dtc

My 6 month old refuses to sit on anyone's lap for more than 10 minutes. That rules out "lap baby" for most flights.

What's the process for buying a (non-refundable) seat for an infant?

Do I buy an adult fare for him - even though the SW's website specifically says 2 years old +?

Also, do all (new/modern) car seats work with airplane seats?

Doc Savage

https://www.southwest.com/html/custo...ldren-pol.html

Safe Travels,

Doc

schmoove

I would buy a want to get away fare from SW.com as infant fares are discounted anytime fares.

chuckworth

Buy the cheapest Wanna Get Away fare available and simply ignore the "age 2+" wording on the website. The only time I would ever consider buying an infant fare is if it is short notice and/or only Anytime/Business Select fares are available.

Keep in mind that if buying this ticket solo and on its own PNR, you will need to link the booking to an existing adult booking to avoid unaccompanied minor. In this case, make your booking first, then book your infant second.

cslewis

As far as i know you can book a seat for the infant but you need to carry ur carseat. You can also avoid booking a seat and you can check the "baby priority" space which as a folding table where they can place some sort of car seat for you.
Not the best but if the baby is small enough to be on your lap d recommend that

FindAWay

Simply book adult WGA fares. I've done this dozens of times for my infant son. WN's system recognizes the pax as an infant and makes sure an adult fare is tied to it (so, if adults will be on a separate PNR, you need to book an adult first).

Becca1007

You just buy a regular seat/fare for him.

Most car seats are FAA approved but the information must be displayed on your car seat (usually on one of the sticker labels on the side). If your little one is still in an infant carrier seat they are quite easy to use on Southwest. If you skipped the infant carrier type carseat and just have a large carseat at home for use in your vehicle, you might consider a smaller lighter seat for use when traveling.

I have used the Cosco Scenera Next as our travel seat ever since my little guy outgrew his infant carrier. It is lightweight and easy to install in an airplane.

If you feel like rolling the dice you can book him as a lap child and if the flight is not full you will be allowed to install the carseat and seat him in it without charge. However, if the flight is fully booked you will be stuck holding a squirmy baby.

Becca1007

Have you ever flown Southwest with a baby? They DO NOT have any bassinet positions and your only options are baby on your lap or baby in a carseat properly installed on a seat.

Mort

Wow, your son flew dozens of times as an infant? I'm very curious about the story behind that! Traveling with an infant is tough to go through even a couple of times, let alone dozens.

eyeballer

We had some good success with this but you need to choose flights carefully - saturdays or midweek day time flights offer the best chances. You need keep the car seat with you and check with the GAs whether they have any empty seats before boarding starts.

My son crossed 24 flights just after he turned 2 . Luckily he travels really well and the airport is one of his favorite places! Flight timing is key.. we usually booked nap time or overnight flights and he'd just sleep in his car seat.

FindAWay

Note that I wrote, "book" - with WN's lack of change/cancellation fees, not all of those bookings materialized with flights.

Still, my son has flown 25 flights to-date (with 6 more scheduled over the next couple of months)...so, technically, I suppose, he has flown "dozens" since it has been more than 2-dozen. My son turns 2 next month. All flights were vacation-related travel.

chuckworth

I have three kids, a four year old and two year old twins. My four year old has tallied 65 flights and my twins are at 28 flights. We were crazy enough to take my oldest to Hawaii at five weeks old. They have all gotten used to traveling in general and really enjoy airports and airplanes.

Jared1981

When my daughter was under 2, I had to call WN and wait on hold for a CSR and they manually added her to the PNR.


You are free to purchase a seat for your infant if you wish though.


Also, keep in mind that WN and almost every other US airline does not consider a baby seat as a carry on or as a checked bag.

Keg0brew

Couple of other notes from someone who also has dozens of flights on SWA with 3 different infants over the last 6 years:

- Keep in mind that the infant car seat must go in a window seat. And, when an infant car seat is in place, the seat in front of that infant car seat will not be able to recline. I have, on two occasions, had passengers in that seat complain that they could not fully recline their seat. Now, we make it a rule as a family to sit in front of the infant car seat ourselves (since there is 5 of us and we need more than 3 seats anyway).

- In my experience the early morning flights (think 6 am) offer the best chance to get an empty flight, which will have plenty of room for your infant car seat to fly for free at time of departure. The evening flights are very hit and miss due to a combination of delays and business travelers switching to earlier/later flights.

- In fact, we have been so lucky with getting the one free seat for the car seat, (early morning domestic flights and mid morning international flights primarily), that we don't buy seats for our infant any more. I bet we have about an 80%+ success rate at the flight having an open seat we are able to use.

cslewis

that is quite bad. I meant major european companies such as British airways. In fact, even smaller flight such as easyjet or ryanair do the same service