Pascoe

If it's all the same to you I think I'll try challenging the status quo first, rather than cancelling a long haul flight that represents the first time in a while that we have had our sh*t together enough to book plenty of time in advance ;-)

I expect no guarantee of success, it merely feels important to have tried.

KARFA

I think peterrabbit has just posted to say he has been down that road and hasn't got anywhere.

What is your plan when BA says no? It sounds like you just need to make sure you board early and ask for one quickly.

Pascoe

not a plan that I need to formulate until nearer the time but essentially I guess that is it. but if that means I get one and I am depriving someone else who may also have booked months in advance, that's hardly very satisfactory either is it?

if it were some huge logistical challenge to do this the right way then I can completely accept that. I am genuinely still waiting for someone to tell me where the big hassle or cost to BA for doing the right thing is though. If they can handle the logistics on a several hundred seat A380 for loading meals etc then I don't see how they can say it's hard to pre reserve enough kit for the kids on board. If they offer the option to pre-reserve, and caveat it that if you fail to do so then you take your chances then surely everyone wins. Pax get more surety, and BA get longer to plan resource requirements.

I am sticking to my guns on this one precisely because it currently seems like madness they don't do it this way.

KARFA

Your approach does remind me of this


Airline explicitly says it doesn't do something, people who have traveled with them say it doesn't do it, but yet the customer doesn't accept it and still wants it their way. Interesting comment about fighting battles earlier on. Battles can be worth fighting, but not when you know you will lose from the outset.

Anyway, not sure there is much more to be said here. I guess you will go off to fight you battle and stick to your guns. Good luck

SteveF

Which also states that "Even if you’ve reserved this type of seat, we may have to move you on the day if there is a person with a greater need who requires it, such as a wheelchair user", so even the bassinet position is not guaranteed .

ThatT1Feeling

My advice to the OP, having travelled 6 times where we needed a bassinet / child rocker seat for our flight (once for 2 babies).

Make sure you board as early as possible. As a passenger travelling with a baby / infant, you should be first on anyway - I know that this also applies to others who may be looking for bassinet seats as well - so make sure you're ready once pre-boarding is called.

If they don't call small people first, then you can use your priority boarding privileges as a Gold.

Don't allow yourself to get frustrated. BA has an approach to these things and there is no way around it. I tried for our first flight, got nowhere on the phone or at the gate, but all was fine on the plane. In fact every time we travelled with our babies, they had enough bassinets / rocker seats and we never missed out.

Trying to get call centre people / gate staff to do something they can't do will only upset you, nobody else. I know that travelling with small people can be stressful and you want the very best for your little one, but the very best way you can allay that stress is to board as early as possible and speak to CC on boarding, then remind the CC in your cabin area when you get there. Honestly, you'll just be wasting your energy by trying to do anything else!

Good luck!

ppp909

I agree with all of that and will add that you should be proactive and speak to the staff at the gate before boarding is called. Just ask politely if boarding is imminent. They will often scan your passes and let you stand or sit behind the desks. Don't expect this though, as it will depend on their being enough room and it being close enough to boarding. You'll generally be able to do this at T5 but not at most outstations as there is usually nowhere to go other than onto the plane, which isn't ready.

cruisr

You nailed it. Reminds me of someone I know that can't understand why the airline he wants to fly does not have a flight at exactly 11:08am because that's when he wants to go. Not earlier, not later. He can't understand why the airline won't add that flight. It's easy enough to do.

LondonCanuck

Have had my 21 mth (today) old daughter travel 40 flights, most with BA, in a mix of SH and LH cabins, and I can assure you there is no thing such as a gtee of a crib/basinett... She has been in 4 LH First flights when they ran out of cribs, thankfully she is good at cuddling. My advice is to pre board EARLY and then ask for a crib as soon as you board. A crib /basinett is certainly not a right, although on the sectors where I haven't received one, CSD/M have urged me to make a complaint, which I did. Not to be awarded Avios, just to increase the load factor of cots...

nlkm9

I think you need to board a early as possible--it sounds like this policy was instituted because everyone thinks they are in the most need--you have to have a back up plan in case you dont get one. hopefully you do!

Martina70

I am not sure or not if your baby is a lap child or not, but if you are purchasing the child their own seat. maybe you would be interested in purchasing something like this.


They are expensive, but if you think you will travel with your child frequently it might be worth it as they also work for toddlers / young children.

Firemin

1. Never had an issue getting the bassinet seat thingy on all the flights we have taken with BA. I would think, unless you are flying to a baby-friendly holiday destination during peak season, you won't have an issue.

2. The seat is ok for small kids, but not necessarily for bigger - for ref I attach two photos of my son aged 6 mo and aged 18 mo in the seat. Having said that, he still slept through for most of the flight when he was 18mo, despite hanging off the seat.

3. You are in J are you not? If so, you also have the option of either bedding down with the child (bit tight!), or chances are there will be a spare seat somewhere. We have often been allowed by the CC to make a spare seat up into a bed for the little one.

In summary.... chill!

Takiteasy

Totally second Firemin's post above. Same experience, never had an issue, bassinet too small for over 12 months old babies, baby slept sometimes next to me on the seat, sometimes in another seat.

With one infant we booked a middle pair, with one child and one infant the middle pair plus adjacent aisle.

Importantly for you I would add that any request made pre-boarding, other than for a bassinet location, will fall in deaf ears. No point asking gate staff for this z-chair either. Only onboard crew can deal with it. So, board early, ask the staff super nicely after dropping your bags at the seat (Do not ask door crew as they will say yes but will then forget, but rather a crew who is working inside the plane) and as you're in J it should be a breeze and some priority. BUT: any attitude of entitlement, hint of aggressivity or dykwia towards the staff will see you relegated to the back of the cot queue.

Read my posts and you will see I am the first one wanting to challenge the status quo, but I'd rather save you time and stress levels here.

Pascoe

Ok so THAT is pretty cool. never mind the little'un. Considering it for yours truly haha. Thanks

Thanks. All sound advice and the pics were useful. I think mine will be ok size wise for this upcoming trip and after that probably not so much. I think he'll be a little too young to sleep in his own J bed somewhere else in the cabin at present. Maybe if we all move to three inside seats in a row it could work. But naturally that's not a given and I wouldn't feel comfortable proactively moving away from the bassinet seat location that I have already secured (caveat about them being able to theoretically move us last minute if someone has greater need notwithstanding - I suspect that's reasonably rare).

Good point about WHO to ask onboard - you're entirely right that you're better off asking someone working the cabin, not checking boarding passes and telling people how to find 21DEF.

And equally, valid point about the DYKWIA thing. Not my style to be honest but wholeheartedly agree that it's a surefire way to lose any goodwill you may have.

I have a super cute, smiley son who has thus far charmed the sock off all CC and most pax he's encountered in his 6 flights. So if we do have to rely on luck and goodwill, he's my ace card.

Cheers for all the advice folks.

Can I help you

I would ask the crewmember who offers you the extension seat belt and infant inflation device.