Can we compromise on 21 years of age, then?
I see you are my kinda person
But the airlines clearly don’t worry about this, since they allow children in first class (to answer the factual question). So the burden is on those who can’t abide children in first class to find some other method of transportation.
Only an anecdote here, but my brother flies first class often (lucky bastard!) due to his work. On occasions when his kids go with him, they fly first class as well (lucky bastards!). Including, last time, the 6-month old, who got their own seat.
Right. It’s clear that airlines could legally ban children from first class, if they felt like it. But as a matter of fact, they don’t actually ban children from first class, no matter how much some of the other first class passengers might wish they would.
Wait, I see the problem. If people want “a more pleasant experience”, then they’ll do the math… and decide not to have kids in the first place.
[disclaimer: dad of two of the least pleasant humans on the planet] [and I do take them on planes, but only because I DON’T want a pleasant experience… for me or any of my fellow passengers]
I, for one, am sick of all these darned jet-setting infants hogging seats in first class on their way to Rangoon to buy their companies back (in cash) from venture capitalists, whilst sipping champagne and canoodling with their 20 year old paramours.
Tsk, tsk.
Would it make you feel better of these paramours were closer in age to the champagne sipping venture capitalists in question?
Carriers in India sell infant tickets as a percentage of the adult fare. So if an infant in economy pays 10% of the economy fare, an infant in business/first pays 10% of the business/first fare. That sounds fair – after all, a top-notch CEO who always travels first may not want to downgrade, simply because her toddler happens to be accompanying her!
Sounds fair to me too, as long as 90% of the infant’s seat is left to be sold to someone else.
This is not the policy of Kingfisher Air (my favorite airline in India) or any other airline as far as I know, if you are talking about a full second seat.
Kingfisher Airsells discount tickets to students under 26 years (I think) and charges a child seat at “standard pricing.”
“* How are tickets priced for children and infants?
Adult and child tickets have standard pricing. Infants’ ticket fares are priced at Rs 225/- across all Kingfisher Airlines sectors within India. For international sectors: a. Infant with a seat - 75% of the fare is charged. b. Infant without a seat - 10% of the fare is charged.
Why is my child’s fare higher than mine?
Kingfisher Airlines has a dynamic pricing policy where fares move upwards in a bucket system with various price points. Due to this, there could be cases where the fare is in a lower price bucket when booking for adults and it moves into the higher price bucket when booking for a child. There are limited seats per price bucket on every flight and therefore the adult fare and the child fare might differ.*”
I am pretty sure that their in-country infant fares are surcharges for an infant lapchild, not a second full seat. But since I leave infants at home if I travel, I guess I don’t know for sure.
When I took Amtrak recently they had a “quiet car”. I assume that means that crying babies aren’t welcome since they asked a couple of business men to stop talking at one point. So, if you just can’t take the risk of hearing a child make noise, the train may be for you.
I have seen infants and kids in business class on many of my trips over the years. My daughter has flown business and first class with us for the last 16 years and never had a problem either. Kids don’t bother me too much. It is the snoring/drooling/twitching guy across the aisle or my seat mate with body odor and intestinal distress that are much more annoying.
Technically, a child below age 2 travels in the lap and is an infant. A child over 2 travels on a full seat and is a ‘child’ (as opposed to ‘infant’). Since infants don’t occupy a seat, they get charged less than children do. This is for the regular fares – as opposed to special fares where child discounts may not apply. But any percentage discount will ensure that a child in first class pays more than a child in economy.