United floor bassinets? (Business Class, International)
My wife and I are looking to fly from Singapore to USA in a few months with what will be our newborn child. We are intending to fly Business Class but I am learning that many US carriers do NOT provide bassinets in Business Class.
I called United and while they do NOT have bassinets, they do offer some sort of floor bassinet.
Has anyone used this? Does it highly restrict the lie flat seat in Business? Does it fit under foot rest if foot rest is elevated and extended? All I know is that it is 12 x 26 inches but no clue on height. Any photos and/or experience would be GREATLY appreciated.
We have decided AA is out of question as they offer no bassinet or other solution (aside from purchase another seat). Former Continental aircraft offer bassinets in their business class, as well as Delta and former NWA aircraft. Looking forward to some feedback (this is my first thread and post).
(1) Did the reservation agent actually use the word "cot"? I do not have personal experience with this, but I believe that what when wall bassinets are unavailable, what United offers instead is a "floor bassinet", which I've understood to be essentially a folding cardboard box placed on the floor.
(3) A Flyertalk procedure tip: don't create another post in that forum (cross-posting is against the FT rules); instead, look at your original post above for a red triangle with an exclamation mark, on the left side under your name. Click on this triangle, and a box will open up allowing you to send a "alert" to the moderators. (The triangle will only be visible if you are logged in). Use that feature to ask the mods to move your post to the Travel With Children forum, where I am guessing you will get more answers.
Not sure if you know this, but if you don't.... FYI: there will be a cost for the lap child, cost will depend on how you are planning on paying for your flight (paid, award, etc.) In some cases, you might be better off buying 3 Y seats.
BTW, welcome to FT!
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Not sure if you know this, but if you don't.... FYI: there will be a cost for the lap child, cost will depend on how you are planning on paying for your flight (paid, award, etc.) In some cases, you might be better off buying 3 Y seats.
I second this suggestion.
Also, if one is paying for International Business Class, one will have a significantly better experience with a non-USA airline.
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aragno, welcome to FlyerTalk. ZenFlyer's suggestion is good and I'll move this thread to the Travel with Children forum, as you appear to be considering several airlines. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, United forum.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aragno
My wife and I are looking to fly from Singapore to USA in a few months with what will be our newborn child. We are intending to fly Business Class but I am learning that many US carriers do NOT provide bassinets in Business Class
I would guess carriers don't want screaming newborns in C. I know I don't.
(1) Did the reservation agent actually use the word "cot"? I do not have personal experience with this, but I believe that what when wall bassinets are unavailable, what United offers instead is a "floor bassinet", which I've understood to be essentially a folding cardboard box placed on the floor.
(3) A Flyertalk procedure tip: don't create another post in that forum (cross-posting is against the FT rules); instead, look at your original post above for a red triangle with an exclamation mark, on the left side under your name. Click on this triangle, and a box will open up allowing you to send a "alert" to the moderators. (The triangle will only be visible if you are logged in). Use that feature to ask the mods to move your post to the Travel With Children forum, where I am guessing you will get more answers.
Good luck!
Yes!! It was a floor bassinet! Any clue how tall it is? Can I bring my own and do this on other airlines, like AA?
I understand I will pay 10% of my fare. While some may not want a baby in business class, I am given a travel budget as part of my employment package and it allows me to fly business class twice per year with the wife and baby. I work hard and have done so for years to get where I am. In addition, a screaming baby in the row behind last row of business isn't much better. I feel if parents are responsible and do their best, I do not fault them. I suppose if people don't want to fly in a premium cabin with infants there are airlines which have no accommodation or fly in a suite. Keep in mind, even Emirates has bassinets on the floor in their first class suites- and they rely on paying customers in those cabins, not just people who get upgraded.
I am already looking at lowest fare class so 3 seats won't work for me. Although, next year it is possible to do this on 1 of the 2 trips.
If anyone has any details on height of the floor bassinet or if the seat will recline above the height of the floor bassinet I would be keen to know. At least if the baby is sleeping I can have a rest while my wife does too on our 26 hour journey.
Also, if one is paying for International Business Class, one will have a significantly better experience with a non-USA airline.
I wish we could pay for such but we get a budget equal to 2 full-fare business tix on SQ + 10% for infant, but since my wife took a flight before baby is born, we are trying to get 4 more business tix in budget, which we can do but only if infant is in bassinet. Maybe next year on an Asian carrier (or Continental aircraft)
For others, please leave your opinion about infants in premium cabins to this threads seeking such opinions. This one was simply to gain some desired information from other helpful members.
Thanks for the responses thus far and look forward to more details on this bassinet.
Take heart in the fact that newborns are usually no problem in any cabin. They just sleep and eat most of the time. They don't even cry very loudly. Enjoy it while it lasts because it wont.
I agree, let's not debate children in premium cabins. Where's the whole thread dedicated to this topic?? (I'll look it up when I finish). A newborn is a whole different ballgame than flying with a mobile, louder child.
To be honest, I would not make this a deal-breaker. Unfortunately, there really isn't any other way than to go through Seat guru.com and read up on the options on each aircraft.
Yes, I said "aircraft" not "airline" since (not good news) can change, even within the same company. So look at the flight and look up that specific plane.
I have to say that my husband flew United business a couple of years back. He obviously didn't have to deal with a bassinet but looking at his seat, I'm not sure where you'd even put a floor bassinet. United has very narrow business class seats. Parents often like to have the baby just with them, but I would go for a company with a wider business class seat to do this.
Did that make sense?
Also, we've had threads about the "wishbone" seating. Check that you and your wife would be actually next to each other, not facing away and able to pass the baby back and forth.
What route are you flying, and when? SIN-NRT is currently scheduled as an old-style 777, which is actually good news for you, as they have proper bassinets in the bulkhead in business. You may want to choose your onward flight from NRT to avoid the new seats. Yes, you and your wife will be stuck in the recliners, but the bassinet will be worth it, IMHO, if you cannot afford a third seat for the infant.
As EclipsePearl notes, traveling with a child that young is typically quite easy (on both the parents and the others in the cabin). Enjoy it while it lasts! Good luck.
UA floor bassinets are essentially small boxes/baskets. I think i saw one and it was 8-10" high at best. Alternatively you can buy a portable foldable travel bed such as eddie bauer one or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...F8&me=&seller=
The best option would be to keep your kid with you but it depends on your size and how much space will be left on UA flatbed seat.
In some circumstances an extra seat in coach with a basket carseat strapped to it may be the best option. After all you probably won't be able to fully utilize C bed for yourself anyways with a lap infant so Y may be just as good (read just as inconvenient and uncomfortable).
I would recommend that if you can, you try for the "mini-cabin" available on some aircraft on this route; there is one row of business class that is quite separate from the rest between a lavatory and a cupboard. We had this seat and it was very nice to be away from the rest of the passengers with the baby.
Whether or not you could put the baby down on the floor while the seat was fully reclined would depend on how tall you were--I could not. And you can't put the baby *under* the footrest. The disadvantage of the bassinets in general is that if there is turbulence, you have to pick the baby up--risking waking a sleeping baby. If this is a newborn, my recommendation would be to find a wrap or carrier that your baby will sleep in, and practice using it before the flight so that you or your wife are comfortable falling asleep with the baby in the carrier.
I would recommend that if you can, you try for the "mini-cabin" available on some aircraft on this route; there is one row of business class that is quite separate from the rest between a lavatory and a cupboard. We had this seat and it was very nice to be away from the rest of the passengers with the baby.
Whether or not you could put the baby down on the floor while the seat was fully reclined would depend on how tall you were--I could not. And you can't put the baby *under* the footrest. The disadvantage of the bassinets in general is that if there is turbulence, you have to pick the baby up--risking waking a sleeping baby. If this is a newborn, my recommendation would be to find a wrap or carrier that your baby will sleep in, and practice using it before the flight so that you or your wife are comfortable falling asleep with the baby in the carrier.
Good luck.
Thanks! We continue to hear the sling is what works best... is that bassinet with the baby your personal bassinet? or the one provided by the airline? If yours, where did you get it?!
If you had to choose between having your child in an extra seat at 2 months or at 6 months, which is best? We might be able to swing one of our trips this year with an extra seat for the car seat. I was leaning toward 6 months as they become more mobile and I think I can "hold" a sleeping baby better than a lively one!!
I believe going forward from next year onward we will aim for booking a separate seat and use the car seat as much as possible.
The bassinet in the pic is the one provided by United (and I should add that neither the blog post or the picture are mine--I simply found a picture that looked like the bassinet UA provided us when we flew.)
If you had to choose between having your child in an extra seat at 2 months or at 6 months, which is best?
I think the answer to that very much depends on your child. Some children will very happily sleep by themselves at a young age, but some are NOT PLEASED that they have been removed from the comfort of the womb and will let you know--people sometimes refer to the the first three months of life as the "fourth trimester." My baby was one of the latter kind and would not have been happy in a car seat at two months; and in fact, would not have been happy in a car seat at six months. At eight weeks old, he did 70% of his sleeping on top of a person and the other 30% in short stretches with my hand or arm nearby.
My kid would not have liked the car seat at 6 months either, but then we don't have a car, and so he hasn't had a lot of chance to get used to it. But I would most definitely wait until you get to meet your baby and figure out what will work best for him or her. And not all babies are very mobile at 6 months. That's on the early end for crawling and some babies don't even sit up unassisted at that age. (OTOH, some walk by 9 months.)
If you are flying on UA in business class in the new configuration with the lie flat seats, I don't think a floor bassinet will work for you. There is not much room for it at your feet, and it would interfer with you raising and lowering your foot rest. The seats themselves, as already noted, are rather narrow. Also, everytime there is turbulence and the fasten seat belt sign comes on, you're going to have to pick the baby up and hold them.
If you don't want to purchase three Y seats, and I understand this, with a newborn, you're probably better off holding the baby in a sling. On this UA plane in this class of service, there really is no ideal solution for a baby.
As for the link with the picture of the baby on the floor, this looks as if this is the old business configuration, and the baby is laying at the parent's feet.
United floor bassinets? (Business Class, International)
