Is business class worth it with two toddlers ?

[muaa]

Would it make the journey better ? My DH absolutely refuses do go long haul with our 1 and 3 year olds.

Would flying business actually make it any easier ? The one year old would still be on one of our laps. The three year old would their own seat etc.

Has anyone done this ? It's so much more expensive and I don't want to do it, unless it will make a considerable difference.

Yes! Some of the Middle Eastern airlines actually have a Nanny service. Worth every penny!

Why don't the people who want complete peace and quiet get a private jet?

Back when we had sufficient points etc, DH used to get upgraded and I'd be in the back with DC. I loved it! Bung Peppa or Wiggles on ipad, use sticker books and triangular crayons, snacks every half an hour, no judgey face from DH, marvellous. And then he'd sleep well and be less irritable, so a win all round!

OP you sound absolutely vile.

I fly business and first regularly ultra long haul. I also don't like children. Nevertheless I don't begrudge anyone who takes a child into business class.
I have never once been disturbed by a child. Even if they cry I have noise cancelling headphones and wouldn't even notice.
I've been disturbed many times by arsehole adults however.
As long as you don't let them run in the aisle or let them wander into others space go for your life.
Its madly expensive though

Ignoring the mental response, because of course kids can fly business and you always see them in business, can’t recall a recent flight without extra kids in addition to mine actually. And I’ve fortunately never been disturbed by them. I imagine they’re likely to be frequent flyers and parents are prepared with all the snacks and tech.

However, I would say do not do it with a 3YO unless they’re almost 4. Young 3, no way! As you know business class seats prioritise privacy these days with a lot being suites. They might not want to sit when the seatbelt sign is on and you can’t even talk to them let alone hold them. They need you a lot for opening snacks, adjusting their headphones, they dropped a crayon and that means you getting up and down like a yoyo. I couldn’t sleep on a solo night flight with my then 2YO DD as I was terrified she’d just wake up, wander off and I wouldn’t have a clue. I know there’s nowhere to go on a plane but it still worried me as it was a huge a380. After that switched we did premium economy for a bit, then business again when DD was 4 but DS was still a lap belt. He’s 2 now so we’ll avoid for the next 2 years we’ll do it again when he turns 4 and can be a bit more independent and we can trust him to sit etc.

I just want to clear up my ' I don't care ' comments- again...

I didn't ask about other passengers and whether we'd be a nuisance to them.

I care as much about an economy passenger as I would care about a business passenger. Which is just not enough 'care' to stop me flying.

I do the usual stuff other parents to do prepare my kids for the flight and I'm respectful when I'm there and don't let me kids run around.

But I don't really care if someone is bothered by my kids on the plane and anyone else with kids feels the same, otherwise they wouldn't get on a plane in the first place. There's always a chance that kids might bother someone unfortunately. We do our best not to make it happen, but the chance is there.

For what it's worth, other adults have only ever been polite to us and lovely to my kids in all settings they've been in.

The last business class flight I was on over Easter had 9 children in business and this isn’t unusual on the route I generally fly. And I know for a fact that when we travel as a family over summer there will be at least 13 children in business on the day as it’s us, a family friend with their children and another family friend and their children on airline staff travel. It’s co-incidental but not unusual.

Most mumsnet statement ever. Won't somebody think of the wealthy?!!

@PifandHercule where did you hear that? I've flown Business with toddlers (BA and Virgin) and BA Business with a baby.
It's more comfortable all round, and if you can afford it why not?
We flew to Australia with a 20 month old and three year old and if we could have afforded Business class then absolutely we would have gone for that!

I have flown a great deal in business and in first class, in the past it was generally work related but now it is personal travel. I have honestly never f come across a noisy toddler or even baby. Sometimes they are a bit noisy during take off and landing and I presumed it could be their ears adjusting. After that they generally just sleep or I have headphones on anyway . They are no bother at all, I still don’t like OP’s attitude that she wouldn’t care if she was disturbing other people anyway.

I do wonder if any of those glibly suggesting a private jet, either for those people who want piece and quiet away from kids, or for those travelling with infants, have ever looked at the costs of doing so?

For info a one off charter of a light exec jet with reasonable range you'd probably be looking at paying at the very least $5000 - $6000 per hour of flight, and it's worth bearing in mind you'd probably end up be paying for your flight and also any empty legs associated with your booking to get the aircraft too/from it's base..........

Hope that helps.

Business class.

I wouldn’t worry about other passengers I’ve flown long haul with my Dd 4 times a year since she was 6m had looks and some people made it obvious they’d rather not sit next to a baby .. but never had an issue, she threw a massive tantrum on a short haul flight once tho.. it’s all about seat configuration some have pods so may be scary if the older child can’t see either parent some are in 2s which may be difficult if the baby sleeping and passenger next to you keeps getting up .. it’s not about being worth it really the enjoyment of the flight will depend on how the kids are .. which unfortunately could go either way no matter how much you pay.

I would be your first customer

Any time I've flown with mine, people are just smiling away at them and we've had no issues controlling them in any way thankfully. Once a guy I sat next to with my baby said ' I don't like babies ' .. I just kind of smiled.. the baby was chilled for the entire flight (4 hours ) and it was fine anyway. But yeah, I'm afraid we all have to coexist with babies and children. What can you do.

Seriously. Don’t justify yourself. The same people calling you out for that are also the ones who think “rich people” deserve better.

Strangely enough, in my 40+ years of flying l have never met one of these mythical drunken middle aged men that you and a PP have mentioned. Unhappy obnoxious toddlers, however, abound on flights.

There are almost always children in those classes when I've boarded a plane. Not seen any with an adults only policy.

I’ve encountered several. Ones who refuse to turn off their devices. Drink too much. Kick off about the “dining”. Etc.

@EarthSight so you describe yourself as I'm just a millennial, non-conservative voting, non-right wing, working class person who's never travelled anywhere on business class. A person who has travelled in extremely cramped conditions many, many times, some of which was travelling next to kids who screeched and whined the entire journey. A bit difficult to concentrate on anything, read a book or similar with all of that

why do you think so little of yourself that you think you should have to put up with children screeching but a wealthier person shouldn’t? You do know that the cost of a flight is in proportion to someone’s income. your flight in economy could actually be a higher proportion of your income yet you feel like you should have to deal with all the children as wealthier people need their rest. Where did this attitude come from? How have you been brainwashed into thinking your time and experiences are worth less?

it’s completely bizarre so many here feel so strongly about not inconveniencing wealthy people on a flight. Along with those who base their opinions to op on how they mistakenly don’t think children generally travel business or first class.

When you say worth it, what's the price difference? If it's £10k business versus £2k economy to me, no it's not worth it. But if that's not a lot of money to you, then yes it's worth it. Impossible to judge whether worth it without knowing your financial circs!

Strangely enough, in my 40+ years of flying l have never met one of these mythical drunken middle aged men that you and a PP have mentioned.

I'll raise you just short of 50 years of flying on a very very regular basis and during that time I encountered a few drunken middle aged adults, both men and women, on flights.

It's maybe not as common as the MSM and some parts of SM would have you believe but they really do exist.

FWIW I've also seen plenty of well behaved adults and children in Business and First Class.....

It's more like 500 economy vs 3 k business. But I've also seen business tickets for 1.5 k, but then there's a lay over..