May 17, 2014, 3:00 pm
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
May 31, 2017, 5:03 pm
#121
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Interesting. I've not seen seat blocking and I'm Platinum. So probably not because of your status. Where are you flying to and what airplane are they using? I've been on a few A319 and A320 and have had no luck with empty middle seats as the flights have been full. Also, lots of people do not get seat assignments until they check in so you could still lose the middle seat then.
Jul 26, 2017, 3:27 pm
#122
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
So annoyed with this 10% fee. We are traveling DFW to FRA next week and booked Biz Class with miles for me and spouse back in March. Called in april to see what lap child cost was and was quoted $342.07. Didn't do it right then because fees were limited. Was told I just had to do it before flight. Called back yesterday and now it's $867. 
But when I asked they said they take the lowest fare in that class for the day you are ticketing. So you are always paying based on a fare for that day of travel? You don't get the benefit of time or if your specific flight drops in price you don't get that either. Our flight is down to $4000 now for the class but today's price is not.
So...do you just call every morning and hope the fare has tanked? Will this work? Will you get screwed as the flight gets closer?
But when I asked they said they take the lowest fare in that class for the day you are ticketing. So you are always paying based on a fare for that day of travel? You don't get the benefit of time or if your specific flight drops in price you don't get that either. Our flight is down to $4000 now for the class but today's price is not. So...do you just call every morning and hope the fare has tanked? Will this work? Will you get screwed as the flight gets closer?
Jul 26, 2017, 3:34 pm
#123
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
So annoyed with this 10% fee. We are traveling DFW to FRA next week and booked Biz Class with miles for me and spouse back in March. Called in april to see what lap child cost was and was quoted $342.07. Didn't do it right then because fees were limited. Was told I just had to do it before flight. Called back yesterday and now it's $867. But when I asked they said they take the lowest fare in that class for the day you are ticketing. So you are always paying based on a fare for that day of travel? You don't get the benefit of time or if your specific flight drops in price you don't get that either. Our flight is down to $4000 now for the class but today's price is not.
So...do you just call every morning and hope the fare has tanked? Will this work? Will you get screwed as the flight gets closer?
But when I asked they said they take the lowest fare in that class for the day you are ticketing. So you are always paying based on a fare for that day of travel? You don't get the benefit of time or if your specific flight drops in price you don't get that either. Our flight is down to $4000 now for the class but today's price is not. So...do you just call every morning and hope the fare has tanked? Will this work? Will you get screwed as the flight gets closer?
Looking on Expert Flyer for next Tuesday , the infant fare is showing at $771.20 plus taxes of $23.60 for a total of $794.60 in R class
That is the cheapest fare and cannot imagine it getting cheaper in the next few days. If it did , then can cancel, get a refund and rebook
AA does offer many discounted fares ( as low as $294 for an infant ) but these fares have advance purchase requirements
Last edited by Dave Noble; Jul 26, 2017 at 3:46 pm
Jul 27, 2017, 1:36 pm
#124
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
Thanks for the info. So do they base it on a roundtrip all in one day or what start/end date do they use? That seems to make a difference in price. It seems arbitrary to me in a way. I'm surprised it changed so much since May. I guess in May when I called it was cheaper to fly biz than it is today? Now it's summer and then it wasn't? Wish I had known I would have jumped on the $342 deal.
Jul 27, 2017, 1:40 pm
#125
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
Thanks for the info. So do they base it on a roundtrip all in one day or what start/end date do they use? That seems to make a difference in price. It seems arbitrary to me in a way. I'm surprised it changed so much since May. I guess in May when I called it was cheaper to fly biz than it is today? Now it's summer and then it wasn't? Wish I had known I would have jumped on the $342 deal.
It will be based on 10% of the adult fare that would apply for business class travel on the flights that you are travelling on
For travel next week, you have missed the benefits of being able to buy discounted tickets due to the advance purchase restrictions of the cheaper fares
Buying an infant ticket is no different to any other ticket
Jul 27, 2017, 2:20 pm
#126
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
There is nothing arbitrary any more than any fares are arbitrary
It will be based on 10% of the adult fare that would apply for business class travel on the flights that you are travelling on
For travel next week, you have missed the benefits of being able to buy discounted tickets due to the advance purchase restrictions of the cheaper fares
Buying an infant ticket is no different to any other ticket
It will be based on 10% of the adult fare that would apply for business class travel on the flights that you are travelling on
For travel next week, you have missed the benefits of being able to buy discounted tickets due to the advance purchase restrictions of the cheaper fares
Buying an infant ticket is no different to any other ticket
Jul 27, 2017, 2:25 pm
#127
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
That's not what they told me when I called yesterday. My particular flight had dropped $2K from last week but the price they quoted for the infant stayed the same so I asked why since the flight was down. They said it was based on a roundtrip flight at the time of ticketing the baby (so the day I was calling in....not the days I'm flying). So you are always getting quoted for a flight leaving the day you are calling. That's what seems unfair to me. Other than booking in the right season you get no benefit of advance purchase. ?
The price is based on the business class fare that is available that day, for travel on the flights which you are travelling
A oneway fare for next week is $794.60
looking at round trip fares for departure next week and returning after a couple of weeks is $867.06 ( which is what you have been quoted )
The adult roundtrip fare currently available for travel next week is $9,206.76
If you had ticketed back in May , the you would have been able to take advantage of the cheaper advance purchase fares
AA has no published discounted fares in business class for travel commencing next week and the infant fare for R class is $867
If you continue to hold out from purchasing and R class was to sell out on one or both of the flights, then the J return fare for the infant would be increase to to $1171 for R one way and J the other , or $1,475 if both directions need to be in J
Last edited by Dave Noble; Jul 27, 2017 at 2:35 pm
Jul 27, 2017, 2:27 pm
#128
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
That's what I was thinking too so I asked for clarification and even got a supervisor on the phone. ? They said it was based on the fare today for travel. How can I try to push it? It shows only a biz class full fare on our travel dates of $7900 and it had been showing $10K+. Do they actually look at your flight or any of the flights that day? There is only 1 non-stop roundtrip.
Jul 27, 2017, 2:30 pm
#129
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
Jul 27, 2017, 2:37 pm
#130
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
Yup..exactly what I was quoted the $867.06. Where are you seeing this info? Do you think there is a chance it will improve or I should just suck it up and buy it ? It could get worse? Thanks for your help. So disappointed the agent did not tell me of this when I asked all the right questions back in May.
It will not get better - but , as I mentioned above, could get a lot worse
In the really unlikely event that AA has a sale for travel next week in business class, you can cancel the infant ticket for a full refund and just rebook
That's what I was thinking too so I asked for clarification and even got a supervisor on the phone. ? They said it was based on the fare today for travel. How can I try to push it? It shows only a biz class full fare on our travel dates of $7900 and it had been showing $10K+. Do they actually look at your flight or any of the flights that day? There is only 1 non-stop roundtrip.
It is based on fare available that day for your flights, not the fare available that day for a flight departing that day
That is why you could have got the ticket for $342 since there were cheaper adult fares available for the flights which you were bookng
Jul 27, 2017, 2:44 pm
#131
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
Thanks. So there wouldn't be any fees associated with canceling and rebooking? I looked at your Matrix site and it's cool but does say nonrefundable and would incur fees. That site helps a bunch and definitely confirms it's for travel on our date not the day I'm calling. I don't know why they kept giving me such wrong information and run around. So why the difference in what I see published on AA.com then and when I call? I was looking right at a $7910 roundtrip ticket in biz on our travel dates and they were still giving me the $867 based on the $9200. Doesn't make sense. AA.com ahs been showing $7910 all afternoon today too for our trip. Although I guess it's not a huge difference to be worrying about it.
Last edited by Deanne Wagner; Jul 27, 2017 at 2:50 pm
Jul 27, 2017, 2:51 pm
#132
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
Thanks. So there wouldn't be any fees associated with canceling and rebooking? I looked at your Matrix site and it's cool but does say nonrefundable and would incur fees. That site helps a bunch and definitely confirms it's for travel on our date not the day I'm calling. I don't know why they kept giving me such wrong information and run around. So why the difference in what I see published on AA.com then and when I call? I was looking right at a $7910 roundtrip ticket in biz on our travel dates and they were still giving me the $867 based on the $9200. Doesn't make sense. AA.com ahs been showing $7910 all afternoon today too for our trip. Although I guess it's not a huge difference to be worrying about it.
Category 16: Penalties
CANCELLATIONS
ANY TIME
CANCELLATIONS PERMITTED FOR CANCEL/NO-SHOW.
which confirms no penalty for cancellation
What flights on what dates are you looking at?
Jul 27, 2017, 2:54 pm
#133
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
DFW - FRA on 7/31 flight 70 at 4:20 and flight 71 on 8/9 return.
Jul 27, 2017, 3:12 pm
#134
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,624
If you go through the booking on AA.com and get the final price for the specific flights , it comes out as $9207 for an adult - same as itasoftware does
The $7917 that is highlighted for AA70 in the initial selection would require you to fly back via Madrid on AA8595 and AA37
The $7917 that is highlighted for AA70 in the initial selection would require you to fly back via Madrid on AA8595 and AA37
Jul 27, 2017, 3:18 pm
#135
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 24
If you go through the booking on AA.com and get the final price for the specific flights , it comes out as $9207 for an adult - same as itasoftware does
The $7917 that is highlighted for AA70 in the initial selection would require you to fly back via Madrid on AA8595 and AA37
The $7917 that is highlighted for AA70 in the initial selection would require you to fly back via Madrid on AA8595 and AA37
Oh that's interesting...guess I better do it now then! Lol. Could get worse. Geez. Thanks for all your help. What a learning experience. Can't believe how many different bits of info I have received from them when calling. That first lady was so wrong telling me it didn't matter when I called to pay it.