BWI to PHX yesterday 4 or 5 children in First. Ugh. And yes, my spouse and I were in coach.

They were obviously there for a reason (revenue or miles). I'm not sure what the issue is/was. If their parents were willing to upgrade them then more power to them.

I fly with my son in First / Business and get plenty of nasty looks, but I pay to ensure we sit up front together. I'm sure these parents did as well.

If you wanted to sit up front buy the first class ticket or use miles to upgrade.

You are upset just because kids are in FC and you are in coach?

Get over it.

Major pet peeve of mine, if its one child and they are well behaved I don't mind. I've also been on a flight with a make-a-wish family. Once again don't mind. But one of my percieved biggest benefits to flying in F is no children. I have however had one flight where the kids where talking off their shirts and climbing all over the seats, their grandparents and the flight attendents did nothing. At one point one of the kids asked the rather attractive lady next to me to take off her shirt. If i behaved like they were, the plane would have been diverated and I would've been hauled off to the pokey.
Same thing goes for the club, I won't buy a club pass because, i have been in the club on day passes (credit card, preffered extras) and had to deal with screaming children. At least I can find a bar, get some real beer instead of that budlight crap and not have to worry about kids.

Clearly the airline disagrees with you 100% as they allow both revenue and award FC tickets for minors. Malaysian Airlines is the only airline that currently has a ban on children in the FC cabin. Perhaps they are an option for you?

the solution is to always charter!....avoids a lot of hassles....for some reason, airlines will let us kettles into the front!....goodness gracious...

Actually that's pretty funny. How old was this kid and did she take off her shirt?
Not sure what OP's problem was, other than being bummed out that he was in Y. As noted, those kids were in F for a reason. I had kids on consecutive flights last Friday. They were a little noisy but once I put on my Bose headsets, they didn't bother me.

Children in this regard are no different than any other passenger: maybe they behave themselves, maybe they are obnoxious. I have shared the F cabin with several obnoxious kids (which truly is the fault of the parent). I have shared the F cabin with several obnoxious adults. And I think the number of obnoxious adults I've encountered is far more than the number of obnoxious kids.

Personally I am not a "child friendly" adult but if someone is willing to use their money, miles, or benefit of having a companion on the same reservation to upgrade their kid(s) I don't see any reason to stop them. And while a young'un sitting in F will add a bit of extra annoyance if I'm sitting in Y, I'm still going to be annoyed to not have been upgraded regardless of who's in the F cabin.

Stuff like this used to really irritate me but it's one of those things that is out of my control and therefore not worth me brooding over.

Ever been on a plane headed to or from MCO?

My god.

But, as others have said, the kids paid one way or another to sit there. It's up to the parents to keep them in check, and not go off duty and assume it's the FA's job to entertain the brats...I mean well behaved angels.

I flew up front with my parents a lot when I was young. They always had an arsenal of things to keep me busy, i.e. books, snacks, games, toys, etc. My bro and I were always well behaved thanks to good parenting.

+1
My parents put us up front on long hauls as kids and we knew to be well behaved. Now, I take my son into J class on long hauls and I make sure he has enough games and books to keep him occupied. Sure I've had people comment as they are walking into econ but I paid for his seat. What I don't get are folk that comment on weekend flights or trips to tourist destinations (MCO, HNL).

Presumably you paid for a coach seat, so why is it your concern who's sitting in F? Is it that you and your wife didn't get a free upgrade? If so, that's life. Someone else paid for those seats with cash or miles, or perhaps someone had higher status than you. Either way, that's really none of your business. All you need to know is that you didn't get upgraded.

Or maybe you have a philosophical problem with kids in F. If that's the case, then (as someone already pointed out) US disagrees with you and your opinion isn't particularly relevant.

A few months ago my family and I flew in F on a DCA-PHX-SNA-PHX-DCA vacation. The dirty looks that my 2 kids got made me smile at these peoples' self-induced misery. If you want to resent what other people do with their money or miles, go for it. But I can assure you we had a great time up in F (and were treated very well by all of the FAs) and we'll continue to travel that way as money and miles permit -- your indignation notwithstanding.

We flew recently LHR-MCO in First with 2 kids, they loved it, if you can ever afford to sit up front you can make comment..........incredible these daft non kids in business/first posts still find airtime on the forums.

Unfortunately there are "parents" who believe that the FA's are there for childcare, and said "parents" don't have the wit to think that their li'l angels could possibly upset people around them, and let them run amok because it is easier that way. In a number of ways people seem to leave their common sense at home when they travel.

But - if the seats have been paid for then, like it or lump it, they are entitled to be there. Money/miles/status shouts.....

Some airlines (like BA) make claims for the peace and quiet of their F cabins. Were you to be bothered by noisy or unruly children there then perhaps you have a point. Other than that, it's a public space, they have a ticket, they have as much right to F as you do. No more, no less.

The OP was in Y so doesn't even really have "disturbing the peace and quiet of the F cabin" as a valid complaint, since the OP wasn't even in the F cabin.

Now if the kids were in F and making such a ruckus that the OP, in Y, were disturbed, that would be another story but I'd imagine/hope/pray the parents did their parental duty before it got to that level.

Interesting story though on the actress from Third Rock From the Sun angrily walking off of an unnamed carrier's business class after a lengthy ground delay and a parent's unruly children... now the parent in question here is the Octomom and it doesn't sound like she had many helpers to assist her.

http://www.tmz.com/2011/07/09/octomo...layed-jfk-lax/

I think that scenario would be a valid complaint-- it's a lot of kids who sound like they don't have enough supervision (really I'd expect at least 4 grown-ups to help manage a group that large and that young) and they are acting up.