To think people that dislike kids eat for free are mean

[sevnuwt]

My brother is saying he boycotts anywhere where the kids eat for free as he feels like he's paying extra as an adult for other people's kids to eat for free.

Aibu to think he's just being mean?

What trileteration said. If families don't use it at weekends when their main source of business isn't there, then the prices go up for everyone

He's not mean, just petty and stupid.

The restaurant won't give two fucks about his boycott - it will make no difference to anything. So all he's doing is removing certain eateries from his own choices, reducing his own options and possibly making his own life more difficult.

It's all so pointless and ridiculous, he is literally the only person who will potentially suffer for it 🤦🏻‍♀️

I am not sure what constituted a kids hotel breakfast TBH. Couple of slices of white toast and a glass of juice?

My DC used to eat hardly anything at breakfast.

Does he apply that to other offers too, would he boycott a place that had 25% off on a Monday and he visited on a Thurday?

If they do charge other people extra to cover the kids meals its going to be a matter of pennies each.... these places are not expensive. So yes it is VERY mean. People drop more change on the ground accidently than youd be paying to 'cover someone elses childs meal'
Its just spiteful to begrudge that tiny extra bit of money in a place that is already cheaper than many other establishments.
Yes its 'his right' but it doesnt make him any less of a dick for saying it like that.

I dont generally eat in kids eat free places even though I have kids but thats because if I eat out I want better quality food and havent found the food or environment good in any of those places when ive visited in the past. I mean its fair enough to not want to eat somewhere because you dont like it.

Saying its because you dont want to pay a few extra pence in somewhere very cheap anyway because someone you dont know might benefit, IS mean.

My DH and I avoid kids eat free unless we have the grandchildren with us.

They’re usually full of families, noisy and chaotic. Dining as a couple we prefer it to be a bit calmer.

When our children were young it was a no brainier to make a beeline for kids do eat free places.

You brother is being unreasonable though. Those places give free food as a loss leader, knowing that the kids will drink a couple of fruit shoots at £1.50 each and the parents will enjoy a couple of glasses of wine ar £6.00 that £15. spent on drinks more than covers the cost of the chicken nuggets and chips.

He's not mean, just a little short on thinking.

It's simply a marketing tool to get more family customers. If they don't get those customers he'll have to pay more potentially or the place will close down.

I think he's wrong about how restaurant pricing works.
But if he doesn't want to eat there, fair enough.

But this is his choice, I was at a Travelodge last week, at over eight pounds for breakfast for someone who just wants toast and coffee (coffee free in room) I use my choice to say no. He prefers to have breakfast in his room his choice. We all make theses choices and usually down to budget and value for money. Boycott is a strong word but really he is just using his right to look for alternatives.

purpledaisies but the children are our future. I don't begrudge it at all. If you don't like it stay somewhere else.

Don't knock a hotel picnic till you've tried one! My friend and I were on a course and she stayed overnight because of distance and I did when the weather was bad- snow on motorway. We went to Tesco on the way to hotel and bought the bowl cereals and some fruit or mini muffins as the hotel didn't start Sunday breakfast until 9am and our course started at 9am also they charged £15 on top of £60 each for the rooms so we had a picnic breakfast. It is ok if you need one or too mean.

Sparkling that second message was for you forgot name😊

If he's talking about the Premier Inn breakfasts, I think they are £9.25 each, and kids eat free. We go there quite a bit, and £18.50 is a bargain for breakfast for all 4 of us (2 adults/2 children).

But... it's on a par with the offering from somewhere like a Toby carvery breakfast, which is £4.29 for an adult - so it's easy to see how the adult prices are set to include a subsidy towards children too.

For our family a Toby Carvery breakfast would be a similar price to a Premier Inn breakfast, but for a single or a couple without children, they will pay twice as much.

Personally, I wouldn't quibble about a few quid, but it depends on his financial situation. I can see his point.

Hotel breakfasts are a sore point for me as so many places these days make a big deal of breakfast included (and don't provide options to book a room without breakfast) but then fail to provide any gluten free options apart from yoghurt and fruit. But kids eat free isn't really on my radar at all.

We all end up subsidising others sometimes though. As the parent of a single child, I am subsidising families with more kids any time I go somewhere that offers family rates. I kind of hate it as it feels like I'm being penalised for just having one child when I'd love to have more but can't. But I understand that businesses need to offer family rates as people with more than one child would find the outings prohibitive otherwise. In fact I run a social club where I set the price as a family price which as the only regular member with a single child, I subsidise everyone else, but I do it because I want the club to work. It's the same for these types of restaurants.

Hotel breakfasts tend to be more expensive than cafe or pub breakfasts in general. Not just kids eat free breakfasts but all hotel breakfasts.

Yes it is his right to not eat there for whatever reason, but saying it was because of the kids eat free thing and paying extra for that is stupid and mean. Both because hes not really actually paying extra for anyones kids hes paying extra because its a hotel, and even if he was partially paying for the kids breakfasts it would be so little that it is just incredibly tight.

If I ever heard anyone saying this of course I wouldnt try and force them, its up to them where they eat, but I would certainly think they were an idiot and also a dick.

For me with kids I’d be tend to avoid kids eat free, and most chain pubs

Though we did say at a crowne plaza on a Dinner b & b rate and they didn’t charge for the kids meals which surprised me as between 4 of us dinner cost more than the room.

What zombie said.

"Kids eat for free" comes out of the marketing budget. It's part of the costs of running the place - which are covered by all the customers.

He can eat where he likes. But his reasoning betrays him. This isn't like state school funding coming from general taxation on all taxpayers, or whatever he thinks. The eateries that do kids-eat-free aren't doing it as a charitable endeavour, and they are not wannabe Robin Hood taking money from the childfree guests to give food to the children!

They do kids-eat-for-free for one simple reason: they make more money that way than they do charging parents for their children's food directly.

They edge out their competitors by offering these free meals, gaining more customers, while at the same time keeping their costs low with set kids' menus. The options on the free-meals-for-kids menus are usually things they can buy in bulk, buy cheaply, and store well (avoiding wastage).

Meanwhile, the parents, feeling expansive due to the savings on the children's food, spend their savings on extra drinks (including soft drinks) for the family and by ordering dessert.

Your brother needs to stop feeling sorry for himself and pretending he's being exploited. The people funding free kids' meals are... the people who pick these places because of the free kids' meals, i.e. parents.

I don't mind and my kids are grown. The sort of places that offer this tend to be low budget anyway, so it's not like you would have had a five star experience without contributing a couple of quid towards that free child's meal.

I agree with your brother, Premier inn is £21for a cup of tea & a poached egg on toast for me and my DH but my brother pays £21 for him, wife and 3 teenagers! We avoid and always find a good value independent cafe for a cheap n cheerful brekkie.
I would love hummus & pita for breakfast

Your brother misunderstands the economics of the situation.
No one is "subsidising" other diners. The restaurants are simply attempting to get the maximum money out of all customers.
If people can afford to pay £10 then they want to get that £10.
But if someone can only afford £5- then they don't want to miss out on that money because they set the price too high.
Things like "kids eat free" OAP and Student discounts are an attempt to segment the market to maximise profits.
But its not like your brothers meal costs more because they offered the kids meal for free.
Amother example of market segmentation that actually does annoy me is the premium on "fair trade coffee" at Starbucks.
Paying the farmers a decent price makes a difference of 1 or 2 pence a cup.
But a coffee shop might add anything from 20p to 50p extra for the "fair trade" option. They are basically using fair trade as a way of identifying customers who can pay more. And limiting the market for fair trade coffee as they do so.

You're brother can eat where he likes and I can see the benefit of advoiding 'children eat free' places if you want a quiet meal. However, children eat free is a promotion to get more business, it isn't a charity program. Businesses wouldn't offer it if it didn't boost profits. Is he also subsidising OAPs if somewhere offers pensioner specials? What about lunch time deals or Christmas deals? I think he's cutting off his nose to spite his face.

Olga81 I've found many places will do gluten free options if you email ahead of arrival. It depends what you want of course but DS has been provided with gluten free bread, cereal and sausages as well as assurance about other dishes.

Haha, he's quite right. Is your brother single? I am childfree and available!

And happy to have croissants and freshly squeezed orange juice after romping in the hotel room!