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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To Risk Upsetting Other Travellers

325 replies

JustPurple · 27/09/2018 20:34

I am going back to work at the end of October and am looking to squeeze in a last minute holiday before I go back. We will be flying long haul and have an 8 month old baby.

We usually fly premium economy when we travel with TUI because I'm not great with large groups of people. WIBU to take an infant into premium economy? I feel like people would be cross if she made any noise when they've paid out for an upgrade, presumably for a calmer and more enjoyable experience. The baby doesn't usually cry for any length of time but she's never flown before.

OP posts:
SweetSummerchild · 28/09/2018 14:00

Premium economy on Tui/Thomas Cook flights often means that the seat reclines slightly further than in cattle class.

As long as you don’t turn into one of those passengers who tells the person in front that they cannot recline their seat over night because you have a baby on your lap then it’s fine.

schnubbins · 28/09/2018 14:01

I wouldn't do it.My husband flies business class on long haul flights as as soon as he arrives he has to go straight to meetings and or has to prepare for them.He is not going on holidays.Last week I flew and there was a mom in business class with a baby who was screaming even before the plane took off .She was sitting amongst just business men in suits.She looked so stressed and they looked just like her at the end of the flight as the baby screamed the whole way.It was quite unbelievable how upset that baby was.In economy there is more chance of people being a bit more understanding in my opinion .I have flown transatlantic for years with my two as babies and toddlers my own.So 12/14 hour flights .My kids were always pretty good travellers though.I just felt more comfortable being with those that also had babies /kids than business men /women and was so less stressed even if I had less leg room and I am 5ft 11.

zzzzz · 28/09/2018 14:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cookit · 28/09/2018 14:18

I’ve taken my baby/ toddler in business quite a few times, never considered it might not be ok. Last flight I was in it was only two families (us and them) with young children in business.

Sashkin · 28/09/2018 14:21

My husband flies business class on long haul flights as as soon as he arrives he has to go straight to meetings and or has to prepare for

Not a meeting Shock

I go to work and save lives every day. By your logic I should get a tube carriage to myself, but for some reason TFL don’t seem to agree...Grin

astoundedgoat · 28/09/2018 14:23

When ours were very small, we ONLY flew premium economy on flights to the US (visiting family) because when you're faffing about with newborns and toddlers you need the extra room, and from the perspective of the others around you, at least you're not all wedged in together.

I honestly can't imagine flying in a lower class than I could afford or wished, lest I offend the delicate sensibilities of my fellow travellers! Are less well off people somehow less deserving of a peaceful flight than better off ones?

It's definitely easier to soothe a crabby baby when you have a little space to do so, anyway.

pumkinspicetime · 28/09/2018 14:25

My dh flies BC or first and gets off the plane straight into meetings. Happily for the company he works for he is bright enough to realize that the only thing he has bought is his own seat, he has headphones, a sleeping tablet and gets his head down. In the last ten years of his global job I have never once heard him complain about dc in bc/fc.
Although we both remember an economy flight where a dc cried for 8 hours overnight, it happens, it's no ones fault, it's just life.

Pursefirst · 28/09/2018 14:35

I flew business class from Rio to Toronto last year (work trip) and there was an 18 month with her mum sitting in the pod thingy next to me. It was a red eye flight and the baby bawled for almost the entire flight.

No-one died OP, yes it wasn't exactly pleasant (more so for the poor baby tbh) but babies are part of life! As many PPs have said, grown adults can often be far more of a PITA. Enjoy your holiday.

lrh3891 · 28/09/2018 14:58

@schnubbins not business men...in suits??

Perhaps the mum was stressed because she could feel the judgey eyes of all those important men boring in to her.

Frankly a crying baby isn't much fun on a flight whatever cabin you're in. But in economy you have a lower baseline of comfort to begin with, so maybe we could argue that those people are suffering enough and it's only fair the crying babies go in Club (note Club, not "Business")

Coyoacan · 28/09/2018 15:15

Genuinely shock at the thinking behind some of these posts. Did not even a sniff of equality reach you in the last 50 years? I thought submissive wife was a fairly niche mindset

Well said zzzz

Quietrebel · 28/09/2018 15:34

Do it! I flew premium eco (long haul) not long ago and there was a family with a 6-7 month old baby there. They were provided with a cot for the child. He had his own space and slept all the way through! Ask the airline if they have that and don't forget that if the child is more comfortable so will you and everyone else!

AynRandTheObjectivist · 28/09/2018 15:36

I'm an actual submissive in an actual D/s relationship and even I don't give a shit about Important Men In Suits In Business Class.

As I said before, if you're a big shot, megabucks earning Business Class traveller, you are probably good at functioning on little sleep. If not, please tell me what you do.

Gromance02 · 28/09/2018 15:40

I can't believe the level of selfishness on this thread. Absolutely astonishing. Fuck dozens of other people's comfort. I can't wait a few years to go on a holiday. I must go now while my child is a baby. Fucking vile.

schnubbins · 28/09/2018 15:42

It was known as' Business Class' for a long time just as Air Hostess , Flight Attendant , Cabin Crew etc etc.I am living in a non english speaking country for the last 25 years so sometimes the change in vernacular goes past me and the offence taken these days when used.As for being as submissive wife , you do not even know me so why make such assumptions .
Everybody knows what goes on in planes when babies cry incessantly and I was referring to what I had seen just last week.It was men in' suits' that were giving that young mum daggers and she was totally stressed out.I am not or never was on their side and never would be being a mum myself.I have helped many a mum out on planes who has needed it.One time on a flight( before I had kids) a mother flying from Australia via Bangkok to Athens fell asleep beside me after boarding in Bangkok.I could not wake her up she was so exhausted so I looked after her baby for hours while she slept. She was so grateful and it passed the time for me.And Sashkin by the way I go to work and save lives every day too as a nurse

Sashkin · 28/09/2018 15:44

by the way I go to work and save lives every day too as a nurse

Good, then you understand that being a bit jet lagged in a meeting is NBD in the greater scale of things Wink

AynRandTheObjectivist · 28/09/2018 15:48

You're good, Gromance, but it still needs a bit more subtlety. You're on the right track, though.

AllesAusLiebe · 28/09/2018 15:49

It was known as' Business Class' for a long time

...it absolutely was and there’s no need for the disgusting snobbery on this thread, as I alluded to in my previous post.

Fact is, there are many on this thread who seem to delight in making sure you know how ‘successful’ they are. If you (god forbid) use the incorrect terminology, they’ll use this as another excuse to belittle.

I agree with you. When I travel with my son, I’d much rather be surrounded by families. I think that’s human nature.

Sashkin · 28/09/2018 15:51

Fuck dozens of other people's comfort. I can't wait a few years to go on a holiday. I must go now while my child is a baby

We were emigrating. We could have left baby DS behind on his own but I understand social services tend to frown on that sort of thing.

Other people have said that they were visiting family - should children never meet their grandparents in case Important Business Men are a bit tired once in a meeting? Confused

schnubbins · 28/09/2018 15:52

Oh just leave it .You have your opinion and I have mine and that it what this board is about .It does not need to turn into a slagging match.I have no interest in that .There is so much more in 'the greater scheme of things' to get excited about .... there you are exactly right.

embo1 · 28/09/2018 15:54

If they were paying for a baby free environment, they wouldn't let you take a baby... Do it!

OlafLovesAnna · 28/09/2018 15:55

It's not rude, you're paying for a service and there are no rules about under 18s not using that service.

As others posters have said I'd maybe be fed up if the baby was very upset and you weren't doing anything but if she does cry and you're doing your best to calm her then no I wouldn't be cross, it's just one of those things.

m0therofdragons · 28/09/2018 16:01

We flew business class with a 4 yo and 2 two-year olds. They were far less annoying than the 40yo man in front of us!

Angelil · 28/09/2018 16:06

All those saying that people pay for premium economy for the extra space...most of the time the only difference between premium economy and economy on short-haul flights seems to be a curtain that is drawn across between the two! It's not first or business that the OP is talking about here. So I would say...take the baby in premium economy as there is practically no difference between the two sections anyway (unless anyone cares to enlighten me?).

Celebelly · 28/09/2018 16:06

Book it and enjoy your holiday! Babies cry, fact of life. Anyone who gets upset about this fact can either buy their own private jet or suck it up for a few hours. Have a wonderful time.

AwaywiththePharaohs · 28/09/2018 16:07

It's TUI so surely most will be leisure travellers.
IME most regular flyers have noise cancelling headphones so with the engine noise a squeaky baby will hardly be heard.
Go for it op.

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