BA business class with toddler

[Greyrootszerohoots]

Will be flying to Canada next summer. DH has serious illness and won’t be able to do it in a regular seat, needs the lie flat bed. We’ll have a 2.5 y/o.

Has anyone travelled in British Airways business with a toddler? Any thoughts / tips?

@backinthebox

Some amazing bits of wrong information here! Free upgrades are rare - most are are the result of last minute upselling. The Club World layouts are all over atm - some have new Club, some have old Club, and honestly sometimes you don’t know until the day of the flight exactly which aircraft you are getting in the current climate. Food is not offered by status - enough food should be loaded so that everyone gets their first choice. Nobody gives a stuff about children in Club, as long as they are not appallingly behaved.

You are wrong In both Cw and 1st food orders are taken by status. ccr, ggl, gold etc . It has always been like that and certainly was yesterday . You certainly don’t always get a choice even in 1st ! If anything it is worst in 1st

Upgrades are almost always on business need. PE is the sweet spot as BA oversell. We have had upgrades from PE to Cw a week or more in advance before , usually with my then silver dh rather than the very gold me . It’s a joke that once you get to gold, guf, ggl the upgrades stop.

I agree that layouts are all over the place.

If your husband is so seriously I'll that he needs to remain laid down, then why on earth are you planning a long haul trip???

BA allocate secret CIV scores to passengers. They determine how they interact with you (upgrades, meal choices, CSD interaction).

@Tooembarrassingtomention interesting about the CIV numbers. What else should I know?

And do we still call them CSDs?

We flew business to Heathrow and back with Air Canada with our 21 month old. At the end of both flights we were thanked by other passengers for having such a great traveller.

Only you know your child and whether they are the type who will be settled well and placated by a screen, or not.
If they are the type not to be able to be placated, the passengers in cattle class are just as likely to be pissed off as the ones in business class. The business class ones may just act more entitled.
Having a place to lie down will make it far less likely your child doesn't settle.

flew BA to Canada in Cw yesterday
No-one minds children

pE is the sweet spot for upgrades if you have status as BA oversell pE and upgrade

^

What's cw and pe?

CW - Club World (Brand name for business class)
PE - Premium Economy (Brand name World Traveller Plus abbreviated to WTP by most)

Yes its fine with a toddler although I prefer the old layout with two reverse facing seats together. The only issue I had was the meal. My toddler preferred the normal meal choice to the kids meal so I didn't order the kids meal. This should mean they get the adult choices as standard but for some reason they kept assuming it meant no meal and missing her out. Easily fixed by asking but annoying at the same time.

Also tough if other passengers don't like it, if a toddler has a ticket they are entitled to be there. I've rarely flown club and there not be children in the cabin.

If other passengers don’t want a toddler there they can book their flights with an airline that doesn’t allow small children in business class. I also don’t want to share my space with entitled men but unfortunately I also don’t get a say in that and from my experience they’re much worse behaved on planes then most toddlers. At least the toddlers are cute and in many ways too small to know how to behave themselves on a plane.

Thank you all, it’s great to hear how doable and acceptable (for the majority) it is. I’ve only previously flown business the other direction with Middle Eastern airlines. That was pre-dd but I can’t remember ever seeing young kids, though I wouldn’t have been paying much attention!

To the kind poster who asked why on earth we’d travel when he’s seriously ill - we like to think he’s living with cancer, not dying of it. For the most part he is quite well but does a lot to manage side effects, which would be much easier with a lie flat bed and airport lounge to relax in.

Ignore the posters saying others won’t like it. They are projecting their own views and are not representative. I used to fly business regularly for work, at least twice a week and regularly seen a kid in business and no one bats an eye lid. The only time they do is if the child is disruptive and people’s reactions are the same in economy. Business don’t get a special privilege where only economy passengers need to put up with it.

Please don’t worry and go ahead.

No one gives a shiny shit how you paid for your flight

It's bizarre that two people have mentioned this. The other passengers don't care. If your children are quiet and well behaved you could have paid with bottle tops and green shield stamps

@Clymene it’s not about the other passengers caring, it’s about the OP not feeling inferior when she has paid her money for her flights, given most travellers won’t have.

Please ignore the 'food watchers' and those questioning why your DH is flying!

At the end of the day it public transport and you're paying what you're comfortable to pay, not using credit card bonus points or your company's expenses like the majority of anyone who would raise an eyebrow at a child in business class!

And I can tell you that the man who snored like a bear for 10 hours straight keeping the entire first class cabin awake and reducing at least two passengers to tears of sheer frustration was the most disruptive flight experience I’ve ever had.

You’ll be fine with a two year old!

We've flown First and Business long haul with babies and toddlers multiple times and it was fine.

I am always paranoid about upsetting the other passengers but it has never been the case. We've kept the kids entertained and quiet and it's been absolutely fine.

@Blankspace4

Hmmm not sure how the rest of the cabin who’ve paid a premium to work / or for a chilled experience would take to a toddler being there.

Unless they paid extra for a child free area, this isn’t really OP’s problem. The other passengers could just as easily end up with a rowdy adult passenger next to them.

You don't need to worry about what others think - you have as much right to be there with a toddler as anyone else. Of course it would be good if you tried to keep them busy and not disturbing others but I'd expect any parent (myself included) to at least try to do it whichever class of the plane you're in and it would be a lot easier in business where you have more space and more help. I flew business with a 3 year old when I was 35 weeks pregnant and we had the two seats in the middle and I'm sure he didn't disturb anyone because he had enough space to play quietly then enough space to sleep properly. (And the air hostesses wouldn't let me lift a finger cos they didn't want me to go into labour in the place I think!😂 - honestly the easiest flight of my life!)

We did it when DD was 15 months, 10 hour flight to the US. We travelled first class back! Thanks airmiles 😍

It was a dream, DD was a dream, she slept beautifully on her little bed and I had hands free to enjoy the champagne.

Only one passenger was an arse, an older man who called the flight attendant over in front of me and loudly proclaimed that he hadn't paid all this money to be sat next to a baby. The flight attendant calmly told him DD had as much right as him to be there and he was happy to welcome us all to business class for that flight. That was that!

The man actually stopped me at the end to say how sweet DD had been and how well-behaved she was. Hmmm. Still an arse!

If you can afford it, do it. I've only flown business class once but they were two very young children (under 5) on the flight. They were perfectly well behaved. The stewards gave them lots of attention and the older girl was wandering around helping the stewards with service handing out chocolates and pastries (at their invitation).

@backinthebox

Some amazing bits of wrong information here! Free upgrades are rare - most are are the result of last minute upselling. The Club World layouts are all over atm - some have new Club, some have old Club, and honestly sometimes you don’t know until the day of the flight exactly which aircraft you are getting in the current climate. Food is not offered by status - enough food should be loaded so that everyone gets their first choice. Nobody gives a stuff about children in Club, as long as they are not appallingly behaved.

We got upgraded both ways to New York and back in 2003 ( ok years ago and I know bings changed) basically cos we were early and they had space. We got the same meals as everyone else did. I could never afford that kind of class for flying, so we loved it!

I've been the other traveller a fair few times and it has never bothered me. The way the seats are laid out means you're never really right next to someone's child. If it means everyone is more comfortable I say go for it.

We've flown business loads with babies and toddlers. If you've paid for a ticket, your kids have every right to be there. In my experience small kids are no more disruptive than lots of adults. There's always one who gets plastered on the free booze and spends the entire flight laughing away with the crew and stumbling around. There's snoring fat business men. There's the lady who laughed like a donkey at every funny bit of the film she was watching and seemed oblivious. I could go on and on. In general parents of small kids move heaven and earth to keep their kids quiet. You are guaranteed more space in business, not more peace.

I wrap one little present in loads of layers of wrapping paper for each hour of the flight. Things like magnetic boards where the pen is on a string are great. Removable stickers are also a winner for young toddler. Let them decorate the seat. Take a change of clothes not only for the kids but also for you in case of nappy explosions/spills. Download toddler friendly apps like CBeebies. Bring snacks that come in tiny pieces like Cheerios. It takes them longer to eat! I always dose mine with Calpol before the flight and if it's long enough before we land to head off ear pain.

As long as you are not the woke couple on a flight from Malaga a while ago, I am sure all will be well.

The little one (under 1) was clearly tired and fed up, all he wanted was his momma, his dad kept taking him and she kept cooing daddy's turn, whilst still interacting with the child, so not as though she was using it to get some shut eye, the child moaned all the way to LHR, they then got of the flight and said oh well done X you were magnificent, and the elderly gentleman behind me said, he probably would have been with less woke parents.

Oh and if you are bringing a screen, bring headphones, I have done my CBeebies time, I don't need to pay to do it again, thank you very much.