There’s been a lot of discussion in the news and online lately about whether children should be banned from certain flights or certain sections of flights. A recent Frommer’s article pondered
When it comes to red-eye flights, who has more rights — the crying baby and the parents, or the tired passenger who desperately wants to sleep?
When I read that I think – um hello, isn’t a baby a tired passenger too? Having regularly flown with babies and kids I know those kids are not on the airplane for free. Even if I do the the under 2 option of having a baby on my lap I still have to pay taxes etc. which on international flights still works out to a few hundred dollars.
Interestingly, reading the comments on that article – most of the people seem to acknowledge that just as frequently (if not more so) than encountering crying babies or poorly behaved children, there are poorly behaved adults.
This summer, Malaysia Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com) introduced a no-kids section some aircraft flying between Kuala Lumpur and London. And another Malaysian airline, AirAsia X (www.airasia.com), announced it would create a “quiet zone” in the first eight rows of the economy section of some aircraft starting early next year. Both moves seem designed to let passengers sleep on overnight flights.
As a Mom who frequently travels back and forth to the US (which means a day flight of 9 hrs to the US and a night flight of about the same back to the UK) I much prefer the night flight. It’s on the night flight flight that my kids sleep and don’t need to be kept busy for hours. I’d book night flights both ways if I could!
Some of the comments to the Frommer’s article raise the question:
Who would you rather sit next to — an unruly child or an unruly adult? (Feel free to share your opinions in the comment below.)
- “It’s a real dilemma. Except for the one time I flew and my daughter was 13 months and made some noise … they have always been good. I have been on some miserable flights with multiple crying infants but also some miserable flights with noisy drunk and not drunk adults. What can be done about them?” –RuthDunn
- I think there should be at least one airline that is totally “Kid Free.” Too many entitled and spoiled adults currently act out on flights, and additional screaming kids are just too much, thanks to parents that have chosen to ignore their kids and close their ears to the screaming and running around. I am not anti-kids, I am a pediatrician and I’ve witnessed it all way too many times…–Hula1
- …As for banning kids from certain flights, sections, etc, then what happens if there are earlier cancellations and the banned flight is the only rebooking option? Are parents with kids to be expected to endure extra-long delays and missed connections more than other travelers? Which will only serve to make the kids even worse behaved when they finally do get on a plane?–Njmomto
- I hate to agree to this but “child free” will not solve this problem. Most of us have been on flights where the “adults” act worse than children. Some decide to party all night long or have loud conversations…–darkside
- I think a better solution might be to have families with young children sit in a designated section of the plane.–Gwen Humphries
And then – what if they did actually designate a “family section” of the plane? If it’s anything like the family section on Eurostar, I’d do my best to avoid it. Would that mean I couldn’t fly on that flight if all the family seats were full even if other areas were empty? Or what about Business Class? When possible I’d prefer to fly there, and having paid the same as other passengers (since there are no children’s fares on airlines these days and certainly not for biz class) aren’t my children just as entitled to a peaceful journey as other passengers?
The hardest thing is – for those rare exceptions when your child is crying, from the discomfort of ear pressure due to altitude, over-tiredness or whatever else, you as the parent are generally trying to do your best to comfort and care for your child and quiet them down and are oh-so anxiously sensitive to the noise or disturbance you’re causing and are already feeling horrible about it. I think you as the parent almost feel worse about the whole thing!
Personally, I’ve found a brilliant solution for dealing with noise from other passengers – whatever their age. Noise canceling headphones. If you want to sleep on an airplane and or not be disturbed by other passengers I highly recommend you get a pair – it’s so worth it! It blocks out other people’s baby screams just as well as the person next to you snoring loudly.
So what do you think? Should there be adults only flights and or family sections on airplanes?
Tags: travel kids_free_flights no_kids_on_airplanes
When we lived in the US in Chicago, we’d regularly go visit my family in Michigan. Most of the time we’d take the car but sometimes the train. Now that we live in London, we regularly visit my in-laws in Belgium and take the train too. While we live in London and they in Antwerp, it’s faster for us to go visit them by train than the similar trip back in the US.
We take the Eurostar from London to Brussels and then from Brussels either we take an intercity train to Antwerp or we get picked up by car. I prefer taking the Eurostar to flying as it’s less hassle than flying, we can move about, there are no seatbelts and the kids have a view of the countryside, towns and other activity out the window. Having now travelled regularly with the kids via Eurostar I have learned a few things I thought I’d share.
Booking your tickets
If you think you’ll be going on more than 1 Eurostar trip in a year, sign up for their free Loyalty Programs like their Eurostar Plus Points. With Eurostar Plus Points, when you book your travel online through their website you earn 1 point for every £1 you spend and when you’ve earned 300 points you’ll get a £20 e-voucher. You can sign up the whole family into 1 joint account and the points will accrue quickly. With 4 of us traveling it only takes 1-2 trips before we get a voucher, which we then use towards our next trip.
We usually book online at Eurostar.com however, if you need to book only one leg of your journey with children, you won’t be able to book that online and you will need to give them a call. For the most part, ticket prices online are similar to what they offer you on the phone, we have found a few times it’s actually been about £10 cheaper over the phone, but then we can’t use the voucher.
When booking your tickets, remember that children 4 and under can travel for free, however, this does mean they won’t be allocated a seat. In the past we’ve booked 3 seats facing each other around a table, leaving the blocked in window seat free for booking and keeping our fingers crossed that no-one would book it so we could use it for our “free” child. This strategy has only worked out for us about 50% of the time.
When booking your seats – you have several options. Your first choice is class of service, Standard, Standard Premier and Business Premier. We’ll be focusing on Standard.
Within Standard class, when selecting your seats, if you speak to the customer service reps on the phone – they will recommend the “Family Section” to you. Don’t take those seats!!! Trust me you don’t want them, and here’s why… The “Family Section” is a closed off section of the carriage. Sure that’s great for containing kids, except it also traps in the food and other smells of your traveling companion. It’s a small boxed in area. Even then, just like other areas of the train there are people constantly walking through to get to the loo or bar buffet car, so the advantage of containment is lost. Finally – there is only a short stumpy side table. So if you have more than 1 child get ready for a fight for who gets it and don’t count on being able to fit coloring books or other activities on it because it’s too small. Also – this area is generally packed with other families, many of whom are also taking advantage of the 4 and under free – so be prepared for a generally packed and crazy area full of kids. For the same price – sit elsewhere. We made the mistake of sitting here once on the advice of Customer Service reps – never again!
Compare this “Family Section” seat with it’s dinky side table to a regular 4 seat configuration with table.
If you or your children get car-sick or motion-sickness take note of which way your seats are facing when making your booking. You’ll be able to see which direction the seats face when you select your seats online. Seats facing forward on a journey to Paris/Brussels will be facing backwards on the return journey.
However, on rare occasions this may change.
If you’re planning to rely on videos to keep the kids occupied or need to bring your laptop with you, UK and European power points are available in coaches 5 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 -11 – 12 – 14.
Once you’ve selected your seats you can choose to print your tickets at home, or have them mailed to you (for a fee). We choose to print our own.
Packing for your trip
Pack lightly! Remember you’ll be dragging your suitcases and children through the terminals, security etc and then have limited space once on the train. We generally give each child a backpack to carry in which are their snacks and activities for the train. We each then take a suitcase (2 people sharing per suitcase). While there is a bar buffet on the train, it’s generally pricey and has not the healthiest selection of snacks (Pringles, candy bars, fizzy drinks, wine & beer etc ). So, think ahead, pack some water, juice boxes, crackers and fruit, or whatever snacks you and the kids prefer. Each seat has it’s own small litter bin so you’ll be able to get rid of wrappers etc. Again don’t go overboard, most of the trips aren’t that long, you will have to carry it and you can always get more on the train or in the station if necessary.
For keeping the kids busy on the trip, we generally have 1 handheld gaming system, then some other coloring or sticker book activities. (Cheap ones we can toss when we get to our destination). Try and get something that’s all in one like a sticker book.
The Eurostar Terminal
Generally you’ll want to arrive at the Terminal about an hour early. When you first arrive you can go through the automated turnstiles or if you’re a family group or have lots of bags, you can go to the manned desks. There they will check your ticket and send you through to security.
At security – it’s the x-ray machine for your bags and metal detectors you walk through which is standard at most airports now. Be prepared to remove your coat or sweater and make sure you and the children have nothing metal in their pockets. I do the shakedown on my kids and am surprised by the coins, cars and other things they seem to have collected in their pockets.
Once through security you need to pass through passport control before you arrive in the waiting area of the terminal. Here there are limited selections for food or drink or magazines etc. (generally 1-2 shops vs the many found in the main train terminal). About 10-15 minutes before your departure time, they announce the boarding of your train and allow you to board.
On the Train
Once on the train at the end of each carriage are large racks for suitcases (make sure yours is labelled) and over your seat are smaller shelves for coats, purses and smaller bags. Quickly get the kids out of the aisle and into their seats as many people are still trying to get to their seats and through the aisle.
Beware if you are traveling with a child with an ear infection. When you go through tunnels, or even the Chunnel (Chanel Tunnel) there is pressurization of the ears much like you’d find when flying. You can try relieving the pressure by popping your ears, chewing gum, swallowing or yawning. If you know in advance it’s a problem for you and or your kids, there are ear plug valves that can help regulate pressure. (The brand we’ve used was called Earplanes and they come in kid and adult sizes).
At the end of each carriage is a WC or loo. Although it’s a tight squeeze we do accompany the children to the loo. In the loo there is a toilet and sink, the controls for both are found by pressing buttons on the floor. (You’ll need to step on them, my 4 and 6 year old aren’t heavy enough or don’t have enough leg strength to do it) While there doesn’t seem to be room to change a baby’s diaper in the WC there is a baby changing station in carriage 18 or you could just do it on your seat.
So these are some of the things we’ve learned – but I’d love to hear if you have any tips for Eurostar Travel. Please leave them in the comments below.
Tags: eurostar, eurostar with kids, kids on train, trains with kids
