Business Class Babies

As we checked in for our flights up to New York last Wednesday, the ticket agent offered us an upgrade to business class.  Sure, you had to pay a small fee, but when you take into account that the upgrade allows you 2 bags to fly at no cost, the upgrade to business class made sense.  We had luggage and to check all of our bags was going to cost about the same as the upgrade.  Might as well take advantage of the bigger seats and fancy snacks, right?  Except I wouldn’t even consider it.  Not for a second.

For me it’s all in the name – business class.  To me those seats are intended for passengers traveling on business, with work to do, or just generally busy people who might need a little peace and quiet between destinations.  My kids don’t fit into those classifications, nor are they conducive to people trying to find time for concentration or peace and quiet.  Same goes for first class.  Much the same way I wouldn’t take my kids out to a fancy 5-star French restaurant at 9pm, I don’t want them in business class.  In my mind my kids aren’t the intended clientele for business class.   But is business/first class really like that anymore?

When I grew up flying was kind of a big deal.  We always had to look nice and be on our best behavior.  Growing up I flew in the first class and business class cabins from time to time (whenever my parents got upgraded, which happened a lot since my dad traveled quite a bit when I was a kid), and no one said anything.  But according to my mom, I was always a pretty good and quiet kid.  My sister was a different story.  I distinctly remember traveling once with my mom in a first class cabin on an Eastern Airlines flight cross-country where my sister screamed and cried so much that we cleared out the entire first class cabin.  Even worse?  They all retreated to the smoking section in the back of the plane, since that was the only place with open seats.  They preferred the billowing smoke of the smoking section as opposed to sitting near us.  They literally picked a health hazard instead of listening to a baby/toddler cry.

At that point, probably having enough of hearing my sister scream herself, the flight attendant came over and told my mother that she had just the thing to help.  She then took my sisters bottle and poured her a mimosa.  Seriously.  I remember it clear as day.  Obviously, I’m dating myself here a little – smoking sections, Eastern Airlines, and babies being served alcohol as an accepted way to get them to sleep (hey, it was the early 1980’s, what can I say) – but the bottom line is that kids can be a problem in small confined areas, like planes.  They can disrupt other passengers to the point that someone thinks a mimosa is a good idea for an 18 month old or persuade them into thinking that sitting in a cloud of smoke is better than their big seat at the front of the plane.  And is it really fair for a child to disrupt other passengers to the point where they need to move from the seat that they paid extra for?

I suppose you could always say that it depends on the child, but does it?  I mean, my sister’s incident was extreme, but even good kids have bad days.  Kids at their very core are unpredictable explorers, and can be sensitive to the world around them.  What if they get excited about a flight and squeal/screech with excitement…often?  Or what if they find the take-off and landing painful because of the pressure on their ears and cry?   Or what if my definition of quiet isn’t the same as a business traveler trying to get some work done.  I can assure you that since I’ve had kids, my definition of quiet has changed.  My kids get praise for using “inside voices” and anything short of a dull roar.

Erajh and I did end up upgrading our tickets, but only for the segments when we didn’t have the girls with us.  As we flew from New York to Atlanta yesterday, there was a family of 5 sitting in the first row of the main cabin.  You know, right behind that curtain that’s supposed to make business class so exclusive?  The curtain that isn’t even floor length anymore?  At about 2-3 feet long, I’m not sure what it’s supposed to stop you from seeing, but regardless, they were behind the curtain.

The family consisted of a husband and wife and their 3 boys, all of whom seemed to be under the age of 6-7.  Throughout the flight the father was constantly taking one of them to the bathroom or asking the flight attendant for something at the front of the plane.  I can’t even count the number of times they walked past our seats.  It was just that many.  The probably spent more time in the business class cabin than the main cabin.  And then, because odds are that one of your kids is going to lose your mind during a flight if you’re traveling with more than one, their kids started screaming intermittently.  And not necessarily at the same time.  You know, just enough so it was really disruptive.  The parents did their best to keep them calm and occupied, but things just happen.  For good part of the trip, I was acutely aware of the kids in the row just behind that odd, short curtain.  It didn’t bother me and I genuinely felt for the parents, because I know what it’s like to try to keep kids calm on a flight, but it was almost as if they were in business class.  I mean, what was the difference if they were in front of the curtain or behind it?  We could all hear it.

Yet even realizing that no one in business class seemed to care and that behind the curtain is essentially the same as in front of it (with respect to sound at least), I still don’t think I’d fly first class or business class with my kids.  In the main cabin I’m still worried about my kids being noisy and disruptive, but at least the passengers around us didn’t pay more to sit in that section in the event that my kids lose it, like Hazeline did yesterday on our flight home.

Lots of people think I’m being silly about this and see no problem with babies and toddlers sitting in business class.  For example, Erajh will accept the upgrade when he flies with Greenleigh on is own.  And I suppose that’s fine.  As long as I don’t have to be there.  Because if it’s up to me, my kids won’t be sitting in the front of the plane until they are at least 10 years old.

So what do you think?  Is my idea that business and first class seats should be reserved for business passengers old and antiquated?  Are babies and toddlers okay to be in the first class/business class cabins?  Do you upgrade when you have your kids on flights with you?

*Oh, and anyone wondering about the whole mimosa incident – Yes, my mom did give the bottle to my sister and she slept like, well, a baby for 5 hours.  Long after we got off the flight in Los Angeles.  And although I wouldn’t try this method myself, my sister turned out okay (I guess…).  Don’t worry, Eastern Airlines has been out of business for a long time.  No possibility of them serving other little babies mimosas.  Because surely if this happened today and my mom made a stink about it, my mom would have some sort of lawsuit and that flight attendant would have been fired.  Instantly.