I don't like children in 1st class airport lounges!

[Sunnsoo]

Just that really....

A lot of airport lounges let people bring a kid in for free if the parent has a pass/1st class ticket.

I have a Loungekey because I have anxiety and need to relax/clear my head before flying.

However, I have noticed a sharp increase in the amount of kids in these lounges recently... Running around, picking at the buffet, spilling fizzy drinks... I find it stressful to watch!

AIBU to think that if you take your kid into a quiet/luxury area, then you make them be quiet and behave?!?

BYOsnowman, a BA gold card gets you into the First Lounges, although if you have an actual first class ticket, you can get into the Concorde Lounge, but there are only a few airports with one. I've never seen children in there because they are boring - the only advantage is the excellent food, it is like a tasting menu in a restaurant so not very child-friendly.

I'm BA gold, and spend too much of my life in First Lounges. I've never ever seen children behaving badly in there.
In Business lounges, they might run around a bit but isn't it better for them to burn off energy there than on the plane?
Most of the BA business lounges have a kids area anyway

OP I completely understand your pain - I feel the same way about restaurants - particularly those you have paid quite a bit to spend time in.... I don't know many people who would WANT to have screaming children around them and that includes those with children haha!

You can definitely take children into the BA first lounge, we have taken our dcs. I don't actually like doing it, preferring to take them into the business lounge as the atmosphere is less like a library!

How rude, surely all children should be put with the luggage! WTF, if their parents have paid for them to be there then suck it up princess.

Who are all these people using airport lounges? What do you do there? I've travelled lots by air but between security, checkin, passports, panicking about which gate it is, finding the toilets etc I never even have time to get a coffee let alone go sit in a lounge. Maybe I should visit the airport just to try it? .

I have a Priority Pass which allows me into most airport lounges, a consistent selling point with these places is that they are generally relaxing environments to chill out in prior to your flight. I don't expect them to be as quiet as library but neither to I expect a stag do in the corner, people playing music through their phones or noisy kids running about. If I wanted that I would go and sit in the Wetherspoon Pub outside. Basically I hold people to a higher standard of behaviour inside the lounge then I would outside.

ilovesooty - she was lampooning the OP, to show how ridiculous it sounds.

Lol coco1810 in the luggage! I think it would be appropriate to make a quiet lounge and a child-friendly lounge. shock horror It's actually not all that uncommon for people to feel that they don't want screaming crying tantrum-throwing children around them, but do not mind those who are well behaved.

You have nieces and nephews and you're trained as a teacher. Bless. I'll give you my 5 yo with ADHD after an 8 hours flight when we've been delayed 8 hours and we're about to get on another flight. It happens because all my family live thousands of miles away.

On the plus side, my horrible fear of flying has been mostly cured by having DD because I no longer worry about myself and spend the whole time caring about her not seeing me panic. Before that; Valium and sudoku.

Being trained as a teacher but not actually been one, doesn't mean you know about kids.

If a parents pays for a first class ticket, they have the right to be in the first class lounge. With the child.

It's clear you didn't mean naughty children. You meant children.

I don't like judgy shits who hate my children simply because of their age. But that won't stop you use the first class lounge.

I am scared of flying, very much so. The first class lounge is not 'sit here in peace and quiet and prepare for your flight'

Yabu

YANBU.

I would pay more for an 'adults only' flight!

We take our children into first class / business class lounges. And I have also flown with them first and business class. They are generally well behaved, and I am very On It when we are in lounges and on board to ensure they behave as well as possible. But they are kids! As someone above said you are paying for access to first class or business facilities, not to child free facilities. If I can afford for my family to fly first or business or premium economy or economy I don't see why they should be prevented from using the relevant lounge. Shall we just ban children from aircraft?

We have three children now (4, 2 and 6 months) but when we just had the oldest we flew first class to Australia with him when he was seven months. When we got on board another passenger in our cabin remarked she had never seen children in first class. We got a few grumpy looks from a male business passenger. After the first leg of the flight two people in the cabin came over to say how quiet the baby was and that they didn't even realise there was a baby on board until breakfast time. The gentleman business flyer however had kept most of us awake with his rhinoceros snoring throughout the flight.

w8women what a stupid inflammatory post. Reverse snobbery is just as bad as snobbery.

We have only taken our nanny with us once (with a 2&4 year old) and we ALL flew business including our wonderful nanny.

So DFOD

I would pay more for an 'adults only' flight!

I totally get that. But the op isn't paying to use the first class lounge. And the parents of these kids are.

I wouldn't pay more for an adults only flight! Adults get drunk, and chat, or pray loudly and eagerly, or play music on their phones without putting headphones in so we all get to share the joy, or try to talk to me, of climb over me every 5 minutes to go to the loo, snore, explain their history of medical issues...

Children curl up in seats, plug themselves in and occasionally eat. Much pleasanter.

Our credit card gets us in a bunch of these, once when the kids were small we were in one that had a wonderful family room as part of it. We got it to ourselves! It had a large screen TV and videos for all ages, toys a couple of sofas, a small fridge with juice/milk/soda and room service too. Bliss! This lounge also had quiet business cubicles where one could work but some people appeared to just be hanging out there. Lounges wouldn't provide such areas if they didn't expect kids to be in there.

We don'y always use them, when the kids were young they often needed to run so we just wandered around the terminals following them wherever they wanted to go so they would be tired and ready to nap on the plane.

"I would pay more for an 'adults only' flight!"

How much more? In which class? How many of them would have to run a week to get your business?

One airline, I think, has set aside a few rows in economy as adult only. Otherwise, I doubt restricting the potential audience is at all economic.

YABU and very precious. Like MrsBobDylan said , first world problem.

If you have anxiety a better solution might be to head straight for the gate area which is generally less enclosed and fairly calm until boarding starts. Sitting at an empty gate until your flight is called is very do-able

This is really good and sensible advice, which seems to have been sadly overlooked.

Sometimes I fly with my children, sometimes without. When I am child free, other children don't bother me in the slightest because they are not my problem.

Also, whoever said that planes are public transport and children are members of the public is spot on.

Pffft, maybe they shouldn't allow snobby anxious drama queens in first class lounges... seriously did you expect people on this parenting site to go "why yes these horrible creatures, let's transport them in travel cages"?
I am usually a people pleaser and hate confrontation but all pearl-clutching special snowflakes like you OP can honestly go find a grip. Don't like it - close your eyes and stick some earphones in!
Pisses me off to no end when people like you think people with children are below their royal fucking highness.

I would pay more for an 'adults only' flight!
Have seen this comments so many times in MN
Yes please do so that you end up with a lady with hiccups for 14 hours like a lucky PP mentioned earlier

If you have anxiety a better solution might be to head straight for the gate area which is generally less enclosed and fairly calm until boarding starts. Sitting at an empty gate until your flight is called is very do-able
The gate doesn't have free drinks and buffet does it? All for the name of anxiety

clicknclack that sounds amazing. The "children's area" in the business lounge at Dublin airport consisted of a dirty room as small as a cupboard with no windows, a flickering overhead flourescent tube, a broken tv, some broken/missing parts toys and a few peeling decals. We lasted approximately 5 mins before deciding to inflict our two toddlers on the rest of the lounge instead.

"Secondly, no I don't have children yet. I have five nieces/nephews and I am a trained teacher though, so I do know a bit about children."

Hahahaha.

I used to be a nanny, and I cringe now when I remember how I thought because I worked with kids I might have an idea what it would be like to be a parent.

You have no idea what it is like to be a parent, it's completely different from looking after other people's kids in your working hours. Trust me on this.

The issue isn't children in the 1st Class lounge. The issue was those particular children not behaving.

Next time I fly with DD I would like to fly first class. However she will sit in the lounge and read a book/watch something on her tablet with headphones. Hardly difficult to be around.