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.

Image: Dave Buchwald, 2009

We all know that babies can be noisy, but how noisy?

Some screaming babies have been measured at over 110 decibels of sound pressure.

How loud is that?  Very loud!  In an industrial setting this is the one-minute maximum safe exposure level to avoid hearing damage.  Even at 100 decibels for a more moderately screeching  baby the permissible exposure time is just 15 minutes.  This is according to guidelines established by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Centers for Disease Control.

This supports the adage that parents become deaf to their children’s cries by the time they are two years old.  It may actually be physically true.

Perhaps more importantly, it indicates that there is a danger of physical harm to those nearby, and of extreme nuisance to those further away.  The people that do not want to hear your baby are not necessarily merely being intolerant.

One practical implication of the loudness of baby cries is that the sound is not going to be stopped by just a curtain.

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.

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!

Mango plane at Cape Town

These days one is able to book airlines directly without having to go through a travel agent.   Yet travel agents have not entirely disappeared and some of them are doing very well indeed.  Why this apparent contradiction?

There are several scenarios in which it is in your best interest to use an agent.

Group Bookings

If you are booking flights for a group of, say, ten or more travellers then do it via an agent.  Different rules apply for group bookings.  An agent is more likely to get you seated in a block together, rather than scattered randomly around the aircraft.  (This depends on how far ahead you are booking – if you leave it too late you may be scattered over several flights!)

A group quotation will come with at least two pages of rules governing it, which it is in your best interests to familiarise yourself with.  Your agent will point out key ones such as cancellation and change policies, but you should take the trouble to read all of them.

Secondary destinations

If you are going to book a flight between major cities such as London, Paris, Frankfurt or New York then your DIY Travel booking will work out fine.

However, if you are travelling between other cities you may very well find that an agent can get you there both cheaper and faster.

How so?  The airlines do not fly from any particular city to any other particular city.  Their route planning works on a hub-and-spoke principle,  The cities we just mentioned are major hubs.  Even if you start at a non-hub airport your DIY routing will work out okay as long as the ultimate destination is a hub.

Agents are specialists with a good knowledge of airline hubs and can often work out alternative routings for you that may be non-direct but cheaper.  Often too, they can find flights to meet connecting flights that have a sensible minimum wait time, rather than leaving you in a possibly boring terminal for 20 hours.

Journeys with multiple stops

The third time that DIY may not be best is where you’re planning a trip with multiple stops.  While some airline sites have search functionality for multi-segment flights, not all do.  The majority have only a departure and final destination selection for on-line bookings.  This is also true for some of the well-known ‘middle-man’ booking sites (and so-called “bucket shops”) where you are searching potentially hundreds of options for a specific route.

Special requirements

If you have extra requirements, such as specific meal selection, wheelchair assistance, meet-and-assist or an unaccompanied minor request, it may often be worth the peace of mind to pay a little more and have the booking competently handled by an agent and would be easier.  Sorting it out yourself can be a considerable hassle, or even impossible (because some airlines do not, for instance, permit kosher or halaal meal requests).  The agent will know, or can find out quickly, which airlines permit meal requests.  This would be of benefit for diabetics, persons who have religious restrictions on what they may eat, and people travelling with babies.

If you have to take a guide dog on board with you, this can involve a lot of ‘red tape’ depending on the carrier, and would save you a lot of time to use an agent.

When DIY Travel works well

When not to use an agent?  Domestic bookings, basic international (hub-to-hub).  Sometimes travel agents have “sweetheart” deals with specific providers that may make components more expensive for you.  Shop around for insurance: I bought travel insurance online for one of my own major journeys 25% cheaper than if I had booked it through the tied broker I usually use.

There is a world of choice on-line and depending on your travel requirements and how much of your own time you wish to spend planning your trip, will decide whether you will go on-line or through an agent.

A tip to remember.  Most Internet booking sites have people behind the scenes, validating and actioning the bookings.  Try to find a company that allows you to speak to the people.  In travel as in other things, there are times that arrangements can fail or otherwise go awry and you will want to hear a voice on the other end, when needed.  A 24 hour contact number is best.

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!