Last edit by: Prospero
Infant and lap child fares and fees on international travel, including award & upgrades
On AA there is no charge for a lap child on domestic flights. In most instances for international travel the cost will be 10% of the adult fare in the cabin of travel (be aware in some instances / on some other airlines, it can be 25% of the cost of an adult ticket). From aa.com:
Are you traveling with an infant?
Passengers are considered infants if aged over 2 days and less than 2 years at the beginning of their journey. To travel with an infant, you must be an adult passenger aged 16 or older. Adults can travel with up to two infants and in these circumstances, can purchase an additional seat at a child fare.
Although infants can travel as early as 2 days after birth, you'll need to provide a medical certificate for infants traveling within 7 days after birth. Please contact Reservations for more information.
On U.S. domestic flights:
Infants not occupying a seat travel for free. If you prefer to book a seat for your infant, a child fare will apply.
You must call AA on the phone to add a lap infant to an existing reservation. The lap infant will NOT appear in the online reservation and receipt.
Travelers with a lap infant may check in online, for domestic flights only, and the boarding pass will be annotated with the words "WITH INFANT" immediately after the traveler's name.
On international flights:
Infants not occupying a seat benefit from a 90% discount on most adult fares
If your infant turns 2 during your trip, we'll provide you with a complimentary seat on the return flight. If the return journey is not on American Airlines, please contact the other airline to check if a seat must be purchased. (Infants and children must provide passports with any required visas; all children not traveling with both parents may be required to have a Letter of Consent signed by both parents.)
You must call AA on the phone to add a lap infant to an existing reservation, and will need to pay the fare at that time. The lab infant and fare WILL appear in the online reservation and receipt.
Travelers with a lap infant may NOT check in online for international flights and must check in at the airport.
NOTE: AA will not generally block a complimentary spare seat to be used by an infant or lap child. If seats are available at the airport, it might be possible to be assigned seating to include an adjacent empty seat if the flight will depart with sufficient empty seats.
Bassinets: These are portable, not bulkhead fastened, floor bassinet boxes. Not all aircraft may offer these, and generally are restricted to bulkhead seats.
See the bassinet thread here."]here.
See more here on aa.com.
For AA policies on required documentation for children, see here.
and
This thread regarding the use - and prohibition, on some aircraft - child safety seats.
For older threads on this topic, see:
N.B.: This thread is restricted to discussion of AA (and AA awards, upgrades) ticketing rules for infants. Please do not use this thread to discuss opinions on safety issues associated with travel with lap children versus infants with their own purchased seats. Those discussions should be carried out in the
Travel with Children forum, where many opinions have been shared and are welcome. Thank you for your cooperation.
Travel with Children forum, where many opinions have been shared and are welcome. Thank you for your cooperation.
Are you traveling with an infant?
Passengers are considered infants if aged over 2 days and less than 2 years at the beginning of their journey. To travel with an infant, you must be an adult passenger aged 16 or older. Adults can travel with up to two infants and in these circumstances, can purchase an additional seat at a child fare.
Although infants can travel as early as 2 days after birth, you'll need to provide a medical certificate for infants traveling within 7 days after birth. Please contact Reservations for more information.
On U.S. domestic flights:
Infants not occupying a seat travel for free. If you prefer to book a seat for your infant, a child fare will apply.
You must call AA on the phone to add a lap infant to an existing reservation. The lap infant will NOT appear in the online reservation and receipt.
Travelers with a lap infant may check in online, for domestic flights only, and the boarding pass will be annotated with the words "WITH INFANT" immediately after the traveler's name.
On international flights:
Infants not occupying a seat benefit from a 90% discount on most adult fares
If your infant turns 2 during your trip, we'll provide you with a complimentary seat on the return flight. If the return journey is not on American Airlines, please contact the other airline to check if a seat must be purchased. (Infants and children must provide passports with any required visas; all children not traveling with both parents may be required to have a Letter of Consent signed by both parents.)
You must call AA on the phone to add a lap infant to an existing reservation, and will need to pay the fare at that time. The lab infant and fare WILL appear in the online reservation and receipt.
Travelers with a lap infant may NOT check in online for international flights and must check in at the airport.
NOTE: AA will not generally block a complimentary spare seat to be used by an infant or lap child. If seats are available at the airport, it might be possible to be assigned seating to include an adjacent empty seat if the flight will depart with sufficient empty seats.
Bassinets: These are portable, not bulkhead fastened, floor bassinet boxes. Not all aircraft may offer these, and generally are restricted to bulkhead seats.
See the bassinet thread here."]here.
See more here on aa.com.
For AA policies on required documentation for children, see here.
and
This thread regarding the use - and prohibition, on some aircraft - child safety seats.
For older threads on this topic, see:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-upgrades.html 2010-2015
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...paid-fare.html (2008)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...it-my-lap.html (2006)
dstan
AA Forum Co-Moderator
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...paid-fare.html (2008)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...it-my-lap.html (2006)
dstan
AA Forum Co-Moderator
Guide: Infant / lap child fares & fees for AA travel, including award & upgrades
#211
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,422
That is a route for which AA does not charge for infants. I would contact AA in the 1st instance on the process for an infant since there should be no need to pay anything for the infant. I think that AA will just be able to add the infant details
#212
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SPG/Marriott PLT
Posts: 275
Automatic seat block for lap child?
Hi fellas,
Summer Vacation! This coming weekend I'm going on a 15 hours flight with wife and almost-2-yo son on a 777-300. Initially I've selected 23A & 23C, with the middle one opened.
This morning when I went into the system, I saw the middle seat is occupied, with about 1/3 of the map still open. This really troubles me, why would anyone pick a middle seat when there's much better options available?
My only explanation is that it was done as a favor by the system? I called EXP line and asked, but no one could tell me whether it was selected by a passenger or system blocked.
I still have to option to go down to 34 A & 34C, but would rather keep 21 A&C if there's a way for me to find out if this is a courtesy block. Thanks.
AA193. Sep 2nd. EXP.
Summer Vacation! This coming weekend I'm going on a 15 hours flight with wife and almost-2-yo son on a 777-300. Initially I've selected 23A & 23C, with the middle one opened.
This morning when I went into the system, I saw the middle seat is occupied, with about 1/3 of the map still open. This really troubles me, why would anyone pick a middle seat when there's much better options available?
My only explanation is that it was done as a favor by the system? I called EXP line and asked, but no one could tell me whether it was selected by a passenger or system blocked.
I still have to option to go down to 34 A & 34C, but would rather keep 21 A&C if there's a way for me to find out if this is a courtesy block. Thanks.
AA193. Sep 2nd. EXP.
#213
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,658
I can't find a link, but I know I've seen previous reports of AA automatically blocking a seat/middle seat for a lap infant if a flight isn't full. I can't remember the details well enough to search for the threads discussing it though.
#214
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: DTW / SJC
Programs: AA EXP, DL DM, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 763
They're occupied, not blocked. Only middle seats towards the front of the plane show up as free for those without status, which is also why 23E/G are occupied but not 23D/H.
#218
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: PHL, NYC
Programs: AA PLT, DL SLV, UA SLV, MR LTT, HH DIA
Posts: 10,034
The EF seat map usually shows "X" for seats that are blocked from selection. In this case, 23B is showing occupied. I'm more inclined to believe someone was assigned the seat between your wife and you.
You can keep moving around the cabin to other trios of seats and hope someone else doesn't grab the seat between you two.
I realize it's a cost savings, but for such a long flight with a 2 year old it would seem prudent to buy the additional seat than roll the dice that you'll have an open flight with the unused seats.
You can keep moving around the cabin to other trios of seats and hope someone else doesn't grab the seat between you two.
I realize it's a cost savings, but for such a long flight with a 2 year old it would seem prudent to buy the additional seat than roll the dice that you'll have an open flight with the unused seats.
#219
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,190
And you definitely shouldn't ask the person in the middle seat to swap to the window or aisle, that might put them in an awkward position due to the imposition. According to some posters, anyway.
#220
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Stilllwater OK (SWO)
Programs: AAdvantage ExecPlat, World of Hyatt Globalist, plain "member" of Marriott, IHG, enterprise, etc.
Posts: 1,837
Possible that the person didn't really 'choose' the seat, but rather a travel agent did. And lots of people just book as far up the plane as they can find a seat. If they have no status and a lot of the 'empty seats' are blocked for elites, your middle seat may be the winner.
And since you are trying to get a free third seat, I won't be able to conjure any sympathy if you do end up failing on your mission. I frankly don't know why AA cares to courtesy block ahead of time, exp or not. Whenever my wife and I flew with our lap enfant, we just booked two seats together and lived with our decision to not pay for a third seat -- most of those trips were short, but did include a HNL-DFW trip.
And since you are trying to get a free third seat, I won't be able to conjure any sympathy if you do end up failing on your mission. I frankly don't know why AA cares to courtesy block ahead of time, exp or not. Whenever my wife and I flew with our lap enfant, we just booked two seats together and lived with our decision to not pay for a third seat -- most of those trips were short, but did include a HNL-DFW trip.
#221
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 70
I had something similar happen a few months ago flying from SFO to ORD - wife (no status) in the window seat, baby as a lap infant, and myself (AA Gold) in the aisle seat on the same PNR and the AA app would show the middle seat as occupied. I tried changing seats to a row where all three seats were empty, and the “occupied” middle seat would follow me around. Then I decided to check EF and it showed that the middle seat was indeed blocked, so it seemed like a courtesy block for a lap infant to me. Didn’t bother calling AA but our flight went out with the middle seat empty which was nice.
#222
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SPG/Marriott PLT
Posts: 275
I had something similar happen a few months ago flying from SFO to ORD - wife (no status) in the window seat, baby as a lap infant, and myself (AA Gold) in the aisle seat on the same PNR and the AA app would show the middle seat as occupied. I tried changing seats to a row where all three seats were empty, and the occupied middle seat would follow me around. Then I decided to check EF and it showed that the middle seat was indeed blocked, so it seemed like a courtesy block for a lap infant to me. Didnt bother calling AA but our flight went out with the middle seat empty which was nice.
It sure seems like an automatic block. Learn something nice about AA today.
#223
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: HND
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K
Posts: 1,230
This has come up before in the past, notably in a post I started as I experienced the same thing several times. No definitive answer from AA and lots of "opinions presented as facts" from folks here, but at the end of the day, the "ghost" in the middle seat followed me around the cabin for long enough I was convinced there was some sort of courtesy block happening. I managed my expectations accordingly that the seat would be filled (since there was no policy guaranteeing such a block) but also stopped trying to escape the ghost.
Ultimately I think the flights ended up going out full in most cases so the block didn't hold.
Ultimately I think the flights ended up going out full in most cases so the block didn't hold.
#224
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
Note that AA (edit: with the pmUS reservation system) never did this for me when I had a lap child.
Last edited by ashill; Aug 30, 2018 at 11:09 pm