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 ?

Because most parties won’t board separately even if they are told to and early boarding is a premium perk that frequent fliers (who are more likely to choose seats towards the front and aisle) expect.

One of the US airlines (Southwest, I think, but it might not have been) used to do something long these lines in the late 90s/early 2000s. You got a boarding zone that was based mainly on where in the plane you were (towards the back and window or centre seats in the first zone). But passengers in groups tried to board together anyway and they ended up changing it to favour the passengers who were most valuable to them.

I prefer Delta’s approach; former and serving veterans board first (I’m neither and neither is DH). I like the respect the US have for veterans.

@royalcassel I am amused at all of the people feigning to have never heard of families with small children being invited to board first. Every decent airline offers this. I fly very frequently with my children and am lucky enough to always fly business or first class so we get on first anyhow but all of the other families seem to take advantage of the priority boarding. As I see it, early boarding gives me time to settle them in, have a quick diaper change and arrange my bags in a way that allows me access to their bottles, snacks etc without having to get up and down or the overhead locker during the flight. Each to their own, but I would rather wait with my two on board rather than kill time in the lounge beforehand. When you have a 15 hour flight ahead of you, I’m not sure whose unicorn children are magically tired out by an extra 15 mins in the airport before boarding!

I would think the sensible thing would be to board last. Less time to entertain them in general plane. Dh and I flown for first time and took dd. We just boarded as normal with everyone else. Wish there been a choice to board last. We had reserved seats.

Thanks for this explanation but won’t most parties have seats together so it makes sense for them to board together?

So why not just board row by row calling each ticket number forward. The technology must exist I am sure even if it’s a bracelet that lights up when you are called or similar?

I think the problem is small budget companies trying to cut costs everywhere (no idea why the elderly, mums with children and disabled people boarding first is such a problem when it's so effective)

I regularly travel long haul with Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Qatar....and flight attendants will even gesture mums with kids to the front of the queue when they open for boarding. It just makes sense to get people with mobility issues seated first so rest of passengers can board quicker.

I don’t know if airlines could feasibly do that. May be, I’m sure it would be possible to write code that would work it out, but getting it rolled out to every gate might be far more expensive than airlines are prepared to invest. Legacy systems can make that kind of thing tricky. To work smoothly it would also require everyone to be at the gate at the start of boarding - which is rarely the case - and it’s a bit complicated. Lots of people can’t hear gate announcements well for a variety of reasons and policing people trying to get on at the wrong time takes time and causes friction.

But mainly I think the reason they don’t go that route is because airlines have embraced the idea of early boarding being a premium perk and are putting their efforts into that.

Personally I’ve always thought it was the worst idea ever, we send one parent on at their time to board and the other stays with the children until the very end. Less time confined!

British airways used to do this, Emirates did this, Virgin and Air France

it’s many years since I travelled with smaller children, but when they did call out for small children to board - I alway found adults tried to board, so would sit and wait. Air France they came and got me, helped me on the plane etc

Many American Airlines do not have priority boarding for babies and hound children. I found it a shock after using the major UK and European airlines - and this is going back 13 years ago - so not a new thing.

I’ve seen it with some airlines. I never board early with children though, the longer they can run around / crawl beforehand, the better! I ( and everyone else) get an easier flight that way.

We're always asked to do this on easyJet flights we take 4x a year (short haul) and on the BA flights to the US we've done recently. I'd assumed it was to allow for faffing with change bags etc and so they can take buggies off you and load them into the hold. We've never done it because; like others have said, the less time we're stuck on the plane the better

Yes I know BA did it and I think EasyJet do but not before speedy boarders- makes sense if the buggy has to be stowed in the hold.

When my dc weee small we also had to install the car seats onto the plane so generally ba (lived long haul away, only direct flight) boarded under 5's 5 minutes or so ahead of first class, then business then front economy then rear. Should be in reverse in my opinion but hey ho. They also used to stow my double umbrella buggy in the first class cloakroom, a feature on 747's. Heathrow was always easier than the American airport though as Heathrow always let me through priority at passport control but not in the USA. When i travelled alone it was even more challenging so I booked assistance. (Dc is autistic so the car seat on board was a must, she was beautifully behaved in in, when I tried to check the seat one domestic flight it was a nightmare, wouldn't sit still. )

I recall Easyjet doing this when the kids were younger but I thought it was only an option if kids were under the age of 5.

British Airways do it.

I travel with Qatar Airways, and children and the elderly with mobility issues always asked to board first.

Surely it's better to board according to seating to make it quicker. The seats in back go first, it's just logic.

I think on short haul it’s because no one checks a bag any more and there is often not enough room for everyone’s carry-on luggage so if you board later there’s a chance your bag will get put in the hold, which is obviously worse for escaping quickly the other end.

I flew with jet2 earlier this year and was not asked to board early, though I have previously with easyJet.
To be honest, I don't want to be on the plane any longer than necessary anyway so quite happy to wait until the end.
Being asked to join a separate queue at passport control and security is helpful though.

We've done one set of short haul and one set of long haul flights with a baby.
Different airlines. On both we were invited to board early (just after speedy boarding and medical assistance I think).

I think it makes sense to have the option and you can then make the call depending on the amount of faffing you think it will take to get your particular child settled. With a baby there was a certain amount of unavoidable faff just in terms of crew coming to fix the seatbelt extender/tell you about baby specific safety arrangements. Best get that out the way whilst everyone else is still getting sorted. With an older child like others say i'd probably minimise time in the seat.

At the short haul flight we heard plenty of grumbling about children going on early. Some of the same people then moaned about being near (silently sleeping) children on the flight. Bit depressing - I think there is a certain disdain for children in some parts nowadays. People are so quick to talk about "entitlement" and special treatment for children in circumstances where it really makes no difference to anyone else.

It would be better board quick people first, then people who will need to stand in the aisle sorting bags, snacks etc.

Family security lanes exist to make it quicker for everyone else, not to be nice to families... because they take longer.

BA still usually do it, as someone said though it’s an offer not an order.

They also used to board by seat row but that was a long time back, nowadays they tend to board by group numbers, where the group you are in depends on things like frequent flyer points/card holder status.

We have two primary aged DC and have never boarded first/early because of them

In fact we leave it right til the end, waiting at the gate, just don't see the point getting on first- you'll all take off at the same time

Others prefer to be one of the first one, we don't and are happy to wait in the relative space and freedom of the gate

This is one of the reasons we’ll continue to fly BA, young families always board first IME, before any of the main boarding groups, business first etc. Makes perfect sense to me as there’s often a lot of hand luggage/a pram with young children and means the family can walk calmly onto the plane without being shoved out the way by other passengers desperate to board first. Also more time to stow luggage, get Muslins etc out and let the stewards know you’d like a bassinet without getting in people’s way.

Some of the comments on this thread are ridiculous, we always fly business so are some of the first on and it’s never bothered me one bit families boarding first. In fact shock horror we will also be flying business when our baby is born (which seems to absolutely horrify people on mumsnet) and it will definitely help to be on before all the other passengers for the reasons mentioned above.