Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To take a baby first class on a train?

69 replies

mrsjuan · 06/11/2009 19:39

I am taking DD to visit my parents next month (on my own) and am planning on traveling by train. It is approximately 2 hours on one train then a short tube journey, then another hour on another train.

My husband has often found in the past that by booking online, a first class fare is cheaper than a standard fare if you travel at certain times and has suggested I do this.

I am tempted by the free food and drink & bigger seats

DD will be 7 months and is currently fascinated by new surrounding & therefore very amenable in most circumstances. If she did make a fuss then, assuming there was anyone else in the carriage I could always take her into standard class!

I can't find anything on the website about traveling with babies apart from the fact that they go free but I would hate to break some sort of 'train etiquette' and get horrible looks from the other passengers!

What do you think?

OP posts:
KnickKnack · 06/11/2009 19:41

there was a very similar thread to this a few weeks ago, I think it was a toddler though.
I'll have a look and see if I can find it.

For what its worth, I'd say go for it and enjoy

KnickKnack · 06/11/2009 19:42

here

lindsaygii · 06/11/2009 19:43

Bollocks to the other passengers. Your money is as good as theirs!! Why should Standard Class have to listen to your baby cry, but not First Class??

I quite often upgrade for the same reason - free food and drink. Plus comfort. If the prices are close then it's value for money.

I've travelled on the train with DS a few times, standard class (no decent upgrades), and it was fine. But when I wanted to feed him I went and sat in First to cut down on the audience! No-one challenged me. If they had I would have just agreed to move back to my seat, as soon as the baby was fed. Which was, of course, what I did anyway...

podgesmummy · 06/11/2009 19:44

i say go for it. Having done that kind of journey before, albeit not in first class, you do what you can to make it enjoyable. Who cares what anyone else thinks.

Not that its got anything to do with it, but apparently if youre preggers and theres no seats anywhere else on the train, you can travel in first class at no extra charge. Enjoy your travels!!

lindsaygii · 06/11/2009 19:56

podgesmummy ; "apparently if youre preggers and theres no seats anywhere else on the train, you can travel in first class at no extra charge"

I have done that, actually. Virgin had mixed up the seat reservations, so I couldn't find mine. I ended up in First Class (not on purpose, they had labelled it car A, which was where my seat was meant to be.)

I was eight months pregnant, and the train was full. I sat down in First Class and told them that they had to find my seat, then I would go and sit in it, but that I wasn't going to wander up and down searching, and potentially end up standing for three hours.

To be fair to them, they were extremely nice about it and just left me where I was and treated me as a First Class passenger for the rest of the journey.

purplepeony · 06/11/2009 20:04

not everyone in 1st class is posh- many have upgraded for a £5 like I have before. Just go for it and take your baby walkies if she screams- just as you should if you were in 2nd class!

wasabipeanut · 06/11/2009 20:05

To the OP I would say do as you jolly well wish. I'd probably avoid the "quiet" carriage if there is one but apart from that go for it.

Re the idea that if the train is rammed you are entitled to a seat in 1st class, regrettably it isn't true if you are travelling First Great Western. After several arguments with ticket inspectors when I was heavily pregnant with my DS their customer service people confirmed this for me.

I even had a female ticket inspector tell me to walk down the incredibly crowded train as there were some seats at the front apparently. She told me that walking was good for pregnant women. She backed down when other passengers started tutting in disapproval!

Sbeanmum · 06/11/2009 20:10

Go for it, agree with others that your money is as good as anyone elses. Enjoy!

Sbeanmum · 06/11/2009 20:11

Go for it, agree with others that your money is as good as anyone elses. Enjoy!

lindsaygii · 06/11/2009 20:13

My brother used to delight in taking his two DSs in the quiet carriage. As he pointed out -- they weren't a phone, or a computer game...

To be honest, I thought he was a bit out of order, but you know, he is my brother... hnh.

handbagsatdawn · 06/11/2009 20:14

I travel on trains lots (always in 1st class ) and I would also say go for it - better to be comfortable and have a relaxing journey. If you really want to avoid any tutting businessmen then avoid travelling at peak times.

Original poster
mrsjuan · 06/11/2009 20:26

Oh good -thanks for the link to the other thread. Sorry to repeat.

The times you can get cheap 1st class tickets are outside peak times anyway so there shouldn't be many business people.

Now I just have to work out the logistics!

OP posts:
Firawla · 06/11/2009 20:52

there is no reason whatsoever why your baby should not be welcome in first clas if you have bought that ticket.
if someone complains to you about it, i would go and tell them to sit in standard class themselves rather than you move - just cos they are sat in 1st class they do not own the whole 1st class section!
travelling 1st class with a baby is way more comfy than standard, so i would recommend you go for it. anyway having gone in 1st class i never got any complaints, whereas in standard i have had someone moaning about my toddler that they are trying to work. more people in standard = more likely one of them will complain, as compared to 1st class

TigerLightsitandscarpers · 06/11/2009 20:59

Oh dear, I think I'm going to be flamed by this, but if I'm travelling for work on a train that has different classes, I would travel first class so I could sit quietly and work at a table. I'd be fine if a completely silent baby came into the carriage, but I'd be pretty discombobulated if there was a lot of noise, exactly as I would if a fat old noisy businessman/rep etc was yelling into his mobile for hours on end. On the other hand of course you've paid for the ticket etc etc so I'd have no proper right to complain. Personally I wouldn't dream of taking a small child into a first class carriage unless it was out of normal commuting hours.

lindsaygii · 06/11/2009 21:07

tigerslight but why? Why is first class - these days - for business people only?

First class is about being treated better by the train company, and having a comfy seat. I most certainly would travel first with a baby. And if I could afford it, and I thought they'd accept me, I'd fly business with a baby too. Since I can't afford it, it'll never come up, but just for talking's sake...

squeaver · 06/11/2009 21:08

No yanbu. Do it.

WowOoo · 06/11/2009 21:12

First class fine.

I always think business class is for business people.

I had one small dirty look when my baby cried for a minute or two but that would happen anywhere. Do it, do it, do it.

BeehiveBaby · 06/11/2009 21:13

I always upgrade if it offered at £15 and I have it on me. The space makes such a difference. It is the only place that I have been openly tutted at, talked about for BFing though .

TigerLightsitandscarpers · 06/11/2009 21:18

Of course it isn't for business people only. But from a purely selfish perspective, if I'm travelling for work and trying to read some papers, I'd want to pay for a nice silent space. I'd take a child first class on a non-commuting route possibly but I'd feel awful in a quiet carriage with a noisy child and all the other things about train travel that are so grotty too. I'd find it much more stressful trying to keep my child quiet than just travelling in a standard carriage where I wouldn't give a stuff since everyone would be yabbering on their mobiles.

This reminds me of a very funny piece by that Rosie Millard person about the nasty looks she got taking her tribe of kids on a 5 hour train journey. I am sooo glad I wasn't on that train.

Actually, I'd drive anyway, but that's not the point

lindsaygii · 06/11/2009 21:25

I take your point, but I've been in plenty of FC when people are also yabbering on phones, or going on loudly about whatever. I do feel self-concious of crying baby noises, but that one doesn't do it for me.

Just horses for courses I suppose...

EightiesChick · 06/11/2009 21:31

First class isn't what it used to be IMO - last time I travelled in it there were crowds of noisy football supporters tanking up on complimentary lager (admittedly this was a weekend evening) and what appeared to be students! I would never have aspired to travel FC when a student!

As people have said, you have as much right to be there as anyone - the only thing I'd say is, as has been mentioned, don't go in the quiet carriage. Believe me, there will be plenty of people yabbering on their mobiles in the other FC carriages...they may even drown your LO out!

I have taken my 6mo old in business class on a long-haul flight - if I can face that out, then you can take yours on a first class rail journey!

ravenAK · 07/11/2009 00:55

Tiger, if I wanted peace & quiet to work, I'd go in the quiet carriage.

FC isn't for buying quiet, it's for buying comfy seats!

The one time I've travelled in First in recent years(bumped into it when heavily pg, laden with pushchair & no seats in SC), it was full of braying rugger buggers on some sort of corporate shindig. Nice blokes actually, dh spent much of the journey being ribbed for being a League man, but there's no chance anyone could've worked quietly in that carriage!

OP, I think you should go for it if it makes financial sense, & you certainly shouldn't feel obliged to move to SC if dd fusses.

Actually, if I were in SC & someone wandered in from FC with a screaming baby, I'd be a bit at the implication that those of us in cattle class should endure a yelling infant that 'ought' to be in FC according to its parent's ticket...

nappyaddict · 07/11/2009 01:05

Those that have travelled with babies in first class did you do so out of peak times?

Original poster
mrsjuan · 07/11/2009 08:19

Yes i can see that the quiet carriage definitely wouldn't be the place for babies. Even if she wasn't crying I'm sure most people wouldn't find her babbling & various other noises as charming as I do!

I would have thought it would make sense to travel at non peak times anyway - the thought of trying to squash onto the tube with a baby doesn't fill me with excitement!

OP posts:
PuppyMonkey · 07/11/2009 08:30

Does anyone else reckon people who want quiet spaces to catch up on important work on trains are just showing off? Look at me, I'm so busy I can't even travel for an hour on the train without having to do some work on the laptop. Ooh, busy, busy, busy.

I say those people are just bad at time management, so ner ner.

Take your baby in whatever carriage you want and pray she does a massive stinker just to piss them all off!! I'm so cruel.