Some parents reacted vocally in the press.  The main objection appeared to be difficulties with seating families together if you book late or fail to preseat, though some families just resented the fact there might be some controls on them.  Experience has shown that, while the majority of families travelling are considerate, a vocal few expect every rule to be bent in their favour.

The public view is different.  A recent survey, quoted by the BBC, indicated that the majority of British travellers support child-free flights.  In August Tripadvisor found that a third of Britons would gladly pay extra to travel by air with no children present.

It would be a very rare flight that would have so many families travelling together that the 14 reserved rows would in any way restrict the availability of family seats, or impact the profitability of the airline.  Children travelling on flights are quite a small minority.

Problem with their “quiet zone”

It is entirely a matter of physics that the noise of the intensity of a screaming child is not going to stay confined to the “family” section of the aircraft.  This, despite the intention to use service areas and toilets as a “buffer area”.

By way of anecdotal support for this: I recently travelled in business class on Emirates (we think they overbooked economy and pushed us there to make room, because it was just on one sector of our four-leg journey).  There were no children in that section.  However, there was an extremely noisy baby at the front of economy (supposedly buffered by the service area and toilets) whose loud caterwauling entirely precluded any conversation, or sleep without earplugs, until it bawled itself into exhaustion.

This follows on their previous announcement some months back that no children will be permitted in first class.

The upper deck on the A380 has 66 seats in business class and 70 economy seats.  So passengers who can’t afford first-class will now also have a peaceful option available to them, while families can sit together on the lower deck, but only in economy.

This service is currently limited to the Kuala Lumpur/ London route.  The rule will also apply to the Kuala Lumpur / Sydney route from September 2012.

Image credit: Petar Miloševi?, August 2007

You get on the plane full of excitement, with a bounce in your step.  A day later you arrive at your destination looking ten years older, smelling like you slept under a bridge,  fur on your teeth, wrinkled like a prune, clothes dishevelled and smelling mildewed, and hair caked and matted.  Okay, you may not exactly look like that, but you certainly feel like that.  If you have an important meeting you are going to lack confidence and project failure.  So here are some effective health and beauty tips for longhaul flights.

Since the terrorists won you can scarcely carry anything with you, not even an adequate amount of liquid, so it is a challenge to refresh and rejuvenate yourself.

Lets see what we can do to remedy those problems, within the allowable limits.

Hair

Borrow a trick from the French Court – powder your hair.  Do this once the plane starts its descent because you basically only have one shot at it.  You can get a small (50 gram) container of baby powder and take that in your hand luggage.  Go to the bathroom, shake small amounts into your hand at a time and rub it into your hair and scalp, then comb it out again.  This is not perfect but it will keep you going until you can wash your hair properly.

Fragrance

Make sure that you have a proper antiperspirant deodorant that lasts about a day.  Reapply it in flight.  You should be fine.

Do not splash on perfume.  It stinks and is offensive to the rest of us.  Worse yet, it merely masks body odours, so you end up with a not too pleasant combination of competing smells.  (I know, that also originated with the French Court, but we have to be selective in what we adopt.)

If you have an unfortunate tendency to get really smelly quickly then take a pack of antiseptic wet wipes with you and give yourself a quick wipe-down in the toilet before reapplying the deodorant.  Try this out before your journey to ensure that the antiseptic does not leave a residual smell of its own.  You do not want to end up smelling like a public toilet.

Hydration

You want to stay hydrated.  That can be a bit of a challenge because the airconditioning on an aircraft leaves the air as dry as the Sahara.  And you are not allowed to take your own supply of fluids on board.

Alcohol has a diuretic effect.  While we are not determined to get roaring drunk in the plane, for those that take a drink it has a number of desirable effects, including helping one to be calm, and keeping the kidneys going.  So ensure that you drink additional other fluids to compensate for the dehydrating effect of the alcohol that you drink.

Do not overdo the hydration.  (The “eight glasses a day” fashion has been debunked)  Drink only if you are thirsty because drinking too much water is potentially harmful or even fatal.  Besides which, you do not want to spend the night queuing for the toilets.

Clothing

The answer to fresh clothing is fresh clothing!  Unless you are trying to get bumped up to first class, dress in comfortable clothes.  A tracksuit (sweatsuit) is a pretty good choice.  If you are being met and will be taken directly to your meeting (or if you are famous and will have to face the paparazzi) then take a change of clothes in your carry-on bag.  Change after you have powdered your hair.  Just avoid getting powder on your smart clothes.

The other strategy is to pack smart clothes at the top of your checked-in luggage.  As soon as you have claimed your baggage, slip off to the airport toilet and change your clothes.  The advantage of this is that it solves the problem of what sort of shoes to wear.  (It can be difficult to fit smart shoes into carry-on luggage, besides which, if you are wearing a tracksuit and high heels the security men are going to give you evil glances, at the very least).

Feeling fresh

Brush your teeth after each meal.  The little comfort packs that airlines give out typically contain a mini-toothbrush and toothpaste.  One definitely feels better with clean gnashers.

Wash your face and hands.  You can even do this with wet wipes, from your seat.  It is not much, but it helps.

British Airways had a wellness kit some years ago that contained a witch hazel spray.  The idea was that you would spray it on you face and hands.  It reportedly acts as a skin moisturiser and also reduces the bags under your eyes.  You can get really small sprayers of 10 ml that will pass through the security inspection.

Perk up your eyes

It is a really cheap trick that works – cup your hands, fill them with cold water and apply this to your eyes.  Do it a number of times in succession.  I do not know if it really makes a visible difference, but it helps one to feel good and takes away the tiredness and the puffy feeling.  Wakes you up too.

Make-up

Before leaving the plane, apply your usual make-up.  You will perk up considerably, particularly if you have used the other tips to spruce yourself up.

Up until recently, it was a lost battle for the traveller desiring a bit of peace.  Babies learn early on that they can make loud noises, seemingly without tiring.  Many mothers are either unable to control the mewling, or cease caring.  (It is an irony that these are often the same mothers who later in the flight say “Shush!  The baby is sleeping…”).  It has been said that as infants approach two years of age, both parents acquire selective deafness.  Unfortunately, however much they yearn for it, the same cannot be said for other passengers stuck within howling range.Malaysia Airlines have announced that they are to ban infants in first class.  This will be great for the others in first class, like worn-out businessmen.  For leisure travellers needing some shut-eye on that long-haul flight for which they have saved for months (in some cases, years) it just got worse – the infants evicted from first class will now add to the wailing in economy.

Our view is that whichever side of the nappy curtain you fall in this debate, you deserve to pick where you spend your money.  There are child-friendly restaurants, hotels and resorts.  On the other side of the coin, there are hotels and restaurants where young children are not catered for, as their target market is couples or singles, not families.  So, why all the hullabaloo over Malaysia Airlines’ decision?  If you still want to treat your little precious to luxury on board and not just a kiddie pack in “cattle” class, go business or use another carrier.

It will be very surprising indeed if other carriers don’t follow suit now that one airline has had the courage to take a stand and protect the peace and quiet of first class ticket holders.  It certainly costs a large enough sum of money to warrant some tranquillity.

For your next DIY travel trip you may have the choice of ‘family friendly airline’ or ‘business traveller friendly airline’.   … Unfortunately there is no good news yet for economy fliers who are sensitive to noise.

Waaaaaa!

Ultra Luxury Aircraft seats Picture credit: © 2011 by BBDC Berra Blanquer Design Consultants, Paris

Often, the armrests on these seats cannot be moved, as the tray tables are stored on the side of them. If you have skinny hips, then that’s cool. If not…

They almost always are in much closer proximity to a lavatory than anywhere else on board. For some of us, this is not a detraction. For others of us, however, having a queue at every feeding time, blocking our way out of our seat, could cause some excitement.

Bulkhead seats attract travellers with babies. Why? Because that is where most of the bassinet [a "basket" used to hold a baby] seats are. Hence, it won’t be the quietest part of the jet.

The legroom, though, is often good, and therefore a compensation worth considering.

On a flight from Dubai to Beijing in May 2010, my sister and I witnessed an unusual scene. We were sitting three rows back from a bulkhead row, where a lively conversation was under-way between a young couple and three stewardesses. What had caused the commotion? The fact that the couple, who had four babies with them, had managed the feat of boarding, and going through all the security points, whilst not having tickets for two of the babies, nor enough laps to house all four. The result? Two passengers volunteered to hold the extra two for the seven-hour flight!

Our conclusion? Very generous. But most of us would probably not want to have to be in the situation of having to do the same, hey? But, if you are wanting sympathy, travel with an infant. Any baby will do, it doesn’t have to be your own!

A320-200 seating configuration. Copyright United Airlines

One might instinctively phone one’s travel agent and insist on being seated in a favourable spot.  “The airline charges for that” we will be told. “What?  But I’ve already paid for my fare!…”

The good news is that one can often get that coveted pleasant seat with better leg-room, at no extra charge.  This can be done as a DIY Travel Expert, without having to use a travel agent, if you follow our guidance.

Loyalty programme

Firstly, sign up onto the loyalty programme of the airline you are flying with.  Yes, do it even if you anticipate that you will likely only fly with them just this once.  The reason is that in order to get you to sign up right away, frequent flyer programs often offer immediate benefits.

These may include:

• pre-seating at no extra cost
• a bigger luggage quota. e.g. Qatar Airways offers 10kg extra to their frequent flyer members.

Once you have signed up you can phone the carrier and bargain for favourable pre-seating. I recently did this for a passenger flying on Singapore Airlines and it worked wonders. This is not going to work every time, but is well worth the try.

Get the timing right

Then, there are some airlines, who although they don’t generally permit pre-seating on their so-called ‘entry level’ fares, will allow pre-seating twenty-four hours prior to departure. South African Airways is one of these.

Check-in online

The final and BIG pre-seating trick, especially on those nasty long-haul trips in economy is to check in on-line, as soon as it opens.

See our article on Online Check-in and use our Online check-in resource to go directly to the right online check-in page for major airlines.

Online check-in usually open twenty-four hours prior to departure.  On Singapore Airlines, and others it is forty-eight hours. It is very rare to find no decent seat available when you do an online check-in: Airlines always block an unspecified number of seats from being allocated before check-in.  For instance, in many cases, seats in the emergency exit row can normally only be booked at check-in.

The obvious boon is that you spend less time queuing, so at the airport you get to waft past those less-prepared, even if you are seated in “coach class” and they are in first-class.