Business Class with Infant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

Thank you to all the PPs with words of encouragement and sharing your past experiences

[Anonymous]

You pay for it, it’s yours, anywhere on the plane. Now don’t get me started on the economy seats people that ask others t move, now that’s Bullssshhhhhh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It’s human behavior. Yes they (the annoyed people) have to suck it up or fly private if they don’t want to risk flying with a baby. But in general, in coach, you go in expecting to have a screaming baby. You don’t in business (or at least I don’t). So if you pull the short end of the straw, you are going to get annoyed. Again, the OP has the right to be in business if she is paying for her ticket(cash/points/upgrade). But if she is asking if anyone will be annoyed, the answer is a big “yes”. And they are likely to be more annoyed than if they were in coach. Is this so hard to understand?

[Anonymous]

Fly business/first, don’t care what other people think. I would fly economy before having a child and now only fly business international and first class domestic. There are better amenities before and after the flights, the flight attendants go out of their way to help you, and more space. Once my child screamed for 10 hrs on a British airways upper deck. A drunk middle aged lady was much more disruptive.

As a former airline employee… on a lucky day, a good portion of first class passengers on international flights will be non-revs. They are just happy for a seat & your baby could scream the entire time - they would not care.

[Anonymous]

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.

No way I would have flown without the seat—the baby needs to be in a carseat for take off and landing and turbulence, when even the coffee pot is locked down.

[Anonymous]

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.

+1.

[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.

People in coach will also be annoyed by a crying baby. Babies who cry on planes annoy people. People in business class are not so special that they do not have to suffer the injustices of group air travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It’s human behavior. Yes they (the annoyed people) have to suck it up or fly private if they don’t want to risk flying with a baby. But in general, in coach, you go in expecting to have a screaming baby. You don’t in business (or at least I don’t). So if you pull the short end of the straw, you are going to get annoyed. Again, the OP has the right to be in business if she is paying for her ticket(cash/points/upgrade). But if she is asking if anyone will be annoyed, the answer is a big “yes”. And they are likely to be more annoyed than if they were in coach. Is this so hard to understand?

All this says is that business class passengers (or you, at least) have unrealistic expectations. You'll be happier if you align the with reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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...

Yeah exactly. Here are the statistics from the FAA website:


In nonfatal accidents, in-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to airline passengers and flight attendants.
Each year, approximately 58 people in the United States are injured by turbulence while not wearing their seat belts.
From 1980 through 2008, U.S. air carriers had 234 turbulence accidents*, resulting in 298 serious injuries and three fatalities.
Of the 298 serious injuries, 184 involved flight attendants and 114 involved passengers.
At least two of the three fatalities involved passengers who were not wearing their seat belts while the seat belt sign was illuminated.
Generally, two-thirds of turbulence-related accidents occur at or above 30,000 feet.

*The National Transportation Safety Board defines an accident as an occurrence associated with the operations of an airplane in which any person suffers death or serious injury or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.

So 3 deaths in 28 years and almost 40 million people fly each year. Not exactly a common occurrence.

[Anonymous]

OP I flew to India in business class with my DD when she was six months old. We had the bulkhead with the bassinet and she did fine. Slept most of the way in the bassinet. We go to India annually and fly business class and there are often young children and babies there as well. You go ahead and don't feel bad!

Those who are disturbed by noise (like my DH!) typically have good noise-cancellation headphones. I had a child screaming behind me for hours on a flight to Dubai once, and it's amazing how Led Zeppelin can drown out any noise!!

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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...

Yeah exactly. Here are the statistics from the FAA website:


In nonfatal accidents, in-flight turbulence is the leading cause of injuries to airline passengers and flight attendants.
Each year, approximately 58 people in the United States are injured by turbulence while not wearing their seat belts.
From 1980 through 2008, U.S. air carriers had 234 turbulence accidents*, resulting in 298 serious injuries and three fatalities.
Of the 298 serious injuries, 184 involved flight attendants and 114 involved passengers.
At least two of the three fatalities involved passengers who were not wearing their seat belts while the seat belt sign was illuminated.
Generally, two-thirds of turbulence-related accidents occur at or above 30,000 feet.

*The National Transportation Safety Board defines an accident as an occurrence associated with the operations of an airplane in which any person suffers death or serious injury or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage.

So 3 deaths in 28 years and almost 40 million people fly each year. Not exactly a common occurrence.

Interesting that the statistics only go through 2008. Were there zero turbulence accidents from 2008-2021?

Regardless, I'd rather not take that chance with MY babies. It's not just about death, I prefer to have my children injury free. You are entitled to your own prefernces.
If your baby is ever injured in a turbulence accident, I'm sure you will be greatly comforted by the extra $600 that sits in your bank account instead of being used towards a seat.

[Anonymous]

I flew with DD when she was 4 months old in business class (3 hour flight). It was totally fine. She cried for about 10 seconds in total, which I'm assuming is why. Had she cried the entire time I'd imagine I would feel differently looking back lol. I did have her in a carrier strapped to me. I think I had to take her out of it for take off and landing but otherwise could keep her in. She nursed and slept basically the entire time (minus needing to be burped halfway through).

[Anonymous]

We always fly business bc my husband has literally millions of miles for work. I would actually not recommend the bulkhead w/ the bassinet bc you won’t have easy access to your bags. Id go for an extra seat bc none of my kids ever once liked the bassinet on a plane, but they all slept brilliantly in their car seats strapped into their plane seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always fly business bc my husband has literally millions of miles for work. I would actually not recommend the bulkhead w/ the bassinet bc you won’t have easy access to your bags. Id go for an extra seat bc none of my kids ever once liked the bassinet on a plane, but they all slept brilliantly in their car seats strapped into their plane seats.

This. Combined with never fly without the infant/child in a car seat.

[Anonymous]

I’d much rather have a screaming baby near me on a plane than a toddler melting down. Toddlers are louder and more relentless.

Go for it, OP. Children exist. Babies cry. If people can’t cope with that it’s not your problem.