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?!?

I'm rather impressed at the chutzpah of someone who hasn't paid for the lounge complaining about the behaviour of people who have.

My children all get to fly first class as dh is a pilot. They love the lounge.
So comfortable.

Boner

There it is!!! Incredible!

I travel first class, and occasional business and it is rare to see kids running around screaming in the lounge that is managed by the airline I use. I do however use the airline I do due to the fact that that only people holding business or first class tickets can use it. There are a few major airlines who allow people to purchase lounge access, with cash, or with miles. This is the reason I would not use these companies. I have found that having paid for lounge access as an extra or to a 'loungekey' outlet people are determined to get their 'money's worth' and often drink to excess and behave inappropriately. In my experience, people in first and business on my airline generally have very well behaved children, or as someone else said, they are seated in economy with their nanny, and thus do not have access to our lounge.

Apple magic, yeah, I wouldn't want to hang out there either. I think this one was in New York.

Now my kids are much older (one is an adult the other a teen) and we are flying with one of them this summer and he is likely to be the quietest person in the lounge and plugged into his iPod or texting his friends. On the plane may be a different matter, he doesn't do so well on long flights. I apologize in advance if you are on one of our flights.

I think they should be dental misbehave with all the scumbags in economy

'Loungekey' is access to a lounge in many airports in the UK. You can pay for entry at between £15-20 per person. This guarantees you somewhere to sit, free drinks, snacks, and wifi. It is not a first class lounge OP. Search servisair at any uk airport for details.

I fly business a lot and so we and the DC use the lounges. I agree it's rarely kids you see misbehaving. Some of the adults in the other hand are beyond obnoxious. I sometimes wonder what would happen on board in an emergency just by watching people jostling in the line to board.

Boner, I would bet most people in an airport lounge have not paid for their access but have qualified some bank account perk, air miles, credit card or some other scheme. I get AA roadside assistance as a freebie via my bank, others pay for it outright, am I disqualified from complaining about any shit service I may receive if i broke down?

Heathrow and Gatwick have children's play areas in their lounges. I don't sit near them if I don't want to hear children playing. I find a stiff complimentary G&T drowns out a multitude of evils.

pangalatic the very big difference here is that OP isn't just expecting normal service in a lounge she hasn't paid for- she's expecting preferential treatment which is what is so

Even if you pay for first class you run the risk of unruly children disturbing your peace as they are perfectly entitled to be there.

Complaining when you're there on a freebie and are, like it or not, a far less valued customer, is quite unbelievable.

YABU, the children have more right to be there than you, if their parents have bought them 1st/business class tickets. If not, then they have the same right.

I am terrified of flying (take valium/shake and try not to cry/refuse to fly within Europe type fear, not 'never-fly ever' phobia) and, personally I would find lively children far less anxiety inducing than a silent, obviously scared adult. In fact, children reassure me as they remind me that all these parents are 'risking' their most precious things so flying is actually really safe. Other scared people just remind me that my fears are justified!

crying at the entitlement in complaining of children using a service that they have paid for whilst you have not. Along with the I know kids cos I'm a never employed teacher makes me think this is a wind up.

That said badly behaved children anywhere are anoying.

As an aside I flew overnight to Singapore recently. Mum and baby a row in front of me. Nanny boarded with mum and sat in economy.

Took baby a bit during "day" but at "bed time" baby was passed to mum and nanny returned to economy.

The baby screamed and screamed. Mum did absolutely nothing except half heartedly pat baby whilst continuing to sleep/doze. For three hours. I complained to crew because it was so distressing to hear but they wouldn't/couldn't get involved. I'm sure the baby only wanted a cuddle

Boner, I would bet most people in an airport lounge have not paid for their access but have qualified some bank account perk, air miles, credit card or some other scheme. I get AA roadside assistance as a freebie via my bank, others pay for it outright, am I disqualified from complaining about any shit service I may receive if i broke down?

The appropriate analogy would be whether you're entitled to complain about the way in which other people, some of whom will have paid for it (note that OP acknowledges some parents have first class tickets) use the service. And to suggest that they shouldn't fully utilise it so your freebie can be more to your liking. To which the answer would be a resounding no.

I only know how BA/One World alliance lounges work and to get in, you either have to have at least a club class ticket or be at least a silver exec club member. To be a silver club member you need 600 points each year which is 2 club class flights to the USA plus 2 club class European flight. Total cost of about £8k. The other option is that someone who has annually shelled out this level of money to BA gives you access. Oh, plus the rare person who has been upgraded. ie I guess 95% of people have paid a significant amount to BA at some point that year. They're not many freebies going!

People flying first or business class would not be in a 'loungekey' outlet. They would either be in the Lounge provided by individual airlines, or if they do not have a lounge at a uk airport they would be invited to the airline they codeshare with i.e Emirates code share with Qantas. A loungekey outlet is far removed from an airline provided lounge, where you will generally have waiter service, bar service, showers and towels in abundance. A lot of them will also have a spa where you can have complimentary beauty services, massages or hairdressing. In a loungekey outlet, you have free newspapers, a selection of prepacked sandwiches, sausage rolls and crisps and a fridge full of drinks. The OP was not in a first class lounge...

buxton thanks for clarifying! I assumed she had access to first class lounge
Loungekey seems pretty basic OP, you might as well go to Costa for 15 quid bet the coffee is better

ohhhhhh! Thanks Buxton.

I don't think YAB totally U as kids running around screaming and misbehaving is annoying whether you're in a first class lounge or the local pub - but I'm sure if you had a word with the staff they could politely raise it with the parents? I would email them and ask them to address it.

Just because they have also paid doesn't give them the right to let their kids piss everyone off. But you can't ban kids altogether! Separate zones sounds like a great idea - maybe suggest in the email?

Is what you really mean that you don't like badly behaved kids in first class lounges? Because that would get you a lot more YANBUs I think.

Pangalactic

Way to miss the point!

The OP has access to an airline lounge, not a silent room.

Do you expect the AA to provide services that they haven't advertised or else you will complain about "shit service"?

Your comparison makes no sense in this context.

We flew Virgin upper coming back from Orlando, a flight that you would expect to be full of kids.
The lounge had a kids area, well actually just a TV and a selection of kids DVDs. That was enough to keep DS happy along with the buffet.
Getting on the plane he was a big wigglesome and I said to a fellow passenger "sigh, we're hoping he'll sleep". He said grumpily "he'd better". As though we shouldn't be bringing him on the flight. I thought that was rude.
Anyway DS was brilliant, ate some food, watched his iPad and slept until I had to wake him to land. Suddenly man was nice as pie to us.

Chris - I remember taking DS on his first flight, funnily enough it was the one we were in the BA lounge.

DS must have been about 5 months old I think, it was a short UK flight. At the end passengers came up and congratulated us for having such a quiet baby, as if we could have influenced his behaviour on the plane either way at that age.