First Class Only, Please

Well, we did it. We traveled with child on Labor Day weekend and survived with only minimal damage. Now, I haven't flown since pre-Lillie (BL) days about a year or more ago. And, being mostly a business traveler I usually didn't require much customer service. Board with your group, have a beverage, land and leave. Well, we all know that flying with children, car seat, stroller, diaper bag, etc requires a little more attention. Thinking back to the times I flew BL, I had memories of people pre-boarding with children before anyone else. Seems reasonable and a very nice thing to do.

So, Cy, Lillie and I are standing at the front of the gate waiting to pre-board (like I had seen in the past) and the announcement comes for first class passengers. Hmmm, there must be some mistake, maybe they pre-board children after first class. We saunter up to the gate agent tickets and gear in hand and ask to board. The agent quickly glances at my tickets, sees boarding group 5, pulls his mic to his mouth and says "Boarding first class passengers only please, any remaining first class passengers." "Pardon me, but do you not pre-board children anymore?" I ask. "Not anymore, it takes up too much time."

Interesting theory from American. It takes up too much time to allow parents the extra 5 minutes to strap in the car seat and settle all their gear before take off. At least now I know and can lower my expectations for the airline that I have traveled with most of my life. Guess I should have flashed my gold member card for a little respect.