Some airlines no longer let babies and small children board first

This. I've got 4 young children. I don't mind when I board but I've always been invited to board after priory boarding. It's normally a quick announcement but it is a thing. Recently with BA and EasyJet we boarded first.

This is a good argument for not boarding families first because by the time everyone else gets on the families are still 'getting settled' which slows everyone else down so boarding takes longer.

They've probably realised it's quicker to let everyone on at the same time so the people who just have to put their bag away and sit down have done just this instead of queuing up behind people who think they've got all the time and in the world to hand out snacks and colouring books.

My son is entitled to board early as an accessibility adjustment if we wish. To be honest, it is not helpful. Boarding can take 30 mins +, and that’s an extra 30 mins that he needs to stay calmly in his seat on top of the flight time. It works much better for us to be amongst the last on board. Priority boarding is really only helpful if you do not have an assigned seat or if you need to fit a large case in the overhead as carry-on.

British Airways did this when I flew in June and easyJet did in November I don't see why it's better though, I always wait till last.

TBH you’d probably need to run a survey to see if these reported cases of no priority for infants is a policy change by specific airlines or just down to the day/subcontractor/tight turn and the subcontractor just got it wrong.

I’ve certainly seen the “families first” announcement missed, accidentally, on a couple of occasions.

Last time I flew with with the RAF it was like that.

Unfortunately they ran out of space in the family section as people with older teens pushed to the front of family boarding. We were the last family on board, with a 4&6yo, so put in the adult section... which was pretty much silent. Behind the curtain into Family it was screaming, various tablets playing cartoons on loud and crying.

Where exactly have you been travelling?

struggling to think of a southern European airport that didn’t have priority queues for families AND pregnant women were included in this too

very common in tomato Europe for pregnant women to be called to front in any queue too if there is a ticketing system and not a separately stream

We always board very very last with kids. Why would we want to spend any longer than necessary on the plane? Annoying to have the choice taken away though I suppose.

Have been on 6 flights with my 2 year old and on only 1 they asked small children to board first. However we would actively make sure we are one of the last now, there's nothing good coming from making an active toddler sit in a seat for 30 mins longer than they need to!

We did notice that some airlines did do this, but not all. Tbh we have found it's better to board toddler last as it reduces the time on the plane.

This reminds me of delayed Ryanair flight in 2003. They said children first, so a family with a 6ft tall 15yo pushed into the group only to find that they were in one section of the plane with all the noisy, fed up babies and toddlers.

That happens a lot locally (not in the UK) with BA flights and I think sometimes it happens because people’s English might not be great and they maybe don’t understand the system…there’s no doubt though some who are completely aware of how it works just try it on with the gate staff.

Of course the other issue is if you are in a low priority group you might still want to be at the head of that cohort to try and grab a space in the overhead locker.

I would scuttle off to hide to minimise my time trapped in a confined space with a high energy baby toddler.
However i had my dh with me, had i not i might have welcomed the opp to spend an extra 30 sec organising myself before someone started huffing and trying to barge past me.

If you are travelling solo with a toddler (and other kids) plus pram etc. It is harder and boarding early is a small thing that makes life easier for everyone in aggregate. In the same way letting a person with physical impairment or who needs assistance to board first.

Plenty of non-parents seem to be desperate to get on to. Usually when they call boarding groups people in lower priority groups will try and board anyway (why?!) and are sent back. I’ve had other passengers literally stand in front of the gate so I’ve had to squeeze past them before, it’s really odd.

And @YaWeeFurryBastard

Ah interesting, hadn’t NB’d that might be a factor before…

Yes it’s usually in this order:

special assistance/young families
Group 0 - ultra VIPs
Group 1 - first and gold members
Group 2 - business and silver members
Group 3 - PE and bronze
Group 4+ - economy by seat row

Tui did at the beginning of this month. I didn't notice it in the UK, but we did have to catch a bus to the plane so I guess there wasn't much point then.
On the way back, we walked to the plane.

@notimagain

The group numbers on ba correlate to places in the plane too. We boarded group 3 this week which was premium economy plus first section of standard economy

Unless you’re a faffer not sure why you need to be on first it’s not that hard to just sit down.

@BeMintBee sadly, a lot of parents seem to faff on planes!

@LlynTegid

You still sit on your allocated seats, they simply let you get on first as you take longer to stow luggage

All airlines do this for longhaul flights. I don't think I've ever been on a flight where young families are not invited to board after priority boarding is complete. In some situations it makes sense to board early and in others it makes more sense to board at the last minute.

Those who say this isn't a thing are probably taking shorter flights or just haven't noticed.

It's can't be safety surely more time, they have to get the prams down from the door of the plane to the hold so less of a hold up. Which was needed last week , we were in business so boarded same time as a couple with children, chap was responsible for the pram but I suppose you forget how much stuff you hang onto and put in the storage under the pram and it took him an age to empty it. Which wasn't a problem but I can see why they would want you on first.

The statement the previous poster made is not incorrect though! It's a biological drive that some have some dont!

Just to add, we flew with DC1 aged 6 months and were totally happy to board towards the end of the queue, have never really changed this mindset!

I've always waited until the last second to board. Let them run around the terminal and burn off the last bit of energy. I've never understood the rush to be first.

I am surprised to read this. Is it because allocated seating is the norm for all airlines now, unallocated seating having gone?