Booking flight for unborn lap infant (int'l)
We're traveling to South Africa from the USA over the December holidays. Since prices get crazy for that time, I want to book now before baby no. 2 is born in early August. We already know what his name will be but obviously not the birthdate, and KLM's online interface won't let us book for a birthdate in the future (which I can kind of understand). I know we can book for our existing family now and add the lap infant after birth, but the problem with that is lap infants are charged 10% of available seats whenever we call in (as opposed to 10% of the adult fare we booked). If flight prices go up between when we book and when the baby is born this means we could potentially pay hundreds of dollars more than if we were to book now for a baby that isn't even taking up a seat! I know because this is exactly what happened when we had our first son.
Bottom line, has anyone had recent experience with this through KLM or other airlines? Do they charge extra/is it hard to change the birthdate on a ticket after baby is born? I'd call the airline to ask, but I already know they'll just tell me to wait until birth to add an infant...