antirealist

Me too. I spend most of my working day in a darkened room, and I want as much sun as I can get, especially when crossing time zones.

I expect this window shade business to become an even bigger issue when seatback AVOD is more widespread.

blue2002

The window shade business may, to some extent, be resolved by centrally-controlled window dimming on 787's.
http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787...51215d_nr.html

wali

Do you have children?

TRAVELSIG

I have rarely had any problems with small children in J. The UM sitting next to me recently was quiet, played with his laptop, and was very polite. Don't think this is a problem at all. Someone mentioned airlines banning small children from F- I am not aware of this. Anyone know of an airline who does this?
The WORST passengers I have had sitting next to me are all adults who drink too much and bug the FAs constantly for no good reason.

shore9

exactly, you sit at the window, you are thus in control of the window shade.

Hogtowner

My girls are now 8 and 5, but have been flying trans-atlantic and transcon since they were 3 months old.

In many ways, flying in J (on D rewards in my case) is easier with kids than in cattle class. You have the lounge before the flight, so they tend to be calmer when they get on the plane and there is more space in J so you get less of the "hey, she's hanging over my seat" type of stuff. Our last trip to the UK (summer 2004) was on a 333 and the AVOD was a big hit. Our trip this year will be on a BA 777 (and a 747 on the return) in J, so the little rug rats will be getting spoiled again.

Before I had kids I used to tut-tut when kids got a bit loud etc. I couldn't distinguish very well between kids who were genuinely distressed (pressure changes etc) and those whose parents weren't making enough of an attempt to entertain them. Now, after 8 years of hands-on experience, if I see parents making a good attempt to control little Johnny then I will cut them a little slack. I have very little time for parents who let their kids treat the cabin (whether Y or J) as their rec (or should I say "wreck") room. If you are travelling with kids (particularly of the toddler variety) it is incumbent upon you to bring sufficient kiddie food and distractions to keep the little monsters entertained (as best as that can be accomplished).

I would also have to agree with other posters that, far and away, the people who are the biggest pains in the a$$ on a plane tend to be 42, not 2, but whose egos haven't yet caught up with their chronological age.....

Sanosuke

I would like the opportunity in this thread, to remind everyone that you all were once children and babies. Thus you can pretty much relate if one baby cries or a child cries. Either buy earplugs or buy pacifiers or soothe them with enteraintment, problem solved.

I do not think it is an excuse for anyone on a plane to complain about a crying baby, you can't really ascertain what caused the baby to cry let alone see if the parent does anything to quieten the baby. Manners are of great importance when flying.

Sanosuke!

Hogtowner

Sure you can. I've seen parents just let their babies cry. They don't pick them up, they don't try and soothe them etc. Like I said, most people when they see parents at least *trying* to calm a baby down will cut them a lot of slack. I don't like it, and I'm sure other people feel the same way, when the parents basically don't lift a finger to try and control Johnny Toddler. In my experience (no where near as extensive as most FTers here) this is not the usual occurance, but when it does happen it is d@mned annoying!

californiadreamin'

By that logic (and to others here who flatly state something similar), what kind of access to the aisle do you expect from your seat-mate?

Ford Prefect

You probably wouldn't think the same way if you had small children yourself. Oh what a better world it would be if we didn't have to listen to children. We could all sigh, relax, lean back and listen to whiny business class flyers throwing their temper tantrums. If you don't want to listen to a child who is crying (likely from pain in their ears from pressure changes or the fact that their schedule is off) why don't YOU move back into cattle class? Consider this. You are one passenger paying full fare. They are two passengers paying full fare. Who makes AC more money?

wali

I totally agree with you!

ACORD

Hey! I said I get annoyed with this stuff -- I did NOT say I created a fuss about it -- I have to sit an suffer in silence like most civilized people. There is no way around the fact that infants on planes do create a disturbance sometimes and nobody is HAPPY to be woken up by a squealing kiddie. That was my point.

What I DO find obnoxious are self-absorbed parents with their little princes and princesses *daring* other passengers to complain when they run amok and, as you seem to believe, feel that it is their god-given right to make life a misery for others just because they have their kid with them when flying. If a parent is at least trying to keep the infant quiet I have no problem.

cur

Infants don't pay a fare.

My rule of thumb: if your kid cannot control its crying, it shouldn't be in J. Taking an infant into J is like taking a toddler with ADD into an first class lounge.

acysb87

For some of our "senior" posters,did they even have planes in those days?

NewToCanada

Yeah, I hear they used to complain about crying, seasick babies for the whole 8-day trip.