Screaming Children in First SIN-SFO
 

I'm not sure if this post has a point or not, but I guess I found myself a little disappointed in SQ's handling of what I thought was probably an inappropriate situation. I'll explain:

I'm flying SQ2 from SIN-HKG-SFO in First, seated in 1C. The cabin is full. Seated behind me in 2C is an elderly male and in 2D an elderly female who I believe is his wife. All is well as we board, Dom is poured, life is grand. Until I hear a screaming child back in the Business cabin. Suddenly, a younger female appears in the First cabin with the still screaming child and deposits him into the lap of the elderly woman in 2D (the child's grandmother, I realize). And there the child remains as we take off, screaming without stop, throughout supper service.

After supper service, the mother returns to the First Class cabin and takes the child from the grandmother, walking him around the cabin to try to calm him. Alas, to no avail, the child screams as he's walked around the First Class cabin. So, after 20 or so minutes of this, the mother decides to take the grandmother's seat (2D) and the grandmother heads back to Business. The mother stays up front with the still screaming child. Screaming continues to HKG.

From HKG-SFO, the grandmother again originally sits in 2D, this time with the child in lap from the start. Screaming continues through meal service with the mother periodically returning to walk the child around the First Class cabin as we eat. After dinner, the mother and grandmother again change seats, and... thankfully... the child falls asleep.

Approximately 3 hours into SFO I'm woken by screaming. This time by not just one child, but a second, as the mother now has two crying children in her lap. This continues for some time until I hear "Where's Daddy? Where's Daddy" from the mother and now realize the father has joined First Class and is walking around one of the children while the mother focuses on the other one.

Personally, I was a little disappointed as I can only assume that one of the adults had a First Class ticket. Yet, at various times, there were two different adults seated in 2D, and three adults in the First Class cabin walking the child (at times, two at the same time). Additionally, there were two children there at some point. I just feel that SQ should have been a little more strict with ensuring not everyone was up in First Class without a ticket.

Anyway, that's my rant.

That's very very strange. SQ is one of the airlines that is extremely strict with visiting a higher cabin than your ticketed one - even if you belong together.

I was on a flight with two parents in F and their kids in J. They asked the cabin crew whether the kids could join them for lunch and the answer was no.

As I was the only other passenger in F, I told the purser that I had no issues with the kids joining for lunch and he told me that that's not their policy, hence the kids need to stay in J.

A quick conversation with the purser would have resolved this very quickly. If you are brave enough to post your experience here, I am a bit puzzled why you can't share this with the crew onboard.

I agree. The FAs should have been firm. Perhaps the no-child in F policy of Malaysia Airlines makes sense... (cue unending debate about children in premium cabins...)

I had a problem on a TPAC SQ flight in IFC. Mother was sitting across the aisle from me and two young children were in coach (not business class, I eventually asked the crew a very pointed question about this). The two kids visited mommy repeatedly and it was very annoying, including having them play on the floor next to my seat, which prevented me from standing up. Several other passengers were complaining too. After several attempts to stop the problem, with the purser or whatever talking to the mother and the kids reappearing several minutes later, I quietly and politely read the riot act to the purser and stressed that they brats hadn't paid for FC, this was against SQ policy, and surely something could be done, for example by blocking the aisles with carts. A bit later (this was well after the end of dinner service) he told me that he had talked with the brats' nanny and stressed that the nanny must control her charges. It was an extremely disappointing experience for FC on SQ. There were no outward signs, but I wonder whether the mother (or father, who wasn't on board) was PPS Solitaire or something and this could have explained why the cabin crew were initially so reluctant to cite the rules.

I agree. Go back into the galley and have a discrete word. What happened to you is inexcusable.

I was in F once (no longer remember the airline) where there was a family of 4 and me. The children were school aged. They decided that the F cabin was their playground and raced excitedly back and forth to mum and dad. I was in a center seat, and they kept whipping by me as they did so. It's not my nature to speak up, but I did have a word with cabin staff who then had a word with the parents. The children then settled in quietly. It's not a bit analogous, other than the staff can enforce rules when brought to their attention.

Of course they will answer no if you ask. But SQ is extremely bad in stopping self righteous parents who ruin the inflight experience for all the others.

I had countless issues in this regard on SQ and found that the FAs are always and reliably entirely unwilling and incapable of handling the situation. It is one of the major reasons why I don't fly SQ voluntarily.
They budged because your fought like a lion and because you were in FC. If feral kids dismantle the coach cabin you'd need an AK47 to to convince the FAs to restore order.

True and not true:

SQ crew will be extremely hesitant to resolve the situation when pax (here: kids) are booked in your cabin. When I had this terrorizing monster in F from Europe to Singapore, I approached the parents and knew I would not get help from the cabin crew.

Story is totally different when pax/kids are not in the cabin where they belong to. Crew is then very good in enforcing the 'you get what you paid for' policy.

Not necessarily IME. See my post above, where the brats had coach tickets and nevertheless spent almost all of the first four or five hours of the flight visiting mother in FC.

I haven't been through enough of these situations to form a strong opinion but my experience tends towards this not being true i.e. SQ is not any better at enforcing this. But my bad experiences have all involved J/Y rather than F/Y or F/J.

Very good point. I lack experience there as I don't travel SQ premium often enough.

The worst Y->C transgressions, I always had on TG. One where the FAs onboard upgraded the mother to the empty window seat and kids had to walk in and out from coach in 2 minute intervals. I wanted to work on the computer which became de facto impossible. FAs were perfectly unhelpful of course as they caused the whole problem.

^

Had a very bad experience on y before on a long haul flight (the flight was going from sin to Frankfurt to New York) where a 3 year old girl kicked randomly on our row of chair (3 seats) throughout the entire flight. This happen even when she was sleeping. Her force was so strong that every time she kick the chair, all of us can feel the strong impact. Having words with the mother (who simply cannot be bothered with her kid from the moment they got on the plane to landing) and repeated complaints to the sq flight crew from junior to senior (they only talk gentlely to the mother and did nothing else as they were afraid to offend her) simply has no effects. I ended up having a serious headache when I got off the plane at Frankfurt (cannot sleep at all due to her kicking action). My poor two other passengers had to endure this all the way to New York I believe as the mother and daughter was still on the flight to New York. There were other kids who were well behaved on the same flight where their parents walked them around and gave them activity to do.

i had similar experience early this year JFK-SIN. i flew business, and seated across to me was an older women, maybe the grandma, or older sister, of a woman who sat in coach, not far behind business cabin.

couple of times during the long flight, this woman gave her crying kid to the person across me, and this kid really bothered nearby passengers.
finally, jut before i went to FA to complain, other business passenger went to talk to her, asking if she could "return" the crying kid back to her mom. when she yelled at him, he went to see FA, and FA told her the same. at first she told that no other passengers were bothered and that the other gentleman was making up stuff, but i decided to pitch in my voice as her rudeness to the other passenger was uncalled for.
crying kid was back to coach.
i felt bad for coach passengers near that kid.

MH only has a 'no infants in F' policy. As soon as the children are older than two and required to have their own seat, they are allowed there.

I quite agree WRT TG. I was in Business Class KUL -> BKK and the two children (each with its mother) had a pillow fight. The crew and parents did nothing