A tale of two children (in J)

[lovetravellingoz]

It's possible that the twit doctor may have been connecting from a red-eye flight (e.g. from India or Europe) and the flight was taking place during the middle of the night in his origin's time zone.

.

Irrelevant in my view. And if so that was his choice, just as it has been mine on numerous occasions. Yes I have had many such flights (mainly back in my Y days) where I was tired and wished that the cabin was not so wide awake and excited.

 

[daft009]

A big smile and: “No problem. I’ll be sure to wake you when your snoring begins.”

This is what I'll be saying if this happens to us come July'19

 

[Quickstatus]

But i was flying SQ SIN - HKG in J the other day on the early ~730am flight. In 12ACD with my two daughters - 5.5 years and 2.5 years. Connectin from Perth after bringing them to watch the Wiggles Live (the SQ 772 was also a jet plane, so they couldn't "do the propeller"^, but it was hard to explain to my children that one goes to great lengths to avoid the 737 and propeller planes if they can really help it)

Actually most of the thrust is obtained by the fan (propellor) at the front of the engine. Jet is a misnomer. So yes it really was a propellor plane

 

[hm520]

You weren't tempted to pinch your children to make them scream after that?

 

[dajop]

I really don't understand. I've been on coming up to almost 2000 flights, most them with children on board and often nearby , and I cannot think of a single flight where a child has made the flight unbearable. Actually don't even understand this obsession with the idea that children are disturbing, such as the wild presumption the (not so ) good doctor made, that the OP referred to. OK, sure, there's a few where younger children have troubles equalising during take off and landing and scream a bit, but hey that's not much more disturbing than the actual takeoff and landing. Occasionally you get a few running around or making a bit of noise, oh hang on that also applies to adults.

But I take the view that if you are actually expecting or looking to be disturbed by children, it will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I really don't understand. I've been on coming up to almost 2000 flights, most them with children on board and often nearby , and I cannot think of a single flight where a child has made the flight unbearable. Actually don't even understand this obsession with the idea that children are disturbing, such as the wild presumption the (not so ) good doctor made, that the OP referred to. OK, sure, there's a few where younger children have troubles equalising during take off and landing and scream a bit, but hey that's not much more disturbing than the actual takeoff and landing. Occasionally you get a few running around or making a bit of noise, oh hang on that also applies to adults.

But I take the view that if you are actually expecting or looking to be disturbed by children, it will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

On my flight it was three children - all around 4-7 by estimation. The crew were constantly giving them 'treats' of candy and chocolate. The children because quite noisy from about mid flight onwards (after the first couple of movies had finished). Parents didn't care much. I felt sorry for them as the youngest child threw a tantrum while taxi-ing to the terminal that she never wanted to go on holidays and just wanted to stay at home (this was just Bangkok and they were flying straight on to London )

 

[kermatu]

The crew were constantly giving them 'treats' of candy and chocolate. The children because quite noisy from about mid flight onwards (after the first couple of movies had finished).

Cause and effect. Not terribly responsible behaviour of crew or parents if it was constant.

 

[Ekka]

With all these AFF/FT threads (probably a bad thing) I invariably am overcautious in making sure my children behave on the plane and don't disturb the amenity of the cabin. But prior to this experience - I have never encountered a situation where i got anybody uncomfortable around me because of children / infants in a premium cabin - those instances are much rarer than what public forums make it out to be!

Think the weird thing here was the presumption that two children would be noisy and make life difficult for everyone upon boarding.
Come to think of it - nobody goes around to your neighbour saying - "if you sleep, please don't snore" And if they snore, you got to just suck it up.

Then you have been extremely lucky and somewhat selfish, ermen. I pay business class at my own expense, usually once a year, and the last thing I pay for my ten or fifteen grand is a noisy child nearby. You think it is fair; may I tell you, ermen, that I also have children, and I was considerate to my fellow man, when they were young, so the furthest they travelled by air until they were hushable - and importantly - until I paid for their seats was BNE-ROK. It is achievable, ermen, you just have to be fair to all and reasonable. The person across the aisle may be getting a freebie on his company, but just as likely he'll be me, a person who has paid several thousand dollars out of his long-earned retirement money to go on the trip of a lifetime in the hope of a quiet and comfortable flight.

You may be the extremely unusual person who is considerate, but going on the reaction here,

a) they're all young and have or are thinking of taking young children (as in extremely young), or

b) they're not paying for it, or

c) they just don't care about others, especially their elders.

 

[Ekka]

Cause and effect. Not terribly responsible behaviour of crew or parents if it was constant.

"Candy"? Is that not American for chocolate? Or lollies?

This is an Australian website, is it not?

 

[Denali]

....
t others, especially their elders.

Just because you've outlived everyone else so far doesn't give your wants for travel any priority over others.

 

[ermen]

Then you have been extremely lucky and somewhat selfish, ermen. I pay business class at my own expense, usually once a year, and the last thing I pay for my ten or fifteen grand is a noisy child nearby. You think it is fair; may I tell you, ermen, that I also have children, and I was considerate to my fellow man, when they were young, so the furthest they travelled by air until they were hushable - and importantly - until I paid for their seats was BNE-ROK. It is achievable, ermen, you just have to be fair to all and reasonable. The person across the aisle may be getting a freebie on his company, but just as likely he'll be me, a person who has paid several thousand dollars out of his long-earned retirement money to go on the trip of a lifetime in the hope of a quiet and comfortable flight.

You may be the extremely unusual person who is considerate, but going on the reaction here,

a) they're all young and have or are thinking of taking young children (as in extremely young), or

b) they're not paying for it, or

c) they just don't care about others, especially their elders.

interesting thoughts there.

i think in the spirit of fairness, one should pay for business (or First if available) to minimise inconvenience to others.

think about it if you have a screaming toddler - wont you rather have only 20 people in J (or10 in F) being disturbed rather than 100 down the back in Y?

a bit selfish and un-Australian to make more people suffer in Y whilst the fat-cats sit in J sipping their champagne in comfort..

 

[MEL_Traveller]

interesting thoughts there.

i think in the spirit of fairness, one should pay for business (or First if available) to minimise inconvenience to others.

think about it if you have a screaming toddler - wont you rather have only 20 people in J (or10 in F) being disturbed rather than 100 down the back in Y?

a bit selfish and un-Australian to make more people suffer in Y whilst the fat-cats sit in J sipping their champagne in comfort..

Agree. Parents in J and F have more resources and a better environment to manage the comfort of their children. They're not sitting for hours at a time in a tiny 17 inch wide seat with infant on their lap, trying to balance their meal tray at the same time, walking down narrow aisles with limbs in the way, and long queues for the facilities.

Going back to the original post - I wonder in part whether it comes down to cultural differences? Some cultures are quite direct in their language and perhaps don't perceive such a request as being rude.

 

[Pushka]

interesting thoughts there.

i think in the spirit of fairness, one should pay for business (or First if available) to minimise inconvenience to others.

think about it if you have a screaming toddler - wont you rather have only 20 people in J (or10 in F) being disturbed rather than 100 down the back in Y?

a bit selfish and un-Australian to make more people suffer in Y whilst the fat-cats sit in J sipping their champagne in comfort..

Well, I was prepared to agree with your first post but I have no idea why you think that people paying premium for business are somehow being selfish if they’d prefer a quiet cabin.

How on earth are they being selfish when they are likely paying x4 the price people in Y are paying - you’d expect them to take the pain of a disturbed flight in order that they spare more back in Y from the same fate?

 

[amaroo]

When I purchase F and J seats for our family pack - I'm certainly not worried or thinking about the comfort level of others

 

[kermatu]

"Candy"? Is that not American for chocolate? Or lollies?

This is an Australian website, is it not?

When did I use the word candy? Even so, what on earth does being an Aussie website have to do with it?

 

[Forg]

When did I use the word candy? Even so, what on earth does being an Aussie website have to do with it?

‘Candy’ is pretty offensive ...

 

[ermen]

Well, I was prepared to agree with your first post but I have no idea why you think that people paying premium for business are somehow being selfish if they’d prefer a quiet cabin.

How on earth are they being selfish when they are likely paying x4 the price people in Y are paying - you’d expect them to take the pain of a disturbed flight in order that they spare more back in Y from the same fate?

isnt that the definition of selfish?
all about me me me me me.

people in Y and J both want quiet cabins undisturbed by disruptive pax i would have thought.

just that it seems people who fly J / F seem to have a higher sense of entitlement (just because they pay more??)

so actually if you flip the question around - do you have a higher right to a quiet cabin etc just because you paid more? ah! (i see class warfare begininng...)

 

[Pushka]

isnt that the definition of selfish?
all about me me me me me.

people in Y and J both want quiet cabins undisturbed by disruptive pax i would have thought.

just that it seems people who fly J / F seem to have a higher sense of entitlement (just because they pay more??)

so actually if you flip the question around - do you have a higher right to a quiet cabin etc just because you paid more? ah! (i see class warfare begininng...)

Well isn’t that the whole point of paying more? Better service, seat, food, ambience? It’s nothing at all to do with class warfare.

So you’d be ok paying for a Porsche and then being given a corolla?

‘Candy’ is pretty offensive ...

What have I missed here?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

isnt that the definition of selfish?
all about me me me me me.

people in Y and J both want quiet cabins undisturbed by disruptive pax i would have thought.

just that it seems people who fly J / F seem to have a higher sense of entitlement (just because they pay more??)

so actually if you flip the question around - do you have a higher right to a quiet cabin etc just because you paid more? ah! (i see class warfare begininng...)

All passengers should expect the environment to be as quiet as possible in the given cabin. This isn't going to be as easy in economy where people have to jump over two others to get to the aisle, or where people have to prod IFE screens attached to the seat in front, or where leg-room is so tight that people have to get up and walk around. Limited WCs and crew-to-passenger ration mean the economy cabin is usually busier than cabins in front.

But all of those distinctions occur at the airport on departure - and arrival - as well.

 

[Forg]

What have I missed here?

‘Candy’, in the context used at least, not being a word in Australian English.
Like ‘jail’ used not to be; and look at the horror-show that happened there when we let our guards down!