Cheap flights and the problem of noisy children

Over the last two decades, there’s been a revolution in the way we assess childhood behavior. In the good old days because the pharmaceutical industry began inventing new drugs to treat all these new diseases and disorders, we had well-behaved children and those we were forced to tolerate. Now the medical profession has invented Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and now prescribes several varieties of pill to control it, we have a cultural dilemma. In the good old day, parents would give their “naughty” children a gentle blow to the head or some other sensitive part of the body and, repeated as necessary, this tended to produce a sullen silence. Today, we’re not supposed to use corporal punishment, at least in public. Instead we administer pills and sit back quietly hoping they will soon take effect and give everyone’s eardrums a rest.

The problem with traveling comes down to two factors. Children are more likely to make a fuss when they are bored and, let’s face it, sitting for hours waiting for a flight or on a plane once it has taken off, can test the patience of even the best of children. Then there’s the problem of tiredness. Some children react by going to sleep – something to be encouraged. Others lose their tempers, shouting and throwing anything to hand.

A recent survey found slightly more than a third of passengers on cheap flights were so deeply frustrated by the failure of the parents around them to control their children, they agreed they would pay more to travel child free. It was worth a few extra dollars to have peace. Scale that up to business and first class and opinions were equally divided on whether children should be excluded. So what do you think? Should airlines offering cheap flights change the options so you can pay a little extra to travel without children? Or is this something the long haul legacy airlines should introduce? How many times have to sat with a child kicking the back of your seat, or pushing the seat in front down into your lap? Would it not be better to deal only with thoughtful and sensitive adults?

Cheap car rental and avoiding problems with young children and food

As soon as independence begins to assert itself, parents have a choice to make. When it comes to food, there should be no negotiation. Children should eat what they are given. If you begin bargaining over what can or cannot be eaten, or resort to bribery to get healthy greens eaten, the slippery slope is encouraging your children to turn every meal into a battleground. While this is less of a problem at home, the moment you get into a public eating area, this empowers the children. They know you don’t get to shout at them. All punishments are in the future. So they get to play up. To reduce the problems, ask the company supplying your cheap car rental whether there are food guides for traveling with toddlers and young children in that area. If none are available, do your internet research before you set off. It’s fatal to assume diners will be child-friendly.

You should be looking for places that allow families to eat together, and have the furniture to make this possible. You also want small portions of nutritious food. For future reference, if children get too used to eating large portions from the early years, this becomes a very difficult habit break should they become overweight. If you find other children eating calmly, this is a great boost because it generates peer pressure for your picky eaters to eat their food quietly.

Some young children want to start feeding themselves early. If you know they will be on public display, give them plenty of practice before you set off. That way, when it comes to wielding the implements in a diner, they will be less frustrated. Use your common sense as to when to offer help. At all times, listen to what your children are actually saying or trying to say. This will head off potential disputes.

With these tips in mind, get confidently into the cheap car rental and drive off on the road trip of a lifetime. Played properly, these will be memories to treasure.

Cheap auto insurance may disappear because of an internet rant

Let’s start with a case of individual injustice. In June 2010, Kaitlynn Fisher went through stop lights on green. Halfway across the junction, an SUV came through the red light and smashed into her car. She was killed. The driver of the SUV was underinsured. Kaitlynn was insured by Progressive and one of the terms was a duty to pay up to $100,000 if an uninsured or underinsured driver caused injury or death. Except the law of Maryland is a nightmare. The insurance company is not obliged to pay out if its insured was in any way to blame for the accident. Hence, if a court was to find one driver 99% to blame, the 1% fault attached to the other driver would defeat her claim. This is an amazing law. To make it worse, there’s no right to sue the insurance company directly. The relatives of the deceased has to sue the other driver and get a ruling the deceased was not even 1% to blame for the accident. So that’s just what they did.

What makes this story remarkable is that Progressive sent a lawyer to the trial who addressed the judge and jury, and sat beside the defendant, offering advice. According to Progressive, this lawyer was protecting its interests and not representing the defendant. The fact the lawyer was protecting Progressive’s interests by arguing Progressive’s policyholder was to blame is irrelevant.

Not surprisingly given the adverse publicity, Progressive has now reached a settlement with the family of the deceased. However, consider the potential effects of this publicity. Progressive was able to offer cheap auto insurance because it used every possible trick in the book to avoid paying out. If it now feels the glare of the public’s attention, it may well change that business model. This would mean more generous settlements to avoid going to court and, if court action cannot be avoided, always arguing in favor of its policyholders. This means paying out a lot more money to all those insured and represents the end of cheap auto insurance rates. A mildly ironic outcome for those fighting an injustice.