One thing that mildly irritates me at the airport is the families with children – particularly those with quite big children – pre-boarding before everyone else. Watching a family with teenage age children taking advantage of boarding first makes me raise an eyebrow.
Pre-boarding for families with small children is part of the boarding process for most airlines. It struck me recently that it may not actually be needed.
Should Families Get Priority?
I recently flew with Ryanair a couple of times and it struck me that they do not pre-board families with children. If you have Priority Boarding, you board first and otherwise you get in line just like everyone else.
With this policy they still get the flights away on time when there are families with children flying with them. Therefore, why should people travelling with children get priority? I always thought it was to save time for everyone else during boarding.
Those Who Take Advantage
Everyone has seen the family that takes advantage of the situation. Used to flying and getting on first since they first had babies, they still waltz on ahead of the other passengers with their teenagers.
It is particularly annoying for those people who may be flying in first class or business class and have paid to be able to get on first if they so wish. Gate agents often don’t police this as it would take longer to stop it than to just let the people go on.
Is The Solution An Age Restriction?
Perhaps there should be a cut off point. I would think that once a child is going to school – so around age five – there is no longer any need for them to have extra time to board.
When it comes to babies and the very small children, I totally understand the parents may need extra time. Once kids are in school, definitely not.
Overall Thoughts
My thoughts are pretty clear on the matter. What do you think? Perhaps you travel regularly with your posse of children in tow and will have some stories to share. Maybe you’ve witnessed some brazen behaviour that would be worth hearing?
Either way, I’d love to hear your comments below. Thank you for reading!
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If you’ve ever traveled with children, you know that extra time and assistance is needed. Most of the time, my kids are pretty good, but traveling with young children can be a crapshoot and the extra time is very welcome when you’re trying to get them into their seats and put all of the bags away.
It’s not something I’ve done, but clearly the extra time is needed by the parents. Maybe it wouldn’t be needed so much if they didn’t have a bag each? Even so, it is there for a reason, so I understand that.
As the owner of a pygmy human on the brink of his second birthday, we ALWAYS board last. Why would I want my kid, who has been known to harbor evil spirits, sitting on a non-moving aircraft any longer than need be? I’ll sacrifice the overhead space in lieu of parental judgement any day.
I really love the way you put all of that! Brilliant!
I agree. Flying often, but just ocasionally with my small children, I prefer boarding with them last and let kids to get bit tired at the airport. Sitting on board isn’t their greatest joy …
Interesting to see some with the opposite perspective. I have seen people deliberately boarding last with kids, recent when I was boarding last. So it seems there are definitely two camps here. Thanks for the comment!
Totally opposite end, here. It’s easy better if I wrestle two toddlers into a mostly empty plane, versus risking the ire of those already boarded, or in a growing line behind me that we’re holding up.
Understandable, that’s for sure. Happily the toddlers grow up, so it’s only for a short while, relatively anyway! Thanks for the comment.
I typically fly United in the US and their preboarding announcement is for families with children under the age of three.
I agree with that kind of announcement, because it actively puts an age limit on it which I think is required. Those under 3 arguably need the most help, so I think United has it right here. Thanks for letting me know about it!
My prefer priority
Paid F pax>Paid J pax>FFP Status holder>Normal Y pax, by seating zone>Pax who need assistance
I like the sound of that – it makes sense!
If a family has an infant seat that they are going to be using in the airplane, then they absolutely need the time to be able to do that, and it’s nice to be able to heft a large infant seat down the aisle without worrying about hitting people that are already sitting in an aisle seat. Absent this particular need, I don’t think it’s necessary for families with children to have priority boarding.
I completely agree with you on that one. The last thing you need is to be bumping other passengers as you proceed down the aisle!
They should be the last to board really, since they usually take the most time to get settled into their seats and hence end up blocking everyone else in the aisle.
Boarding last does have its merits; being able to relax without worrying about lines and zones is a great experience that some families with small children do prefer. However, boarding last also means you won’t have any overhead luggage space near by (if at all), which would be crippling for those with baby and children gear. If there are two adults there’s the option for one of them to board first, but that’s not always the case and the adults may not have priority boarding. Utilizing airline staff to pre-store overhead luggage or protect luggage space for families boarding last… Read more »
Excellent analysis there! Really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it, as you make some good arguments. It’s quite thought provoking – thank you very much!
True! The only issue of course is the overhead space… it would make sense if it could be reserved in some way, but that’s unlikely.