Business Class with Infant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP. I fly international business class for work all the time. This will not annoy most people in that cabin. There are noise canceling headphones and in many cabins doors to the individual seats. We keep to ourselves, and if there is infant noise, it’s never on top of anyone else.

I also got business class overseas for work often. I am also the mother of teens now. I disagree with the bolded. Most people won’t say anything but I personally don’t like babies when trying to sleep. I would never ever tell a parent this to their face in a cabin. They are entitled to bring their babies on board. And I will do what I can to support the parent. Like offer to play patty cake or something if it looks like the parent is losing his/her cool or patience. But, yes it does bug me.

I do think the best thing to do is to buy two seats in coach. But if you want to go business, that is your choice. Good luck. All of us parents have stories of that hellacious flight where the baby had an ear infection of the two year just melted down. You will get through this.

I'm with you. OP has a right to be in business class, but I don't know what OP is looking for here. I guess OP wants people to say what some of the pps have, but the truth is that people will be annoyed with her if her baby is screaming all night while they're trying to sleep. Noise cancelling headphones don't block it out completely. Ask me now I know. I doubt that anyone will say anything, but they'll secretly hate you. On the other hand, you're never going to see them again. You know your baby & probably have a good idea of whether the kid is going to be a good traveler or not. If you know it's going to be bad, and decide to go anyway, you need to just suck it up and understand that you're "that person" for the duration of the flight. I don't know why we need to make OP feel good about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP who said not to bring a baby. Ugh

DD has flown 4 long haul flights in Business and we’ve never had an issue. The people around you are probably parents and they get it. DD had an ear infection on a flight when she was around 18 months old and cried off an on for an hour or so. Everyone survived and no one gave us a dirty look.

How old is the infant? That will be helpful as far as tips go but honestly- you’ll be fine!!

Thanks PP. My baby will be about 5 months at the time of the flight

No way would I buy a seat for a 5 month old. They will want to sit on your lap 100% of the time. Often the business class seats are in those little private pods as well, so it isn't like you would even be next to your baby if they were in their own seat.

It’s not safe for them not to be secure during turbulence. What an infant “wants” is irrelevant. If your kids want to ride in a car without a seatbelt, do you just let them do what they want?

Oh we have found this person again. There is always one person in a thread about kids flying that insists that ever kid needs their own seat w/ a car seat strapped in.

DP, but this is a real concern. I have a family member who represents airlines in personal injury litigation, and they say that most people don't understand how common it is for there to be injuries from clear air turbulence. It's why airlines encourage people to keep their seat belts on while seated. If you have a baby in your arms, and the airplane hits a pocket of air, there's no way you can hold on to the child and they slam into the ceiling. It's so interesting to me that people freak out about letting their kids ride in a car seat front facing or in the front seat of a car, even with a seatbelt, but think it's just fine to ride in an airplane completely unconstrained.

[Anonymous]

I once flew solo with my baby in business class (transatlantic) and it went perfectly. I made sure to have many tiny little toys (that don’t make noise!) wrapped in gift paper that DD spent hours unwrapping (I made sure the paper was the softer kind so that it wouldn’t make much noise). I also nursed her frequently and she took one long 2 hour nap. At the end of the trip the lady next to me said she was amazed at how quiet DD was! The trick was to have lots of distractions (the wrapped toys) and many nursing breaks.

[Anonymous]

As a rich single mom, you better believe I flew business class with my infant all the time. Lots of food, quiet toys that are large enough to fly all over the place. You have every right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a rich single mom, you better believe I flew business class with my infant all the time. Lots of food, quiet toys that are large enough to fly all over the place. You have every right.

*to NOT fly all over the place

Meaning not little toys with a million pieces

[Anonymous]

European carriers will have a seatbelt extender of sorts that will slide onto yours and will secure the infant the same as your seat belt does.
- Frequent British Airways business class with infant flyer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The biggest issue I see is safety. The FAA, NTSB, and flight attendant and pilots unions all highly recommend that all passengers, including babies, be appropriately strapped in during takeoff, landing, and turbulence. The reason the FAA won't mandate it is because planes are safer than cars, and they are afraid more people will drive with babies if they have to buy their baby a seat.
So your plan may give you extra space, but it's at the expense of the safety recommendations from the experts.

Absolutely. OP should buy a second seat, whether that's in business class or coach, so her baby can be safe.

This is what I did, and I suspect my HHI was way less than OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:European carriers will have a seatbelt extender of sorts that will slide onto yours and will secure the infant the same as your seat belt does.
- Frequent British Airways business class with infant flyer

They do but this is not safe for the kid.

We've been bumped to business (or won the bidding lottery) with two kids, one was under 2 at the time, and everything was fine. She did cry loudly for a bit, but no one even gave us a second look.

I travel a lot for work in business (internationally) and honestly I LOVE seeing families in there. It's just so robotic in there otherwise... Kids add some humanity and often laughter. If you don't love kids, fly first or private.

[Anonymous]

My DH and I flew business class from DC to Spain when our DD was 1. We booked only 2 seats and figured we would share holding her. I was worried that she'd cry the whole time, the passengers in business class would be shooting me glares the entire time, etc.

I couldn't have been more wrong. The flight attendants were incredibly gracious and always engaged our DD and the other passengers would knowingly nod in acknowledgement and smiles as if to say "I've been there before!" The other passengers would even smile and engage her while DH and I took turns walking up and down the aisle. Thankfully, my DD was a trooper.

The other thing I was incorrect about was that I thought DH and I would be able to get rest knowing that we had 2 lie flats. Boy was I wrong. We barely slept a wink! lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP. I fly international business class for work all the time. This will not annoy most people in that cabin. There are noise canceling headphones and in many cabins doors to the individual seats. We keep to ourselves, and if there is infant noise, it’s never on top of anyone else.

I also got business class overseas for work often. I am also the mother of teens now. I disagree with the bolded. Most people won’t say anything but I personally don’t like babies when trying to sleep. I would never ever tell a parent this to their face in a cabin. They are entitled to bring their babies on board. And I will do what I can to support the parent. Like offer to play patty cake or something if it looks like the parent is losing his/her cool or patience. But, yes it does bug me.

I do think the best thing to do is to buy two seats in coach. But if you want to go business, that is your choice. Good luck. All of us parents have stories of that hellacious flight where the baby had an ear infection of the two year just melted down. You will get through this.

I'm with you. OP has a right to be in business class, but I don't know what OP is looking for here. I guess OP wants people to say what some of the pps have, but the truth is that people will be annoyed with her if her baby is screaming all night while they're trying to sleep. Noise cancelling headphones don't block it out completely. Ask me now I know. I doubt that anyone will say anything, but they'll secretly hate you. On the other hand, you're never going to see them again. You know your baby & probably have a good idea of whether the kid is going to be a good traveler or not. If you know it's going to be bad, and decide to go anyway, you need to just suck it up and understand that you're "that person" for the duration of the flight. I don't know why we need to make OP feel good about it.

I have no doubt that they'll be annoyed. But so would the passengers around her in coach. Why is it acceptable to annoy the coach passengers, but not the business class ones? I've yet to see anyone even attempt to answer that question.

[Anonymous]

I flew first class (DH used points to upgrade me) with DS when DS was 3 months old. I walked on to the plane and the gentleman sitting next to me looked at his colleague and said "oh, shit." I understood his hesitation. DS was still nursing so I nursed him during take off and landing to combat any ear discomfort from the pressure. The trip was fine and DS made far less noise than the 2 colleagues did.

[Anonymous]

I would get two seats in coach instead. Business class wasn't an option for my budget, but I did many long-haul trips with my kid under 2 and have always paid for the seat. It's much safer than attempting to keep a kid on your lap for the entire duration of a flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore the PP who said not to bring a baby. Ugh

DD has flown 4 long haul flights in Business and we’ve never had an issue. The people around you are probably parents and they get it. DD had an ear infection on a flight when she was around 18 months old and cried off an on for an hour or so. Everyone survived and no one gave us a dirty look.

How old is the infant? That will be helpful as far as tips go but honestly- you’ll be fine!!

Thanks PP. My baby will be about 5 months at the time of the flight

No way would I buy a seat for a 5 month old. They will want to sit on your lap 100% of the time. Often the business class seats are in those little private pods as well, so it isn't like you would even be next to your baby if they were in their own seat.

It’s not safe for them not to be secure during turbulence. What an infant “wants” is irrelevant. If your kids want to ride in a car without a seatbelt, do you just let them do what they want?

Oh we have found this person again. There is always one person in a thread about kids flying that insists that ever kid needs their own seat w/ a car seat strapped in.

DP, but this is a real concern. I have a family member who represents airlines in personal injury litigation, and they say that most people don't understand how common it is for there to be injuries from clear air turbulence. It's why airlines encourage people to keep their seat belts on while seated. If you have a baby in your arms, and the airplane hits a pocket of air, there's no way you can hold on to the child and they slam into the ceiling. It's so interesting to me that people freak out about letting their kids ride in a car seat front facing or in the front seat of a car, even with a seatbelt, but think it's just fine to ride in an airplane completely unconstrained.

Please tell me how many times this bolded scenario has happened in the history of commercial aviation.. I'll wait...

[Anonymous]

I don't see why the people in business class think they have bought their way out of dealing with baby noise. Nope. That's not included in the business class price.

[Anonymous]

OP ignore everyone here.

Do not feel odd about being in business class with an infant.

I did it many times. Long haul flights DC to California or Seatle and London.

All great. Never once did I have anyone bothered and a few times others wanted to play with my little ones. LOL