What We’re Reading: Kids on Planes; Google Maps Are Back

A new poll shows that travelers want the option to fly on child-free flights. Do you agree? Join the debate in our weekly roundup of interesting travel news and stories.

Google Maps is Back on the iPhone

Good news, Apple enthusiasts (and anyone who has a new iPhone and wants to get somewhere)! Budget Travel reports that the Google Maps app for iOS is now available. Since its release, the app received more than 10,000 reviews—many of which featured a spirited five stars. No doubt some of those positive reviews came from travelers who were frustrated with the shoddier technology of Apple’s mapping system. (According to Budget Travel, Apple maps identified a farm in Ireland as an airport and had users wandering around an Australian desert.) Read more here.

Travelers Want Kid-Free Flights

According to a report from The New York Times, the results of a new survey show that most travelers want the option to fly on child-free flights. Coupon-code site CouponCodes4u.com found that more than 50 percent of those surveyed would pay to travel on kid-free flights. And 67 percent of respondents said they think flights should at least have child-free zones. According to the Times, this survey, plus others that have come before it, “point to one conclusion: people love to complain about children on a plane.”

Would you pay more for a seat on a flight without kids?

Mom Separated from Five-Year-Old Twins on Flight

You might like to complain about kids on planes, but those who travel with little ones aren’t exactly thrilled about air travel these days either. Consumer travel advocate Chris Elliott reports that a mom flying with five-year-old twins would have been separated from her kids on a US Airways flight unless she paid extra for choice seats to sit next to them. The mom paid an additional $292 to sit by her children on her outbound flight, but did not even get the option to purchase seats near her twins on the return flight. In the end, US Airways gave the woman a refund for her choice seats after Elliott contacted the airline. But according to Elliott:

I’m happy this was resolved, but I’m troubled that this case even came to my attention. Airlines have long insisted that they won’t separate families, and that there’s no need for the government to regulate their seating policies. I’ve agreed with this position, citing a lack of evidence that young kids are being separated from their parents on planes. Wallace’s case makes me wonder if I’m on the right side of this argument.

Do you think Elliott should change his position? Share your thoughts in the comments.