J with toddlers, seat choice

Absolutely. I recall flying J Mel-Per in my 20s and a woman in her 60s asked to see my ticket to confirm I was actually meant to be there. Not crew, another passenger. What??

Entitled dickhead adults don’t belong in society at all let alone in a confined public space… they are a separate issue entirely to children!

If your kid is amazing, by all means stick them in a pod and let them chill out.

The reality is that most kids are horrible and should probably stay home until they’re old enough to appreciate what’s happening.

I have been travelling in business for the past 40 years about 10 times a year and can recall less than a dozen times that children have caused any real disruption. Supposedly adult pax on the other hand have caused annoying disruption far more frequently.

Take your family in business,ensure that they cause the minimum of disruption and ignore the mean spirited.

Have a great holiday.

I must admit I prefer to sit far away from any children, but most behaviour issues have more to do with upbringing and parenting than the children themselves (except for those under 3 years, even the best super nanny cannot predict what can happen in 2 hours much less a 8 hour flight). Unfortunately these parents are pretty immune/entitled to fellow pax's feelings so there is no hope of salvation.

Ironically those who worry about their fellow pax are exactly the parents who will try to do their best to prepare their children for the flights, and thus win the sympathy of fellow pax, although you also got to understand some J pax did pay their fare for better chance of a good rest so that they can hit the ground running at their destination.

As much as some here claims they are entitled to bring their children in J class without prejudice, the same commenters, for their own less stressful flight experience as much as their fellow pax, did provide great tips in keeping their children occupied.

One observation though, that in Changi Airport most of the waiting room at the gates (after security checks) are carpeted and do have some space for some tiring-out activities for young children, whereas the waiting area for boarding in some Australian airport international terminals are tiled (dunno which airport you are departing from) and the only spare spaces for activities are along the corridor between gates (so it's more noisy and a bit hard ground for children to play ball catching for example).

Also because the waiting room for boarding at SIN are restricted areas with no toilets facilities, best to make sure the kids have done their business before using the premium security lane to enter the waiting area (sometimes the airline only announces a long delay in boarding when most of the pax have passed through the security screen so you may have to exit the room with the children, mind you so far QF in my experience are more often than not, guilty of these kind of late announcement nowadays)

Hopefully this may help with your planning.

Hong Kong airport also has large carpeted areas and dedicated play areas for younger children. I hope that this info may be of some assistance to those travelling to or via Hong Kong.

The in laws have a carpeted living room where the rug rats can play. Keep them out of premium cabins.

Interesting we are up to 20 comments and I don’t see anyone attempt to answer the OP’s question, but without the attachment that would be difficult even if there was the will to do so. Children in J reflect a lot on the personality of the adult passenger. We did it a number of times, knowing our children would not disturb other passengers.

I hope you didn't show your boarding pass, but if you did, I hope you presumed her to be cabin staff and asked her to bring you a G&T or some other beverage.