How much would you pay for a kid-free plane flight?
Airfare Watchdog has been hosting some compelling reader surveys pertaining to in-flight conveniences. The top two questions about flying with (or without) children have been open for voting since August and acquired enough responses that I wanted to let you know what the results were and see if you agree. Note, you can still vote in their survey right now.
Q. Would you pay extra for a flight with no babies and young children (say, no one under 13?). If so, how much more would you pay on, say, a flight of over two hours? A “PG13″ flight would be worth:
_ $10 extra each way
_ $20 extra each way
_ $30 extra each way
_ I’d even pay $40 each way to fly in peace!
_ Heck, I’d even pay more than that to fly on a flight without crying, kicking, and fidgety young ‘uns.
_ I wouldn’t pay anything extra
So, what would you choose?
A. Survey results: Of the 1,174 people who had responded (when I looked on Sept. 29), 42% said they wouldn’t pay anything extra. That surprised me. I thought for sure that there would be a majority of travelers who would choose to pay a nominal fee to be assured that they wouldn’t have to sit next to a potentially disruptive child or baby. The next highest response: 21% of those that voted said that they’d pay $10 for a flight with no passengers under the age of 13. Here’s the rest of the results:
I wouldn’t pay anything extra (490) – 42%
$10 extra each way (251) – 21%
$20 extra each way (221) – 19%
Heck, I’d even pay more than that to fly on a flight without crying, kicking, and fidgety young ‘uns. (79) – 7%
$30 extra each way (70) – 6%
I’d even pay $40 each way to fly in peace! (63) – 5%
The second question in the Airfare Watchdog Reader Survey asks:
Q. Should airlines have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and younger children?
A. Of the 20,161 votes, an overwhelming 58% of the responses said, “Yes, they should have done this long ago.”
As a traveler who is about to have my first child and join the ranks of parents carrying their infants up and down the aisle of a plane to keep the peace — my emotions are caught in the middle of empathizing with both sides. I voted that I’d pay $40 for a kid-free flight, and in the second question I voted, “Yes, but they never will and it’ll never work,” that got only 27% of the votes.
What I’d like to hear are more tips for family travelers. Los Angeles Times Travel Editor Catharine Hamm starts us off in her “On the Spot” column, “Help for crying babies on a plane“.
—Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger
[Illustration: Mark Shaver / For The Times]
4 Comments on “How much would you pay for a kid-free plane flight?”
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September 29th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I have never seen a parent of a crying baby NOT try to comfort and quiet the baby on a plane. Are crying babies on planes really such an epidemic?
Jen: it’s not always ears, sometimes it’s tummies.
Gas expands on descent. Putting pressure on a bloated tummy with your shoulder or hand often helps when nursing, bottles, and pacifiers don’t.
I also believe in giving Tylenol 30 minutes before landing.
For toddlers, nothing works as well as a lollipop. Sugar is a proven analgesic. I recently cured a crying 6-year-old with ear pain on landing with this trick. It was amazing.
September 29th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Congratulations Jen - I’d be happy to send you a Parent & Toddler Flight Kit- created by 2 world travelers who refused to give up travel or have unhappy traveling kids. I wrote the book “Jet with Kids” for parents and Scotty Kober created the DVD Toolkit “Shae By Air” FOR toddlers. We recently combined the products to offer families the ultimate travel tool for flying with young children.
Here are some tips:
1. Ear pain can be excruciating. Try http://www.EarPopper.com - it really works! Micromedics manufactures vent tubes also and found this great product for treating recurring ear infections. Also works great for clearing Eustachian Tubes for passengers of all ages.
*Consider safety - don’t remove child from car seat or CARES harness during most dangerous times of flight. Every passenger should be buckled in - feed with bottle instead of breastfed or use Ear Popper, pacifier, etc..
2. Preparation is key - teething, colds, boredom, hunger, thirst, being tired - all these things must be addressed before they escalate. Pack wisely.
3. Involve child at developmentally appropriate level throughout process. Allow them to pre-board and become familiar with environment (explain tray table, window shade, lights, etc.). Do NOT allow children to run up and down aisle. They are familiar with car seats and being buckled in. Use the CARES harness or car seat and treat the speed of flight and runway with respect.
4. Pack smart. Healthy snacks (not sugar), water (purchase after security), extra clothes, diapers, etc.
I have carry-on list on my site to help with this.
5. Don’t take early morning flights. Leave these for the business travelers. Sleep deprivation is not a good way to start a traveling day for a child or parent!
6. Mutual respect goes a long way. Just because I chose to have a child and bring him on the flight, does not mean everyone has to be affected by my decision. My child - my responsibility.
7. Use headphones and video Ipod (music, audio books, photos, videos) Not everyone on the plane should have to listen to Dora.
My preschooler and I fly monthly - he will have traveled to 15 countries before kindergarten. He is a better traveler than many adults….
And now I must ask… Where would this “no child” flight thing end? What about when it gets annoying that many elderly take additional time boarding or urinate in their seats? How about the business traveler who talks loudly or drinks too much? Or the passenger with bad breath or body odor?
I think mutual respect is what needs to be taught… not who can we eliminate.
Sorry for the long comment (article!) I am passionate about this topic. (I actually teach seminars for parents on this exact topic)
September 29th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
actually, in regards to the survey responses, it does indicate that a majority of people would be willing to pay for a kid-free zone in the air. you quoted that 42% said they wouldn’t pay, but that means the other 58% would, it was just that their responses were divided by the amount they were willing to pay.
i’ve definitely been seated next to crying babies a fair amount of times over the past year… on a recent flight in europe, we were actually delayed for a few minutes because a screaming two-year old refused to sit down (and her mother refused to put her on her lap!) everyone in the vicinity was shooting them looks of death, and i was unfortunate enough to be seated next to them for the duration of the flight. she screamed so loudly that even my ipod on full volume could not drown out the sound!
September 29th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
My two favorite places for tips for family travelers-
Travel Savvy Mom blog-
http://www.travelsavvymom.com
And my humble blog-
http://DadMustBeStopped.blogspot.com