Originally Posted by
oneant
You can't compare travel by air with travel by car. I'm sure you've checked the statistics out before, but risk is VERY high when travelling by car as opposed to by commercial air. I think the statistics even show that modern air travel is safer than sitting in your living room.
Very true.
Still, once a human being celebrates their second birthday, they are legally required to fasten their seat belt and sit in their own seat whenever the pilot says so. Safety first, ya know.
Hard to imagine that the risks of turbulence and low-speed ground incidents are any less for those not yet two years old, yet saving a few dollars on an international trip (lap kids pay all taxes in addition to 10% of fare, IIRC) wins out.
I found that buying coach tickets and upgrading them or redeeming J tickets worked for me on long-haul international flights. Much more comfort - as my spouse and I were able to eat and sleep without holding our daughters for 8, 10 even 12 hours or more. And since they had to have their own seats once they turned two, the miles and status they accumulated before they turned two certainly helps for that inevitable travel ages 2-18. Lap child tickets earn nothing.
SAT Lawyer: I buckled my infant daughters into their car seats for plenty of flight hours prior to their second birthday with nary a complaint by them (cruel and unusual, I know). Probably 10 times that many hours in their car seats in the car or minivan. Of course, your experience is probably different, in large part because you mentioned your infant
son. Boys (IME) generally don't take hours of sitting in car seats as well as do girls.