to think Seat Frog has ruined First Class Rail travel

You work for the Seat Frog 🐸 marketing department don’t you OP?

I have also not heard of seat frog, so thanks for putting me on to it.

I always try to travel first now with kids - under 5s don’t get seats and in standard class this means… no seats. Greater likelihood of getting on in first, more space generally, you won’t have people standing in the corridors, food and drink brought to you etc…

It makes for a far more pleasant experience, and often isn’t all that much more expensive.

ipads with the sound on are a scourge wherever you go now - just ask them to turn it off.

The influx of full First Class carriages and a noisier/children demographic is very recent, and coincides with a lot of people using Seat Frog. I can't believe it's a coincidence

Never heard of Seat Frog before yet I always book first class when travelling with my toddler and preschooler. I prefer the space and the guarantee of table. I pay full price and have every right to be there.

Also, seeing as you’re such a fan of Seat Frog, sounds like you’re using them to book tickets so it’s very likely that you’ve actually paid less than them to be there.

I’d never heard of seatfrog before but I’ll definitely check it out next time I book train tickets for my family

This is strange. I travel with a baby and a young child and pay for first class tickets because we need the extra room.

You stated that the the influx of families and children occurred in the past few months. Would this be due to school holidays? If so, this problem may die down in term time.

These days, people are noticeably louder in public, so I don't think you'd get a totally peaceful journey anywhere.

A friend uses seat frog and from what i understand it’s like bidding to upgrade and can be quite hit and miss as to whether you win the bid. So I can’t imagine any family have managed to win 4 bids. Hate to break it to you OP but some families have plenty of money and can afford first class the normal way. Heck some people you might think are a bit unsuitable have plenty of money and can afford first class.

My are teens now but I always used to travel FC with them as toddlers... it meant lounges wit clean toilets, unlimited snacks, tea and coffee served to me at the table, and usually a hand getting them on and off the train. Plus a calmer experience away from from stag parties and, ironically, noisy families. (Mine were very quiet toddlers, wouldn't have done it if they were the screaming type). Yes, the baby sometimes cried but only for a minute or so while I got into positio to feed her.

That's quite a sense of entitlement you have there, OP. Those families have just as much right to be there as you do. I've travelled First Class twice with my baby recently; way more space in the seats to hold him in his sling for a sleep, more space in the luggage racks for his pram/car seat if needed, much cleaner and safer.
One trip was to take him on my own to meet my terminally ill grandmother- a 4 hour train journey on the most overcrowded service in the UK (Crosscountry). If I hadn't had the option of FC, that trip wouldn't have been possible. The other trip was to see his grandparents, who live a 7 hour drive away. But I'm sure you'd still assess yourself as somehow more deserving. Seatfrog makes use of otherwise-empty FC seats and makes it financially more accessible for people who want to use it for plenty of reasons. Public transport is just that- PUBLIC. Not private.

I’m surprised by the number of people saying ‘just book the quiet carriage’ - not all trains have a quiet carriage! I regularly travel on CrossCountry trains and those never have a quiet carriage. Even if there is a quiet carriage people don’t pay attention to it.

This is going to make you seethe OP

If you have booked a seat on the train then they have to find you a seat. And on a full train that will be in first class, so they may not be paying anything other than second class.

The quiet carriages aren’t quiet any more. I’ve given up booking them. At least I expect noise in standard carriages.

Standard quiet carriage probably suit you better.

OMG ALWAYS listening to ipads and phones without headphones

YANBU I’ve often paid up for the considerably more expensive ticket for the peace and quiet and ability to work.

Ask them to turn off the sound or use headphones.Some people have no manners (ie consideration for others in shared space). They don’t know how to behave in any class of travel.

Some of the loudest, selfish and ill-mannered people are also well off.

I travel first class for work so I can get work done on the train. Biggest demographic I see there being a nuisance are middle aged men braying loudly on phone calls that they have on speaker, and young tech whiz kid types on YouTube and TikTok without headphones.

I travelled first class with DS1 to go to a university open day in London last year. He's autistic and a stickler for rules, and he was the one telling the adults off for not using headphones! Maybe I should rent him out as a travelling companion for those who hate bad travel etiquette 😂

Looking forward to travelling by train with my two kids and well-behaved dog using Seatfrog at half term. Much easier as two of us are disabled. Kids will be making normal conversational noise and certainly won’t be playing tablets or anything noisy via a speaker.

Must be something else behind it. Seat frog has been around for years now.

What a snob

Er seatfrog has been about for years I’ve been using them for business trips since around 2019 and I have not seen an influx of families using them. In fact the noisiest people are those on their oh so important business calls!

As people have said there are limits to the number of seats so if you are seeing families maybe they’ve actually paid to be there!

btw I have also managed to reserve seats in the quiet standard carriages!

We have 2 babies and always go first class. Never heard of seat frog, only discount we get is by using a railcard. We want extra space too…!
Choose a quiet carriage if that’s what matters to you? Or just drive if you hate being around other people that much.
We travel business class when we fly too. No regrets or guilt.

@Goldfsh if first class is now just as likely to be inhabited by people being noisy on phones/screens (urgh I hate them! Use headphones or turn it off fgs)
you may as well slum it with the rest of us in standard class.
I take a folding walking stick with me because of my inability to stand. If it’s busy and a seat isn’t likely to be available, I get it out of my bag and stand there leaning on it visibly in genuine pain. So far…… I’ve always been offered a seat within a couple of minutes. Sorted.
The London Underground will also send you a “please offer me a seat” badge for free which is also handy to have (useful beyond London too)

I also find that on trains there are many more men 20-45ish who watch films without headphones than kids.

Last train I was on 4 having a conference call got told off by the train manager for asking someone to shush their (not being overly noisy at all) child. Lovely Scottish woman pointing out it wasn't a board room and asked them to keep the noise down as they were the noisiest in the carriage 😂

Seat frog often isn't much cheaper than an advance first class single now.

We do a lot of train travel for DD4's hospital appointments and FC hasn't seemed any busier than previously.

We always go first as it tends to be quieter so people don't feel the need to store their luggage in the wheelchair space, and the train manager tends to be more helpful if they have. It's amazing how many people get offended if they have to move a suitcase for a child in a wheelchair.

There is a limit on seat frog sales as well so you're definitely not seeing multiple families per trip all having used seat frog.

So what do the parents of the noisy kids say when you ask them if they'd mind keeping the noise down?

I agree that people listening to things on public transport without headphones is an annoying. I travel first class on trains regularly for work - if I have work that I need to concentrate on or I want to relax undisturbed, I put my noise cancelling headphones on.