Some airlines no longer let babies and small children board first

[royalcassel]

What's that all about ? Has anyone else had this experience recently ? I found it quite challenging. Surely it's better for the little people to be seated first to enable everyone else to board quicker ?

I have travelled a lot with D’s with Sn’s .. we had the option to be seated first or last tbh didn’t make much difference - you are either hovering around the gates or sat on the plane getting restless .

I rarely fly, but I thought you could pay for priority boarding if you wanted it?
Or is it that because you've been given free child places, you assume that your entitled to free priority boarding as well?

Neither. It used to be accepted airline policy that children under a certain age - I think it was about seven - were boarded first. All the flights we took when ours were little adopted it.

I agree. As other PP have said it's better for the young children to board later then they've got less time to be fidgety on the plane.

Have never ever seen priority boarding for this, the only exemptions is for medical reasons.

I only see it on long haul flights. Kids are going to get fidgety regardless on them.

It used to be commonplace for under 12s when my eldest 2 were young in the 90s /2000s.

But I don't see it's any big deal tbh. It did have an advantage then on low cost airlines as there wasn't pre-booked seats and it was first come first served

Why be so catty? Nobody is assuming they’re entitled to anything and no plane offers free child places 😂 tickets cost almost the same or the same as adult ones.

You cannot pay for priority boarding on most carriers (unless you go up a class) only on budget airlines like Ryanair, easyJet etc.

You may not have seen it but nevertheless some airlines definitely do still offer priority boarding for families with infants (e.g. BA), and I’m pretty sure at least one other legacy European carrier also offers it.

It might be something some carriers aren’t keen on because it conflicts with pay for priority boarding, so if people mainly/only travel out of the LoCo heavy airports it’s maybe not something they have seen but it very definitely does still exist.

i always assumed that it takes so much longer to get settled in with a baby considering any extended long period will require multiple snacks, toys/games/books, drinks all taking a considerable time to unpack from the hand luggage then on top of that possibly depending on the age of the small child everything you will need for a diaper change, then i have seen these inflatable little seat extensions things so they can fully stretch out their legs. that all will need a significant time to set up and is easier to do while the plane is still empty

The only benefit to boarding first is to ensure you can get your bags on and stored near to you (changing/snack/toy bag etc). But if I'm flying with children I'm probably taking checked luggage so don't need overhead anyway.

Not all airlines allow those inflatable extensions but those that do require them to be stowed during takeoff and landing, so extra time during boarding isn’t helpful.

@OhTediosity i did not know that but makes sense. it does still take longer though to get young kids settled into their seat with all the other items required at hand

By your own theories OP you should get on last. The less time your DC are on board the better. There’s nothing worse than sitting listening to a child scream because they’re bored out of their minds.

@iamtheblcksheep going on last will likely cause frazzled parents trying to rush the whole process on a crowded plane where there is not a lot of room to for example temporarily put the big massive hand luggage while trying to unpack 5 toys 3 snacks 2 devices to put into the storage compartment at the front to then be able to put the rest of the luggage in the overhead, then make sure the child is settled safe and comfortable in their seat reasonably occupied to not cause a fuss which would all have been so much easier on an empty plane and not rushed

Emirates, Qantas, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and BA all offer it. That's just what I've flown.

I think most people on this thread are talking in theory, or from a flight 20 years ago. Most families with very young children- including mine- utilise this service. It's very helpful.

Exactly- the irony of everyone on this thread saying parents should be engaging their kids on a flight- it's much easier to do so from the start without inconveniencing the passengers around you if you were able to have a moment on a mostly empty plane to sort out what you need to keep down from your hand luggage, something that is easily achieve by, I don't know... priority boarding

Why not just take a smaller bag with stuff you need for the flight and pop it under the seat in front? Seems common sense to me. No unpacking involved before getting seated

Change the nappy BEFORE boarding.

And those " seat extender" are banned from majority of airlines

@Gogogo12345 you can’t tell when you will need a nappy change and good luck on a long haul flight. also any parent of a young child will let you know just how much stuff you have to take for just in case.

TBH personally over the years I’ve never seen the problem with priority for family with infants boarding…can’t understand why some people on this thread seem to be getting a bit bent out of shape over it.

What can grind even my gears though is getting stuck on arrival because somebody needs to stand the aisle to help with all the books, crayons and cuddly toys need finding and packing…..

I know sometimes connecting flights mean some families do need to try and rush off but sometimes it does appear to be a case of thinking first on must mean first off.

It would be bloody bad luck if a nappy urgently needed changing between boarding and take off though. Especially if you had done it 5 mins before you boarded. And yeah I would say I've got a pretty good idea how much stuff to take on a plane for young kids. I've had 3 of them and all been taken on long haul flight. And before iPads were the norm as well so more stuff then

@Gogogo12345 i guess the nappy situation can depend on the baby. mine would scream the plane down at one drop or wee 😅

Haha yeah. Considering this site is called mumsnet there seems to be a lot of people who hate or resent mums or children.

All the flights I’ve been on in the last 5 years have asked for parents with children under 12 to board first.
they have all been long haul BA flights though 😃

Usually to bag the luggage space