Is boarding early with children rude?
 

Several people have made comments to me while boarding that children should board last so they don't get bored on the plane and misbehave. I thought nothing of - just rude people - until I saw the same thing on the internet.

We always board when our group is called, because my child loves airplanes and wants to board before boarding even begins, and so I can get everything put away and set up. Most of the time we're the first people on the airplane.

So who's correct? Is boarding when you're group is called really rude when you have children?

Boarding when your group is called is not rude.
Boarding when early with children when the airline allows it is not rude.
Boarding last is not rude (unless that delays the flight).

Do what you need to do to get where you need to go with some shred of sanity.

I would suggest combining this thread with this recent thread discussing the same issues: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-children.html

Boarding when you are called is fine. There are those who think elites boarding early is rude. Ignore them.

You can either ignore the rude people or call them out for being rude.

US flyers are so eager to board first to secure overhead bin space that they forget the most basic politeness.
As long as an airline charges for checked baggage, it won't get my money. I refuse to have a bad day just because of richer shareholders. (Particularly true for FR)

Boarding with your group is not rude. Pre-boarding if your airline has it is not rude.

If you're demanding pre-boarding or taking advantage of it then it is rude. I saw a parent request pre-boarding as she was traveling solo with two kids. The kids turned out to be teenagers.

There are some people who consider the existence of children "rude" - ignore them.

If you board first with your kid, the kid gets bored and causes delays to other pax - that IS rude.

If you board first, promptly stow your gear and your kid, and then the kid sits with his nose plastered to the window watching every aspect of the ground crew's work (which is what mine always did), that's not rude at all. That's getting a slower moving party of out of the way first so as not to delay others.

Unnecessarily delaying other pax is rude. Doesn't matter if it's a kid or the self-entitled business jerk on his cell phone: be consider of other people, and then ignore those who feel entitled to judge you no matter what you do.

It is crazy that I saw this. Sitting at LAX thinking about this very topic, and then I see it on the home page of FT :D

Given I'll probably receive more flauque in the "Travel with Children" than I would in the DL forum but...

I'm a newly-minted DL Gold Medallion, enjoying SkyPriority to its fullest.

Do families with small children and the elderly NEED to get on the plane before First Class? Before Elites in the Y cabin I can understand. But all (most) F customers want is to spend as little time both waiting (and at the airport in general), get on board, and into their seat as quickly as possible so they can (ideally) enjoy PDB and begin working, start their movie, etc while everyone else boards.

Why not have children & extra assistance board after F, instead of making F passengers wait?

Seriously? You've spent enough time on planes to be Medallion, and you can't see why this might not just be good for the passenger(s) needing extra time, but also for the F passenger?

Consider that passengers with young children and those who legitimately require additional assistance may block the jetway or the aisle on the aircraft, and they don't want to board until they know that they're out of the way?

E.g., you ever flown with crutches? I have, a bunch, after 2 knee surgeries. It takes a really long flipping time to get down the jetway and down the aisle of an aircraft, stow a bag in an overhead compartment and put your crutches down someplace.

Similar with 2 kids and car seats/strollers. Takes an even longer flipping time, based on extensive experience doing just that.

You can quibble over people who aren't actually encumbered, but I'm stunned that you don't actually see why this might make sense.

I only get annoyed when an entire extended family tries to board when "families traveling with infants in carseats or strollers" are welcomed to board. Maybe families just hear "families," but some people just don't pay attention to announcements at an airport.

If you hear that announcement and you don't have a carseat or a stroller, then that announcement isn't for you. Otherwise, boarding when you can isn't rude.

Yes, it's when 10 adults preboard with 1 or 2 kids that it starts to annoy me.

Don't be that family.

I'd lay that issue on the airlines more than the families. My experience traveling with 2 adults and 1 kid is that the GA wanted the whole party to board together, not in installments, because we were on a single reservation number.

Trying thinking in terms of logic and traffic flow instead of entitlement.

Almost all planes have the pax pass through the F compartment en route to Y. You have pax with either mobility problems or small kids & extra gear: will they board faster if you throw obstacles in their way, i.e. F pax stowing gear/demanding their coat be hung up/demanding beverages/socializing/etc., or will they board faster through clear, unobstructed aisles?

Also, one other factor to consider...

Early boarding on flights with open seating (e.g. Southwest) is a necessity for families. Otherwise, they may have difficulty finding seats together without having to ask passengers to move around, which could delay things.

Additionally, families with children who use a car seat on board require a window seat for the car seat. So on open seating airlines, they need to be able to get on and secure one before they get taken.

Boarding with your assigned group is not rude, amazed to hear people tell you that just because you have children you should always board last.

Some flyers seem to think all airlines should let families board first and that this should trump the amount paid for a ticket, status, ect. which is what I find annoying.