Originally Posted by
stephensides
OK, I posted this in the Newbie thread last week, and have searched and perused all of these forums as well as the AA and BA web sites, but still am having a hard time getting insight and answers, so here goes -- and thanks very much in advance for all your assistance.
I'm planning a trip to Europe next summer for a long-lost family reunion, using miles so planning early. There's a good chance we'll be flying with a lap infant, about 2-3 months old. Likely routing will be from DFW through LHR, then on to places on the continent.
My general questions are:
(1) What is the better airline/class to fly? I know BA almost always wins hands-down over AA, but not sure what the airlines' policies are regarding lap infants in F or J. Any particular restrictions with infants flying in the front cabins? Are bassinettes generally available or not available in certain classes?
(2) I'm trying to make sense of the airlines' pricing policy for infants on trans-atlantic flights. It looks to me like AA charges 10% of the adult fare for a lap infant on these flights, but what is that 10% based on? And does BA charge a similar fare? If my wife and I are traveling on award tickets, I'm assuming we'll still have to pay for our lap infant.
Again, many thanks for your help!
You need to look at the airlines' websites regarding these policies. In both cases you will undoubtedly need to speak to a human, particularly if wanting to use mileage tickets.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInforma...ling.jsp#Fares
http://www.britishairways.com/travel...n/public/en_gb
In terms of which airline to use, BA's business class product is generally regarded as superior to AA's in terms of seat comfort for individuals, and if you had bassinet-accessible seat(s) it ought to make for an okay flight. AA's seats are a bit wider, which also might make it more comfortable. In-flight service can go either way; in my more recent flights I've found AA's catering to have an edge; however I really dislike the terminal-change scrum at Heathrow if you're changing planes there.
On redemption trips, BA flights will incur very high fuel surcharges while AA-metal flights won't, so that might also be a consideration. BA redemption seat availability in premium cabins has been much, much better than AA seats of late, so another factor.
I've seen infants in business cabins on both carriers (haven't in FC but I don't fly up there much
) One hears the usual snarky comments here and there, but it wouldn't discourage me.
But your question is one that really only the airlines can answer, so I'd get on the phone with them.
[Moderator hat on] I'll let this thread remain as a stand-alone for a couple of days; cross-posting (or repeat posting) is discouraged on FT, so after a little while I'm going to close it. [/hat]