Imagine. A friendly agent greets you warmly as you walk up to the desk of the Centurion SFO. She swipes your Platinum card, scans your boarding pass, and welcomes you into the lounge. You smile and head in to find a comfortable seat, but just then two kids come tearing around the corner past you at full speed heading for the food area. You may instantly question: should kids be allowed in airport lounges?
Have you experienced this scene? Yeah, me neither.
But I don’t want to downplay the poor experiences some people have had with kids in airport lounges. Just like the debate over whether kids should be allowed in premium cabins on airplanes, there is definitely a debate over whether kids should be allowed in airport lounges.
As I travel with my kids fairly regularly, I’m sure you can guess where I stand on this issue. I’ll step right out and say that kids should be allowed in airport lounges. Taking advantage of the free food and beverages offered at airport lounges is definitely part of our family strategy for keeping travel costs down. Heck, even avoiding purchasing a bottle of water at the airport saves us $4 each trip. But there is definitely more behind my initial answer of “yes”.
You Pay, You Enter
This first issue I have with any sort of rule preventing kids in airport lounges is the fairness factor. If my kids and I are flying on a business class ticket (almost certainly using miles), why should they be disallowed from entering the lounge, simply because they are kids? Why are you more important than them? And don’t tell me it’s because it’s called business class. Airlines certainly don’t discriminate when selling these expensive tickets.
The same goes for lounges access via Priority Pass or any membership. What makes one person’s membership more important than another? Can you really argue that the business traveler has preference over the traveling family? I can’t buy this logic.
If you’ve paid for access, whether through purchase of a paid or award ticket, membership through a lounge program, or access via elite status (earned by spending cash with your carrier of choice), you should be able to enjoy the lounge. Plain and simple.
A Standard of Behavior
While I flatly disagree with the notion that kids should be refused from visiting airport lounges simply because they are kids, I will heartily agree that there should be a standard of behavior for kids (really, anyone) in the lounge. I kids are being disruptive to other guests, I would hope their parents would correct the situation. If it isn’t immediately resolved, leaving the lounge seems the most reasonable course of action.
In this vein, I would absolutely remove my kids from an airport lounge if they are causing a disturbance. I’m all about using public situations to help teach kids proper behavior and let them practice said behavior, but it should also be a given that I will remove them if they become a nuisance or disruption to other guests. This would simply reinforce that the behavior is unacceptable.
What I will say is that the airport lounge is not a necessity for kids. Travel often isn’t either, but there are times when it is for a particular family. Which is why I have far more grace for the parent carrying the screaming toddler through the airport than the parent with the rambunctious child in the airport lounge. The lounge should be a space of retreat for travelers, but this fact alone doesn’t exclude kids. There is room for it to be both a peaceful space and welcoming to families.
While I’ve not personally ever experienced disruptive kids in a lounge, I know others have. Generally speaking, I find traveling families that use airport lounges to have a reasonable standard of behavior.
But the parent that completely ignores their kids? Leave. The same applies to the obnoxious drunk folks at the lounge bar. Problem is, both of these are oblivious to the situation.
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Popcorn
I can recall a single instance where my older kids caused any sort of incident in the lounge, and it was a relatively minor one. We were in Seattle, waiting for our flight to Paris (SEE: The Club at SEA Review). I helped each of them fill a small plate with a few items, and we all sat down for a quick lunch together. Then they broke out the activity books and I settled in to write for a bit.
My son asked if he could get more popcorn, which we fine by me. But I glanced over half a minute later to see a rather empty plate in his hands and a scattering of popcorn all over the floor. Needless to say, I was very embarrassed.
The lounge staff were great and had it swept up promptly. But this did give me pause about letting the kids get food on their own, and I didn’t let him the rest of the trip, or on subsequent trips that year.
I write this just to be totally honest about my own experiences. If this is enough for you to say, “out of the lounge with you!”, whatever. See comments above about disruptive behavior. I don’t consider this sort of minor accident disruptive behavior.
A Space Made For Kids
Some airport lounges have family or play rooms that allow parents with young ones to have a safe haven. The play room is the perfect space where the kids can burn through some energy without disrupting other guests. And the fact that lounges install them tells me that they intend to welcome kids! The spaces typically have some toys and a TV. However, they are typically rather small, at least the few I’ve seen.
With my older two kids, I’ve generally trusted that their behavior will be good (popcorn incident notwithstanding), and it has been on the whole. They are now 8 and 12, which is a bit old for the kids room, anyway.
Should Kids Be Allowed in Airport Lounges?
Yes.
Obviously, there will be many who disagree with me, but I believe that kids should be allowed in lounges, the same as any other guest. But I’m also a believer in parents being responsible for their kids and their behavior, and it should be within a lounge’s power to ask that a family leave if they are causing significant disruption to others. I would certainly remove my kids before we even got to that point.
What do you think? Should kids be allowed in airport lounges?
Good to see Debit as outrageous as always. What I think of as reasonable behavior for children is definitely not shared by most of the world it seems. Children screaming in swimming pools, racing between tables in restaurants, pawing the food in a buffet in a restaurant or a lounge while their parents are busy elsewhere expecting staff to babysit is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Often the parents exhibit similar lack of manners and share the same behaviours. Kicking the seat backs on airplanes. The list goes on. It’s not the kids that are a problem -. It’s the parents. Unfortunately this… Read more »
It is not a question of who is more important, it is a question of who can monitor their own volume. It is not a question of free stuff and travel costs either. We don’t primarily use lounges because we’ll starve if we don’t stuff our faces quick whilst we’re at the airport – we go to get some piece and quiet. I write this as I am being tortured by a screaming kid a few meters away – yes I’m in the lounge (so stuff your ‘me neither’) Most of us who use lounges are on business, and we’ve… Read more »
It all comes down to awareness and discretion. If I had a screaming baby or toddler, I’d surely exit the lounge. But I’ve not been in the situation. I’ve traveled with the older two, and aside from a single instance of spilled snacks, they’ve been great.
I was on an important insurance call in an airport lounge where two kids under 7 were screaming and running around. It got to the point I couldnt event hear the agent on the phone and I suddenly just lost it. I yelled so loud to have those kids settle down that EVERYBODY in the lounge stopped what they were doing. So definitely, if you are terrible at parenting and have rotten kids, do NOT go in a lounge. People are actually working in these rooms. It’s not your personal day care centre. Have some respect for the adults in… Read more »
Absolutely agree. Like I said, if my kids started causing a disturbance, we’d be gone. Wish others would do the same.
its the dogs i have a problem with in the lounges
100% agree. And on planes.
I’m totally cool with kids in lounges as long as they’re not disruptive. On a separate note, the people I absolutely cannot stand to see in lounges are the college students/grads who come into the lounge wearing flip flops to take photos. These off-brand Ben Schlappig wannabes really ruin the lounge experience for me.
As a mother of 6 kids who are grown, I sure wish I could have spent time with them in airport lounges but I did teach them how to act in public. However, all kids can have a bad day and babies can’t help their behavior. That is one thing I loved about Club Mobay (departure) in Montego Bay. A family/kid room (not just a space a whole separate room) the main room and a quiet room. I will be traveling with my teenage granddaughters soon and I don’t expect any issues in lounges with them (all they will want… Read more »
Bot comment aside ……. I think kids should be allowed in a lounge as long as they are being monitored by the adults ….. I have found that little kids , under the age of 11 or so are not the problem …. it’s the teenagers that are the problem because they are not policed by their parents and they tend to not be self aware enough to understand social norms or behaviors or understand that zero people want to hear their personal business
No, they should not be allowed.
I posted this on doc of credit but a study shows people with kids contribute more to global warming than people without kids that travel in cars and planes. And if course religious people aka party of nazis and haters have more kids. I am sick I’d subsiding southern state haters. People with kids should have to pay more taxes. And get the last priority in everything.
I will say it is reassuring to know that you are NOT procreating.
We are so diametrically opposed, I don’t even know where to begin.
But thanks for the comment!
Guy thinks he is a hero cause he posts garbage that incites a reaction. He has been banned from other boardingarea blogs. Kudos to the way you handled it. Love the blog, keep up the great work.
You asked for a comment. I gave it. You don’t need to agree or respond. At least you are not attacking me personally for my views like that idiot parag.
Fully agree, Debit. When people with lots of kids criticise my use of plastic, I find it hipocritical and ridiculous. People with kids think we all have the obligation to put up with their loud noise and horrible manners. Kids should not be allowed in Airport Lounges, Business Class, Fine Dining Restaurants, etc. they just ruin the experience for paying customers. If you had a kid, it’s your responsibility to put up with him/her until they can behave, not the innocent world.