Travel with Children - International flight with infant

Hello All,

I'm brand new to these forums and this is my first post, i did a search but didnt find an answer to my question so forgive me if this has been asked and answered a million times but I was planning on taking our baby with us to Europe via US Airways. Originally when we booked the tickets we did not intend on bringing her along but things changed. I've never flown with an infant before (domestic or international) and US air website states that its free for domestic and international is 10% of airfare plus taxes and fees I also read somewhere that she can get her own seat for 75% of rate (not sure if that means our rate or current rate).

I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to book her a seat or just pay the 10% and was curious if the 10% of the fare means the current advertised fare or 10% of what I paid for the fare since when I orginally paid it was early on and the price has gone up significantly it would make a pretty big difference.

Also, I've read a few post about some type of fold down bedding for infants in a certain section of some planes. Can anyone tell me any more about this? When contacting the airline to add her on what should I request? Does anyone know anymore about the 75% rate I mentioned? Any other tips?

She will be about 10 month at the time of trip and the plane is a airbus 330-200

Thanks in advance,

-Matt

Pay the 10% and you should find an extra double seat....

Seen several time I've had 3 seat to lie down in, and also seen very few full planes.

Check the set charts...

Welcome to FT msb1102!

I do not know what you mean by "fold down seat" - a bassinet? I think your daughter will most likely be too large for one.

Call the airline about pricing; I don't know what 10% it is. If you purchase her a ticket now, I think you'd pay whatever the price is when you buy the ticket, again call the airline for info.

I can't agree with the previous poster that you'd find an empty seat you could use free; most flights I've been on this year have been full. This is a big gamble. Personally, I'd buy a seat. Holding a child for so many hours is torture, IME.

Thanks for the advice. I called the airliner to get priced out for both. All things considered the prices for either one were not too bad! Whats weird is that I had told the agent that I needed to think about my options and would call back and when I logged in and check my int they had added my daughter as a lap child but with $0.00 charge. Im assuming that means I will be charged when I arrive at the airport should I opt out of buying her a seat.

And yes I meant bassinet and yes that is a long time to have a child on my lap.

Would I piss off a lot of people if I upgraded to business class?

Hi and welcome,

There's actually a whole thread here on children in premium cabins. Basically, it's your right but some parents are sensitive and yes, in business, they do complain quicker about babies. Some actually book business to avoid children (I'm a former Flight Attendant on trans-Atlantics).

Also, you wont be able to really take advantage of sitting up there (the movies, better food, etc.) since you'll have the baby with you.

Check on how much business would be for a lap child.

Bassinets are no replacement for safety as compared to a car seat and many are really small. Also, many airlines prefer to put frequent flyers in the bulkhead seats, stuffing families into middle aisles with no bassinets.

Bringing the car seat and using it on board is the safest option but if you don't need a car seat in Europe, and there are two parents, you can deal with a lap child.

If the price isn't too bad, definitely get the extra seat (and use car seat on the plane). 3 seats in economy might actually be better than 2 in business. A business class flight with an infant is not equivalent to a business flight without. You will not have a "good" flight no matter where you sit. You will not be able to fully enjoy the benefits.

If you've got miles or money to burn, get 3 seats in business. You shouldn't worry more about offending business class passengers than economy class passengers.

Seen several time I've had 3 seat to lie down in, and also seen very few full plane

I have made quite a few flights to Europe this past year (UA) and have had just the opposite experience. Planes have usually been packed with little or no empty seats. It's getting even more crowded this summer.

It's safer if she has her own seat, she can sit in her carseat. You're also likely to get tired of having her on your lap if she is a lap infant. Thomas will be 6 months old when we fly and i've booked him his own seat - i'm not keeping him on my lap for a 11 and a 13 hour flight! It also means you can eat your dinner in relative peace - when Lucy was 4 months she travelled on my lap on a 1 hour flight i could barely do anything with her there. My friend Cathy flew with her daughter when she was 12 months and used a flyebaby hammock. It can only be used during the cruise part of the flight, but means your baby can sit facing you whilst in her own "hammock" leaving your hands free to eat, etc. It's also very soothing for getting the baby to sleep. It can be strapped to normal chairs too like a non-raised booster seat which you may find useful at your destination!

sorry i can't delete extra post!

I flew with my daughter as a lap infant TATL several times alone but if you're having to take the car seat it'd definately be worth buying the seat, plus you can eat and not have to hold your child at the same time, if your child is used to being in their car seat then it may be an easier flight all round!

We've done a fair amount of TATL & TPTL travel with our little guy since birth and the extra seat has always been great and once over 1 year in age definitely a requirement. Being able to travel in his own car seat once he was old enough (since no rear facing car seats on board) has made travel MUCH easier for him. Knowing that "his" car seat means its time to travel is a big help at the age before being able to have things verbally explained to him.

Why no rear-facing car seats on board? Do you fly British companies?

Why no rear-facing car seats on board? Do you fly British companies?

Mostly United. A couple years ago when we first asked they said no "rear facing infant seats". Though I'm beginning to think even then the rep read the policy wrong and was referring to no car seats in "rear facing seats".

Child safety seats
You may use an approved infant car seat on board the aircraft when you purchase a seat for your child. The seat must be an FAA-approved child safety seat device. Please note the following infant car seat placement restrictions: on one-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats, on two-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats or the middle seat of a center section. Car seats are not permitted in rear-facing seats on any aircraft.

I've never seen rear-facing passenger seats on any of the United jets I've flown. Perhaps they're on the smaller aircraft. I did see them on a WN flight once a long time ago and it was only two rows on the whole plane.

The FAA guarantees your right to use a rear-facing car seat as long as it's per the manufacturer's instructions and the child is within the limits of rear-facing the car seat.

Mostly United. A couple years ago when we first asked they said no "rear facing infant seats". Though I'm beginning to think even then the rep read the policy wrong and was referring to no car seats in "rear facing seats".

Child safety seats
You may use an approved infant car seat on board the aircraft when you purchase a seat for your child. The seat must be an FAA-approved child safety seat device. Please note the following infant car seat placement restrictions: on one-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats, on two-aisle aircraft, car seats must be placed in window seats or the middle seat of a center section. Car seats are not permitted in rear-facing seats on any aircraft.

My wife and I had a lap child recently and a merciful combination of RCC angel/gate agent gave us row 7ABC (bulkhead E+). The F/A did not say anything about our rear facing car seat. Rear facing car seats are considered safer (in fact, the only thing legal these days) for infants and toddlers too small for an upright seat.

The F/A did say, however, our car seat had to be in the window seat.

I've never seen rear-facing passenger seats on any of the United jets I've flown. Perhaps they're on the smaller aircraft. I did see them on a WN flight once a long time ago and it was only two rows on the whole plane.

The FAA guarantees your right to use a rear-facing car seat as long as it's per the manufacturer's instructions and the child is within the limits of rear-facing the car seat.

United Business has some rear facing seats. I'm guessing that the rear-facing child seat becomes a front-facing seat in that case, and would be unsafe in the event of sudden deceleration.

We've flown 2.5 cross Atlantic round trips in the past year with our kids. Our daughter is 2+ years, so our concern with her has been to keep her occupied.

Our son has been 1 month, 6 months and 8 months on the flights.
First time he was in a rear facing car seat. That worked well, but we used 1+hour at check-in as they assumed the infant did not have his own ticket ( which he did ).
Second time was on lap + bassinet, and it worked great as well. He was relatively calm, and slept well in the bassinet.
Third time was also on lap + bassinet, but did not work as well. By 8 months he had become extremely active ( it's a boy ), so he was moving the whole flight(s), and refused to sleep/rest in the bassinet.

Next flight he'll get a seat again I think, but if he had been calmer, it would be OK to have him on lap.

Note that most airlines have a max age/weight for bassinet usage, and you should check what it is with your current airline. If you fly off-season you might be able to find a free seat for him, but during summer/xmas season, there are zero available seats on most flights.

Personally my feeling on this is if the child is under a year, go with the "lap child" status and cross your fingers for the extra seat. If they are over a year and active, buy the extra seat at 75% for a long haul flight.
We never bought the extra seat until my son was 2 to save money but some of the flights were really difficult between age 1 and 2 because he just wanted to climb around. You can get by on a 4 hour flight (albeit it is tiring), but it gets really hard on and 8-12 hour flight.

For more: http://www.thetraveltot.com/tips/choosing-a-flight/

Tara
http://www.thetraveltot.com:)

Traveltot - go to your A-Z list and read what you have posted under X. Don't think the stuff about restaurants goes there.

Thanks so much. I recently migrated my blog from Blogger to Wordpress but it looks like it didn't move over perfectly. I appreciate the heads up.:eek:

The Travel Tot
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