First/Business Class: Should there be age restrictions?
#211
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: jfk area
Programs: AA platinum; 2MM AA, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,291
#212
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
#213
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 16,046
(though I honestly don't see the appeal in taking your child on a holiday that they will most likely not remember. Then again, I shouldn't complain about people doing that as many young adults do the same thign and are just as badly behaved...)
#214
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 16,046
Like all travellers families book when it suits them. Any cabin design would have to be adjustable quite quickly. Then there's the practicalities of who goes in the cabin because a toddler would not be good for an infant trying to sleep.
A propos, I've seen adults behave worse than my three-year old (and no, Master Hoch is no saint).
H
A propos, I've seen adults behave worse than my three-year old (and no, Master Hoch is no saint).
H
#215
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 16,046
Do lap children shrink when riding in coach? I've found older lap children to be highly disruptive because they can't stand being held for that long. This is especially true for the 3- and 4-year-old lap children who fly as lap children because the parents lied to the airline.
#216
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Tokyo
Programs: SPG LT Plat ANA Plat
Posts: 596
Why ? Will the kid be qieter in their own seat ? Why make a distinction on upgrade to paid ? Just be honest, you hate kids on a plane, but they have just as much right as you, very DYKWIA of you I must say.
#217
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Tokyo
Programs: SPG LT Plat ANA Plat
Posts: 596
Maybe it's a choice rather than a lack of options (not to mention I can travel without having to give a large consideration on how such choices will affect a child, and questioning whether parenting is worth it if I spend months at a time overseas...)
(though I honestly don't see the appeal in taking your child on a holiday that they will most likely not remember. Then again, I shouldn't complain about people doing that as many young adults do the same thign and are just as badly behaved...)
(though I honestly don't see the appeal in taking your child on a holiday that they will most likely not remember. Then again, I shouldn't complain about people doing that as many young adults do the same thign and are just as badly behaved...)
#218
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: 787
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 1,306
Last year we flew F to Narita with 2 boys and had middle seats. So I'm trying to separate those two while they fuss about not seating next to each other and who gets to seat where. Not the first time we did this so I know. We separate them and its a done deal. I can tell the guy in 1A is getting worried. He has his AA PJs on and ready to get some sleep. Now FA comes and asks my 6 year old what he wants to drink and if she can show him how to use video. He takes a pause and says "I think I will have orange juice and I know how to use video". Pulls out remote control, finds Nick Jr and puts his SpongeBob slippers on. Big guy in 1A smiles. When we got to Narita he said "these were the best kids I have ever seen on a plane".
#219
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, IHG, Enterprise, Avios, Nexus
Posts: 8,355
Exactly right. One of the risks of public transit is you don't get to choose the public with which you transit. Get over it.
#220
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Sydney Australia
Programs: No programs & No Points!!!
Posts: 14,222
Maybe she might be trying to look like a normal parent flying commercial.
#221
Because at least then the expectations are set correctly. If you book your flight so late that the only available seats are in the JetScream (tm) section, then at least you know what you're in for.
And I'll tell you who doesn't want to sit in an area with screaming kids - people who paid a boatload of money for the specific privilege of enjoying a cabin marketed as a place to sleep.
And I'll tell you who doesn't want to sit in an area with screaming kids - people who paid a boatload of money for the specific privilege of enjoying a cabin marketed as a place to sleep.
You're also looking at the fact that at different times of year planes have vastly different types of people. A route that can be 90% business people in February, can be 90% families come June .... Too much of an expense and too much risk. You're either going to have people in there that don't want to be, or too many kids, so there end up being kids in the "regular" cabin.
Makes no sense IMHO. Also realistically the kids that cause the most disturbance are infants under two, and since the best place for them is bulkhead seating with the cot, then by nature of cabin configuration they are going to be there.
Last edited by Gabrca; May 7, 2015 at 5:58 am Reason: Spelling :p
#222
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: my heart is on the shores of the north Italian lakes
Programs: LX Senator Lifetime, Relais&Chateaux Club5C, ex ! "Amanjunkie", ex LHW LC, hate chain hotels
Posts: 2,515
Personally, I think the one thing that airlines can do is both empower and require their flight attendants to be stricter with those that disrupt the cabin whether they be adults or children. If parents are being too permissive with their children, then the FAs have to spring into action. Tell the parents that they will be offloaded or banned from the airline if they don't keep their children under control. Threaten the same banishment to overly intoxicated/self-important passengers.
People with money and children = super entitlement
P.S. : LX had an unofficial policy to keep row 4 and 5 called the "Stübli" in C child free (most seats there are reserved for their elites anyway), but some parents even on this board challenged this.
#223
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Portland
Posts: 11,572
I think the OP is right that this would only really work on an aircraft like a 380. I'd go further and make it a "quiet" cabin rather than just a child-free cabin, to try to weed out the people who want to get drunk and socialize. That seems to work at the AAdmiral's Club in Chicago, though I still occasionally have large groups of loud drunks talking about nonsense in there, too.
The reality is that none of this is practical for the airlines. You can sometimes do something about annoyances, but sometimes you just have to live with it.
#224
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SMF
Posts: 1,251
While I appreciate being able to fly in premium cabins with my younger kids, I don't appreciate it when other parents do and fail to watch their kids. The fact is, if an airline instituted a no-kids-in-first-class policy, I would stop using them for all my family travels and just fly another airline, but I would probably use them more for work travel knowing I could get a more enjoyable trip.
I don't think the problem is the kids, I've found that 90% of the time its the parents.
I don't think the problem is the kids, I've found that 90% of the time its the parents.
#225
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
I rather enjoy Amtrak's quiet car concept, and it works well in most cases. The conductor will actively quiet people down when passing through and there's a fair amount of self-policing, as well.
Two major differences:
- Separating train carriages is far more doable than separating sections of an aircraft
- No assigned seating, and ability to get up and move seats mid-trip (also, usually, enough open seats elsewhere to move to)
On the occasions where the quiet car is full, you just resign yourself to being in a slight more noisy section.
Two major differences:
- Separating train carriages is far more doable than separating sections of an aircraft
- No assigned seating, and ability to get up and move seats mid-trip (also, usually, enough open seats elsewhere to move to)
On the occasions where the quiet car is full, you just resign yourself to being in a slight more noisy section.