Thanks for the info. I was actually hoping it would work to have both - getting him his own seat and using the infant seat, since I had initially thought that the infant seat provided could be strapped into the seat itself like a regular car seat. This is our 3rd child, and we've traveled internationally in Business Class a lot with the other 2 on AA and LH, and we've found that from about 18 months to 2.5 years tends to be the toughest time, since they're old enough to be opinionated, able to walk, etc. but not usually content to be held for long (since they just want to get down and move), and yet they're not old enough to really understand when they need to stay in their seat. Our 3 year old and 5 year old are both seasoned enough that they know what to do, so it's just getting through this stretch with the 3rd.

Reading here, it does say "If you’re travelling in Club Suite, or on rear facing Club seats, your own child car seat can only be used in the cruise, but not for take-off, in turbulence or for landing, due to the safety design of the aircraft seat." So that sounds like if we're in a forward-facing old Club World seat, we'd be able to use our own car seat even during taxi, takeoff, and landing, assuming it's approved for use on aircraft (which ours is). It sounds like if we're in the new Club Suite, our best bet is to book a seat for our son, and we'll just have to hold him during taxi, takeoff, and landing, but then we can use our own car seat when the seatbelt sign is off, which he's generally content sitting in.

Thanks again for the input!