EfficientTraveller

Despite reading through a number of old threads, checking the BA website and speaking to the Gold service line, I am struggling to answer a few questions around using Bassinets / Child Seats in Club / First so I am hoping that some of the experts on this forum might be able to help.

My husband and I are hoping to get reward seats to SYD for December 2017 in either Club or First (we know this will be hard) and will be travelling with EfficientTraveller Jnr who will be around 9 months at the time. Despite both being regular travelers, we are about to be first time parents and struggling to work out what the best arrangements are for traveling with a little one. I know the subject of small children in premium cabins is a contentious one and we are very conscious about the need to keep the baby quiet / entertained but our concern at the moment is what to book to make the journey as easy as possible.

I understand that it shouldn’t be a problem to book the reward seats at T-355 and add EfficientTraveller Jnr to the booking once we have a name etc. Is it possible however to make a booking at T-355 for “Baby EfficientTraveller” so that we can ensure we book bassinet seats (we are Gold so get free seat selection in any case) and then to change the name once the baby arrives?

We have also had a lot of conflicting advice around bassinets.

I understand BA offer both traditional bassinets and “child seats” for infants and that the “child seats” are likely to be more suitable for a 9 month old. However, the BA website says that the “child seats”, aren’t available in First. Is this right? Even if they are, I’ve seen several comments on here that the bassinet position in First is undesirable as it prevents use of the TV etc so would we be more comfortable in Club? Or would the dine on demand in First and ability to dine together while the baby (hopefully!) sleeps peacefully be a better solution?

The BA Gold line have thrown a further spanner in the works and told us that there is only one “baby seat” per flight and that it is first come first served so we should “bring our own”. Is it correct that there is only one seat and is there any way to reserve it in advance? If not, how would we bring our own? I know BA permits child car seats to be used onboard but I thought this was only in a full seat and if they were forward facing which doesn’t really work as UK car seats require rear facing anyway. Can anyone explain?

Many thanks in advance for all your expertise.

Can I help you

Without a doubt go for seating in CW, it's much better for a family.
You can use the child seat in First but not the cot.
We have a mixture of car seats and cots loaded, I would say 8 child seats and 2 or 3 cots, customers in the higher cabins would get their choice first.

Firemin

We have travelled in 1st (777) and club (777/789) with our two. Club is definately more manageable (especially on the 777) as the mount is on the bulkhead between cabins, as opposed to within the seat on 1st. Having said that, there were plenty of spare seats on our one occasion in 1st and the cabin crew happily made up a bed for the little one.

At 9 months old, the 'seat' will probably be better than the bassinet.

For reference here is the bassinet seat in 1st - you'll note it stops you from watching the telly!

bluemoon68

Forward planning!

According to my maths, EfficientTraveller Jnr isn't even a pea in a pod at this stage.

madfish

You may want to check your maths. If 9 months old in December 17 this would require them to be born in March 17. Therefore the 'pea' is about halfway through cooking in the 'pod'

UTFB

We're travelling in F next week to IAD, our 8 month old's first long-haul flight. Would also be interested to see if these "child seats" are available in F and also I am curious as to what they are actually like and how they differ from the bassinets...

We're in 4E/F with the bassinet but currently 4A/K are empty so hopefully if required (and if permitted) we can use one of these empty seats to lay him down.

madfish

See photo above. This is taken in F. My understanding is that the bassinets themselves are effectively a box and the baby lies flat. Hence why the seats are better for older babies.

I've gone for 4F and 4K a felt this would give easier access to the baby than 4E. Although we have another child so prefer to have everyone on the same side of the aircraft.

LondonCanuck

We did the same trip in F when our daughter was 3 months old. I would highly recommend doing the A380 LHR-SIN, and that way you will have a few hours in SIN to shower and relax, and then do the 777 leg SIN-SYD. 2/4 flights they ran out of cots, but was a few spare seats, and we brought our own SleepyHead pod (probably my best investment ever, given our daughter has done 12 long hauls). I would concur with CIHY that the "cuddle seats" in Club is actually better for traveling with an infant, since you will have more space to spread out on floor, and using cot in F renders TV useless (blocked). Having said that, for such a long flight, the added luxury of First is actually nice. An added bonus, on the A380, in front of row 1, you have a massive space in front of stairs if the little one wants to move, and nobody is ever there. Any more questions, feel free to PM me for advice, I have plenty to give. Don't forget to get the BA Little Skyflyers booklet and keep track of the flights! :-)

Joely

I would add a big +1 on this, I've done LHR-SYD in both first and club with my first born and club is much much better for little ones. Ok you don't get all the first experience etc but with club if you get the bassinet seats at the back of the cabin and both you and your partner are sitting together you get a nice little space for both you and the sprog with plenty of room to manoeuvre. The little one can even sit on the floor to play without much chance of them crawling off or getting under the crew's feet. In addition you also get access to your video screen which is blocked off by the bassinet in first. I wouldn't worry about missing out on the CCR either, LHR-SYD is a late flight and our little one was so over tired when we did it we didn't have much of a chance to enjoy the CCR as we were trying to keep her from melting down. On both legs we used the seat not the cot, at least that way the baby can sit up and play if needed.

I would go for club every time, in fact that is why when me, mrs Joely, baby Joely number one (4.5 years old) and baby Joely number 2 (8 months old) fly to Miami tomorrow we are slumming it in club

EfficientTraveller

Thank you all for all your really helpful replies - it definitely sounds as though Club is the way to go so we just now need to book the seats.

My only remaining question is whether we should try and book an infant seat at T-355 days with a "Baby EfficientTraveller" name to ensure we snag the Club bassinet seats and then do a later name change as I am concerned that the bassinets could go before the little one is born. Has anyone had any experience of doing this?

LondonCanuck

They didn't let me do that... we booked a few months before baby was born as well, and didn't know name nor birthdate, so you won't be able to do that. Having said that, 9 months before, you should be absolutely fine...

goodison

Having tried CW & F I'd say +1 to the cuddle seats in Club, much as it pains me to say that.

A few points from my experience:
- Contrary to some advice here we have had the baby seat and cot in F (77W / 772)
- You can watch TV in F with the cot / seat in place (just get the TV out first)
- Be prepared to fit the table for the cot / seat if in F, this doesn't seem to be something that BA training covers
- Booking tickets before arrival of baby then adding baby wasn't a problem in terms of securing bassinet seats
- Ask at check in and as your board if the crew have the cot / seat

This last point is the most important, BA had nothing loaded on a flight back from HND in F, not fun. I've noticed that there seems to be no connection between booking a ticket for an infant and loading the appropriate equipment. BA were totally unwilling to commit to a cot / seat being on our most recent flight to ORD. I was told there "probably will be" and to bring my own car seat if I was worried.

Generally the crew were great and happy to help holding baby, warming food and provide some sort of baby food pouches on board.

EfficientTraveller

The BA call centre seem to be repeating this mantra of "bring your own car seat" as I was told exactly the same thing but I don't understand how this works. I didn't think it was possible to fit a regular car seat on the bassinet ledge or am I wrong? Do any of CC on here have experience of this working?

I know BA say on the wyou can bring a car seat for a baby / young child if they have their own seat AND the car seat is forward facing but given UK car seat requirements and that baby won't have a separate seat, I don't understand the advice

Lawro

Have seen a couple of references to the 'cuddle seats'-sorry for being dim but which ones are you referring to?

Doing a CW leg from JFK next month with my 16 month-old and have currently selected 14 E/F going by the advice on here. Would you recommend a different combination?

Joely

Surely that only applies if you are putting the sprog in their own seat (in a car seat). Per the BA website

So I don't see where the car seat thing is coming from