably not worth risking next time. Travelling Half-term on a flight to TFS so bound to be full of other families in a similar position.

I have to admit, not having rugrats mysslf, I don’t really see the need for early boarding for those with children (as oppose to infants) and wish BA would just stick to their published policy which is IMHO fair.

As i reported previously, last time I was on the OTP-LhR flight, a man who claimed to be a doctor with his two teenage children had a go at another passenger who had been pre-border because he didn’t get out of the way to allow a third passenger with an infant pass. They had all been preboarded, the man who the doctor had a go at reported he had preboarded due to a hidden disability, yet the doctor went on to say that the infant needed to go ahead of him as the infant would get colder quicker. I still can’t understand that given neither the tunnel nor the plane were cold at the time.

Thanks, that's really helpful. A-D (or C-F) sounds workable.

It's people gaming the system. No different than the 57 wheelchairs in front of me on a QR DOH-ATL flight. People have no morals or class.

I was also on this flight and it seemed that along with families (many with children definitely over two), several of the pre-boarders were pax who were volunteering their bags to go in the hold, with the consolation prize of boarding first for the hassle of having to wait 20-30 mins at the other end to collect bags.

I had this on a trip to MAN from LHR T5 a few weeks ago. I counted more than 40 people who were pre-boarded before Group 1. Three people were gate-checking their bags, the rest were families with "small" children who appeared to be aged up to 25. And for the first time as a Group 1 boarding passenger, this did impact my options on locker space.

Having kids myself, I know that it can be really helpful to pre-board when the children are up to the age of 3 or 4. Beyond that, I can see no justification, especially when it's easier to put bags under the seat in front as their legs don't reach far enough forward for the bags to be impacting their feet!