To think that it is ok to jump the queue when with an infant?

[Eole]

DH, DC (3 months) and I were flying for the first time today to see family, long expected break!
We had booked priority, lounges and everything we could to relieve a bit of the stress.
Priority queue was quite long to check in luggage and we started queuing nicely.
Another mum came along and told us we could jump the queue which we did gladly as baby started stirring a little bit.
However it enraged some of the people in the queue, literally shouting that it was very out of order and that was no such thing as baby class, and what is wrong with you people etc.
Interestingly, every other step in the airport (security, customs, boarding) we were invited nicely by the staff to jump the queue.

So YANBU, of course you can jump the queue when with an infant
YABU no, you should queue like everyone else

My irritation is at how OP phrased their question. If they asked 'is it right that familes with young children might have priority access?' I'd say yes. But to phrase it as 'queue jumping' sounds like somehow their baby/child has entitled them to walk infront of everyone else, including those who have no kids but might have paid for access (for whatever reason).

But realistically, if I had young kids I'd much rather have them free to roam around an airport, go to the toilet etc untill the very last minute, then bundle them onthe the plane, off and away. Much better than getting on first and having to try and constrain/entertain them for an extra 30 or 40 minutes in the small confines of an airplane cabin.

Thankyou! Can't believe there were so many posts without someone suggesting this.

My 4 month old definitely did not stay in her pram.

After being significantly delayed on our recent travels to airport my whole plan to sit and relax with a cup of tea and a breast feed were completely ruined and we had to rush straight into a very long queue to check in. Already late for her feed the baby was roaring, and I mean roaring and every passing second felt like an eternity. So I had to awkwardly try and get my boob out and discreetly feed baby whilst pushing her pram and carrying her baby bag. Before anyone jumps in with it, DH was trying to navigate 2 suitcases and a car seat (cos we could find no fucking trollies in our mad dash). At this point I discovered baby had also taken a massive shit which had leaked right up her back and we also found on the car seat.

So yeah, 3 month olds don't just sit in prams.

Torn between agreeing and then remembering the 40 minute passport queue I spent holding a shit covered baby on my own...nobody did anything at all to help.

Exactly, I agree. It’s hardly like you’re going to have to stand on the wing if you don’t get on the plane quickly.

NO! You don't jump the queue just because you have a baby. You get priority boarding so you can get the baby settled before you take off and dump all the extra stuff.Other than that, you get what you pay for and so does everyone else who also paid extra for those perks.

OP. Life is short. When I was on mat leave I flew all over the world with my DC. In every airport I was invited queue jump. Believe me I went straight to the front.

i started flying alone in 1996. From 2011-2013 I got to jump the queue. Embrace and enjoy it. It’s a short short ride.

I thought people with young babies always got priority boarding anyway? 🤔We always did when we had one in a pushchair, even on the most cheapass airlines; I'd expect people with babies/toddlers to be allowed on first, I think the complaining people were just being wankers.

That said, I am still grateful 15 years later to the crew/ground crew who told me to stay on the plane until last and then got an entire passport control opened so I could go straight through after a trans Atlantic flight AND got my luggage and pushed it through customs to my waiting DH as I carried/dragged half asleep 2, 3, 4 and 7 year olds off the plane. I felt like the biggest economy class Rockstar ever lol .

People with babies and toddlers should be given priority. They have my sympathy as it’s a nightmare travelling with them. Anyone shouting at a mother with a baby for jumping a queue lacks basic manners and empathy. This website is for mothers/parents. Don many of you not remember what it was like to travel with young children.

I personally would always be the last to board a flight with small children. Too much sitting around on the plane and child/ baby gets very board very quickly!

The OP doesn't say that, at all.

Haha I voted YANBU. But I would totally have voted YABU before I had kids.

But since then, it's totally reasonable. I was invited to queue jump last time we flew, by staff both here in the UK and then coming back from Spain.

We didn't book priority so we were all geared up for long queues, soon as we got to security, we were ushered via the priority queues until we reached the plane.

One reason - travelling with a baby does mean taking a whole heap of stuff that is not plane allowed (liquids to make up a bottle, baby food etc) we were ushered over to a priority queue where the staff dealt with people with kids and people with disabilities - meaning no confusion and also special trays for bottles and baby formula. I didn't even know these existed before I had kids. You have to see it to believe it. The trays have foam in-lays where your baby stuff is placed to go through the scanner.

And the scanners we were directed to had a compartment for prams, wheelchairs etc - you put it through a side section (like a luggage conveyer belt) rather than having to lift it onto the normal conveyer belts.

They also had slighly different security body walks for people carrying babies - if I remember rightly? I'm sure they were slightly different.

The airports aren't doing it because they feel warm and fluffy towards babies, they do it to be efficient and so that everyone else doesn't get further inconvenienced and have to wait even longer.

People should be urging people with babies to go get fast tracked. So not unreasonable at all.

Quite frankly yes the plane will take off faster/on time if people with babies in buggies are dealt with seperately. Otherwise you're the poor sods stood behind us in security while we decant a whole rucksack of baby crap, fold down prams, disconnect our baby carriers, clear out the pram basket, wait for someone to come and hold our babies while we do this. Take off any extras from the prams (footmuffs and things) and then swing it onto the belt. Then use 10 trays to get all our stuff through......

P.s they also take babies on the plane first because ground crew have to get the prams on the flight which is an extra task but it can be done while all the other passengers are boarding.

Like I say - airports and airlines aren't feeling all baby gaga - they so cute - let them go first. They do it because it's the most efficient way not to hold up everyone else.

I agree. Boarding is massively slowed down by parents faffing with buggies right by the plane door/stairs to the aircraft. They then stand blocking the aisle whilst they try to figure out whether they have everything they need for the flight before putting bags in overhead lockers. Usually whilst their dc make a run for it further down the aisle. If everyone else was seated first, it would be way faster.

No problem at all with disabled people boarding first though.

Meh. My infant carrying days are long over but it wouldn’t bother me in the least, it’s tough trying to juggle small kids and luggage and tickets and passports … if something can make that a bit easier for you then so be it.

Edinburgh airport has a family lane for security we got to skip a 45 min queue with a 10 and twelve year old in June, we initially said it was OK but the people round about us encouraged us to go.

The sheer entitlement of some people staggers me sometimes.

Cool story but the OP was actually talking about check in, not boarding. 😅 Don't see how skipping queues for check-in just because u have a child speeds up any process. And given the amount of families that fly now I'm surprised it was "airline policy"! Boarding is a different story though.

I'm torn on this one too. I've never seen people called to the front of a queue for check in before and I don't think I'd have the balls to do it just on the say so of another random anyway! But I do think airport queues make people irrationally angry. We recently flew back and because the plane was delayed we were the 10th flight within half an hour to a small airport instead of the first so the passport control queue was enormous. 3 year old DC needed the toilet so DH took them off to find the toilet, the amount of people who literally refused to move out of the way to let them pass to go to the toilet was disgusting. They did later call all families with children under 12 to the front a little further along though! Prior to covid as well we had an awful experience flying back, ended up travelling from a different airport to we were meant to be, rushed on a plane with no seats next to each other and when we arrived to the UK out then 5 month old DC had done a ginormous poo up their back and was screaming the place down. Nowhere to change DC and Security queue was ginormous but some lovely people helped get us through to the front and eventually security called us but there were some horrible comments thrown at us. You can't win to be honest 🤷🏼‍♀️

Imagine a reverse priority board.

you’re disabled and need your continence aids. All the overhead lockers are full. Your hand luggage goes on in the hold.

yiu have 3 small children all with the allowed backpacks. The overhead lockers are full. Your childrens PJs and teddies and nappies go in the hold.

bloody hell - where had empathy gone these days? I am so so grateful for all the lovely people who were on my journeys between 2011-13 when I had tiny babies. Thank you all so much.

It's obnoxious. Unless it's airline policy or the staff directed you to do so.

Felt like the thread had evolved into wider airport discussions. Just a couple of posts above mine someone had talked about why were people with kids boarded first. So I was pulling in a mixture of things into my reply.

Its OK though from your username I see confusion is something you suffer from😊

YABU OP, families with young children get priority at security and for boarding but I have never heard of any airline offering this at check in. Sounds like you just jumped the queue and the airline didn’t want to say so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Other people paid for priority too so it was a bit rude to March to the front

You don't HAVE to board first. On our last flight we were told that we could board first, but if not we had to wait until the end. We chose to wait because it gave dc longer to run off some energy.

The down side is that it was then very difficult to find overhead space for all the necessary luggage, so tbh I don't think any time was saved from the plane's pov.