Anyone travelled business class longhaul with a 18mth old ?

[mummytosophie]

My dh is very keen to spend the extra money and travel business class ( or excels version of this) to Tobago next yr .Our dd will be 18mths old at the time of travel . Has anyone done this and how were you treated by other passengers and crew in the posh bit. I am worried we will spend all this money and be treated badley due to dd running around etc . We experienced a small taste of other grumpy passengers when dd was very upset on a flight from spain when she was 7 monthes . ( at the same time dh had air sickness and was the worst flight I have ever had !!!) sorry about essay . Thanks

Don't worry there are no business people on Excel One or whatever it's called

It's usually just orange people

In fact they will probably be even grumpier as they have forked out themselves for the tickets rather than their company paying

Do they no longer do teh in betweeny class, that was fab

I've travelled business, and also Virgin Premium Economy with the dcs. The big problem is that you'll never want to "turn right" again! It's fab - go for it. And rememeber, you will never meet any of these people again!

There are grumpy people in economy and business class.
Ignore the grumps, your money is equaly as good as theirs, and if they say anything, you could suggest to them,that if they think it is difficult listening to an 18m on the flight, they should try having that 18m on their lap and entertaining them for a long haul trip
We did it with our 2 , 18m and 3 years and it made a difference space wise.
People were lovely in business class , sympathetic glances and remembering what it was like when their Dcs were little too.

We did envoy with our 18mo. It was a night flight and I think the passengers were looking at her thinking that they weren't going to get any sleep but she slept most of the time (we took her car seat which was great). Apparently the air hostess was patting her when she was looking like she was going to wake up (I was fast asleep throughout this). Can you imagine them doing that in economy for you!

We've travelled Business class with 4 and 5 children.

When we flew American Airlines, the other passengers were very snooty about it, and were clearly irritated by our mere presence. The kids were absolutely fine, btw, with DSs playing with DH's laptop for the entire flight, but everytime they whispered something to one another, there were a few passengers who glared at them and shushed them. We had a 2.5 year old on that flight, but she just sat in her seat the whole time.

When we flew Air Jamaica, they were treated very well by crew and passengers. Our youngest was 15 months, but content to sit either in her carseat or on my lap.

Hi
Thanks for comments. I think because it is a day flight and people are going on holiday , they may be more understanding . However I agree with darrelrivers our money is good as thiers and there are grumpy people everywhere !!!

I've done 4 long haul trips from London to Sydney and back again - wiht my son who was 8 weeks old, then again at 6 months old, then again at 9 months old and then again at 12 months old and i'm about to do it again in Feb and he'll nearly be 2. I've done it (I'm bracing myself for the onslaught of abuse (re: a tread I started the other day asking mumsnet for advice on experienced long haul nannies!) anyhoo, I've done these trips in 1st class, Business Class and again with Virgin Upper Class. Virgin is the best by far because of the lay out of the seats. You can sit at the end of your bed/seat and the kids can move around in your little space - they can't go far are they're 'walled' in. However we thought the sky cots were crap on Qantas, BA and Virgin (TINY and only fit a 6 month old in them) So when the plane levels out, flip your bed down and lie your rascal down and pray for sleep! You can then just watch TV with them between your legs.

I've always received filthy looks from other passengers but I understand as I use to give those looks before i had kids! Now when I fly alone, I help these people! Bottom line is as the other person mentioned: who gives a shit! You're unlikely to see these people again, and as long as your child isn't running a muck unsupervised around the plane (unlikely!) then people cannot be rude to you if he's screaming in pain etc.

Zone out and make sure that you and your child is happy! Everyone else can wear earplugs!

Have fun!

I've done Bangkok/Dubai/UK business class with ds2 a then 14 month old. He cried nearly all the time (except when he was asleep ). He wouldn't go to dh so I held him all the way home. Other passengers were OK on the whole, but I think they were mainly holidaymakers rather than business people. We apologised to the people in our immediate vicinity who turned out to be sympathetic rather than horrid. I also regularly travelled l/haul with ds1 from when he was 3 until 7 (as a family we were based in Asia but ds and I needed to come backwards and forwards a few times on our own). We had a few flights where people gave us funny looks when we got on, but once at the other end a businessman came up to me and told me how good ds has been! Like G+1 I always go out of my way to be nice to families now as I still travel a lot with my job.

We went to Italy this summer - ds 2's first flight since the one described above nearly 5 years ago .

G+1 - I saw your thread last night. I'm sorry you got such a rough ride.

I've done a stupid number of long-haul flights with babies and toddlers, and business class is absolutely the way to go if you can afford it! The extra service is always helpful, the loos are cleaner and there's often no line as there are fewer people using them, and the extra space is invaluable. I've never had anyone be rude about the children, though I studiously ignore everyone except those making an obvious effort to coo over the LOs.

I flew out to Jamiaca last year with a 4 and a 2 and a 1 year old. The problem is that they don't want to sit down and they are too young to watch videos. The other pasengers had to put up with them running up and down the aisle for eight hours shrieking. It was the most tiring flight of my life and not remotely enjoyable. It may have been even more hellish in standard class so perhaps the extra money was worthwhile.