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Guide: Infant / lap child fares & fees for AA travel, including award & upgrades

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Old May 17, 2014, 3:00 pm
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Last edit by: Prospero
Infant and lap child fares and fees on international travel, including award & upgrades

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.
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:

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Guide: Infant / lap child fares & fees for AA travel, including award & upgrades

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Old May 29, 2018, 12:57 pm
  #196  
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Originally Posted by LondonElite


No workaround I’m afraid. 10% of the adult fare is standard and has been forever. All in all I think you are still getting a good deal.
I agree that paying for the infant is required, but surprised that someone would think that 450,000 points and $1600 is a good deal for a US-ATH r/t journey for 2 adults and an infant?
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Old May 29, 2018, 1:34 pm
  #197  
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Originally Posted by Dave Noble
I agree that paying for the infant is required, but surprised that someone would think that 450,000 points and $1600 is a good deal for a US-ATH r/t journey for 2 adults and an infant?
My apologies. I forgot the relevant emoji or whatever it is called. I personally think it is insane to pay 450,000 + YQ and fees + $1,600 for 2 adults + infant to get from MIA to ATH.
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Old May 29, 2018, 1:38 pm
  #198  
 
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The flight route is MIA-DOH-ATH. Return ATH-DOH-LAX-PHX. It's 450,000 for my wife and I round trip.
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Old May 29, 2018, 1:41 pm
  #199  
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Originally Posted by wassy1986
The flight route is MIA-DOH-ATH. Return ATH-DOH-LAX-PHX. It's 450,000 for my wife and I round trip.
And the infant fare that AA can issue is very likely to be around $1600

If you want a lower cost, then book something like MIA-PHL-ATH on AA and AA will be able to sell you an infant fare based on AA fares
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Old May 29, 2018, 1:44 pm
  #200  
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I guess what people are saying is (i) are you happy blowing 450,000 to fly a very circuitous route purely in order to hang out in a premium cabin on an aeroplane, or (ii) do you just want to get from wherever you are in the US to ATH and back? You are flying something like 20,000 miles for a trip that could/should be around 12,500.
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Old May 29, 2018, 3:05 pm
  #201  
 
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No way would Qatar J be worth more than twice the miles and a routing like that. Half those miles with the routing, maybe, but only if someone really really really wanted to try it out. And even then, only if allowed a stopover in DOH for a night or two.
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Old May 29, 2018, 3:16 pm
  #202  
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Originally Posted by thunderlounge
No way would Qatar J be worth more than twice the miles and a routing like that. Half those miles with the routing, maybe, but only if someone really really really wanted to try it out. And even then, only if allowed a stopover in DOH for a night or two.
Being 2 awards, there is no problem having a stopover in Doha
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Old May 30, 2018, 10:14 am
  #203  
 
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I just called up Qatar and they only charged $600.00 in taxes. Well worth not dealing with AA as they were trying to charge $1,700..... I also save a few thousand dollars by not paying the BA taxes.
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Old May 30, 2018, 10:48 am
  #204  
 
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Originally Posted by wassy1986
I just called up Qatar and they only charged $600.00 in taxes. Well worth not dealing with AA as they were trying to charge $1,700..... I also save a few thousand dollars by not paying the BA taxes.
Where does BA fit into this equation?
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Old May 30, 2018, 11:21 am
  #205  
 
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If I were to book BA then taxes would have been more money. Athen - London - Phoenix.
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Old May 30, 2018, 1:53 pm
  #206  
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Given that the surcharge if flown on BA each way would have been $724 booked as 2 one ways ($478 eastbound and $246 westbound), but would have saved many hours and 115,000 points per person

It is putting an extremely low value on the miles to use 115,000 miles to save $724 - 0.63c per mile

If booked on AA on the transatlantic sector, there would not be a surcharge
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Old Jun 3, 2018, 7:22 pm
  #207  
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Originally Posted by Antarius
this. For a 1600 infant fare, your ticket has to be 16k which is pretty steep for a J round trip.

price out the routing using google flights and see if there is something else available for less. Then call AA and see if there is any wiggle room by changing the routing.
NO. The $1600 is 10% of the adult fare plus 100% of the taxes and fees. If taxes and fees are $600, for example, then the adult fare would have been $10,000 and the total price of the hypothetical adult ticket (corresponding to this $1600 lap infant ticket) would be $10,600.
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Old Jun 4, 2018, 6:37 am
  #208  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
NO. The $1600 is 10% of the adult fare plus 100% of the taxes and fees. If taxes and fees are $600, for example, then the adult fare would have been $10,000 and the total price of the hypothetical adult ticket (corresponding to this $1600 lap infant ticket) would be $10,600.
Only if the carrier "fees" are the same for adults and infants. Looks like QR charges a lower YQ fee for infants.

Anyway, for the OP this is easy to confirm with a dummy booking for the same routing on their website. It quite clearly lays out the infant fare component and add-ons.
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Old Jul 18, 2018, 12:16 pm
  #209  
 
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If I book an AA economy award flight from CLT-PLS using BA Avios, am I charged 10% of the miles for a lap infant from BA at the time of booking or do I call AA after booking the adult tickets to add the infant and pay then?

FF
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Old Jul 18, 2018, 9:37 pm
  #210  
 
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Originally Posted by Fire_Fly
If I book an AA economy award flight from CLT-PLS using BA Avios, am I charged 10% of the miles for a lap infant from BA at the time of booking or do I call AA after booking the adult tickets to add the infant and pay then?

FF
You do it with BA after booking. AA won't get involved in the ticketing.
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