Exec_Plat

Have you flown that yet?

If they messed up and you get surprised at the airport when departing it will be walk up F fares as the basis (although admittedly I dont know what JAL and CX policies are...)

Id have my travel agent look into the records and make sure the infant has a proper ticket for all legs. I recognize the tension between 'check and make sure' and 'dont look a gift horse in the mouth'

whitesol

We fly on monday, you're right that i don't want to unnecessarily have them look at the ticket incase they dropped off the last 0 or something. I did get my JAL and CX confirmation numbers and they look correct on their website as a lap child (mentioning infant in seating). I am even able to special order diapers on all the legs plus special infant meals, so I take that as a good sign.

aerolulu

Hey guys,

I did have a pretty sour experience recently. I bought reward tickets for wife and I to go to Europe this summer with our 6 month old son. Now, when I bought the tickets, I did not completely think through it and bought 3 one way tickets. In my defense, I was essentially looking to lock in those legs that had availability. We ended booking MIA-HEL as there was a good reward availability. then I got HEL-CDG and finally got CDG-MIA. Well... that turned out as a terrible move when I called to buy the infant fare. These one way international are ridiculous, including $1,700 HEL-CDG (really???). So I'm stuck paying 10% of all these fares... That's like 400 + 170 + 300... to sit on my laps. AA swore to me that they could not consolidate the awards under one record locator, that would have made it like 300 at most... Anyway, lesson learned.

GiantVulture

Hi guys,

I'm taking my 13-month old son on a 9+ hour flight, so I'm considering buying coach and then using eVIPs to go to biz. I know they charge 10% of the fare for the class you fly in, but I couldn't find anything about the process and how often they really do charge extra for it.

Is it an automated system that kicks in as soon as your upgrade goes through? If not, what are your experiences with it?

Thanks!

Dave Noble

Once you are upgraded, you will need to change the infant ticket to a business class ticket in order to travel

Will need to pay the difference between amount paid already and the current price for an infant on the route being flown

I do not believe that AA will automatically rebook and charge the infant fare

I would suggest checking what the extra cost will be for the infant before committing to an SWU upgrade to avoid an unpleasant surprise

FWAAA

AA charges the lap infant the required fare and taxes (100% of the taxes) 100% of the time. If you don't arrange the upfare for the infant until you get to the gate, the 10% fare may be computed using full fare J instead of an advance purchase discount business fare, so I'd call to upfare the infant as soon as the upgrade clears.

GiantVulture

Cool. Thanks, guys. Probably not the smartest way of doing this, isn't it? I guess I should start calling it baby fare roulette.

sheldor

I have an award on CX using AA miles in J. Layover in HKG is more than 9 hours, I'm hoping something in J will open up in earlier flight as it closer by.
My question is should I wait till last minute to add lap infant in case things open up in earlier flight from HKG or add lap infant now and if something opens up in earlier flight cancel lap infant and re-ticket it? Not sure what the cancellation policy of lap infant is.

Dave Noble

What the cancellation fees will be will likely be dependant upon the rules of the normal adult fare to which it relates. Some airlines' fares have an exception to penalties for infant fares

mikelat

It may be different for CX, but for 2 award tickets I have coming up on AA flights and on EY flights, the infant fare was fully refundable for both.

jay_dubya

I have an award booked in J for MIA - JFK - ZRH. Can I bring a lap infant for the Mia to jfk leg only and not pay for it as it's domestic?

econometrics

Is it a single itinerary with a normal stopover / connection in JFK? How do you plan to do that... leave the child in the AC while you're gone?

J/K. I doubt you'll be able to swing this.

jay_dubya

Single itinerary with 6 hours in JFK. Hopefully enough time to get the kids settled by relatives, or at least find a good hiding spot for them in the AC 😀

I thought it was a long shot, but I called the exp desk and the agent said it would be fine and noted it in the record.

econometrics

This is great to know, thanks for sharing your experience and I am glad it worked out! ^

XCstud

I have a couple of domestic flights next month with a lap infant. Do I need to call in and add him to the reservation ahead of time or do I just do it at check-in at airport?