Baby seat (not bassinet)
 

Hi

Got first long haul with the bambino coming up later this year, at which point he'll be too old for the bassinet.

Has anyone used the baby seat thingy that clips in the same place, for a baby of comparable age (he'll be 14 ish months).

Any thoughts? Also, how do I reserve it? it's not obvious. I guess calling EC line will be one option. Doesn't seem to be an online way to handle it easily. I can select the adult seats in the right position but can't see how to order the baby kit.

Cheers

The bassinet seats or boxes are distributed once on-board - you can't reserve them and there are a limited number (although I've always got one)

I've used it with my daughter when she was about a year old and whether it's usable depends on the size of the child.

In terms of ordering it - you can't. You have to just request it as soon as you get on board. And it's first come first served (or at least it is in my experience).

I am not having that. It's a portable bit of kit and I am prepared to let then know months in advance that I need it. if I don't get one there will be bloody murders ;-) (figuratively of course - I am English so it'll be a sternly worded email in clipped tones haha)

You can be as angry as you like - you have to request it when you board and there's limited kit.

I've seen people at Bassinet positions unable to get the cot or seat.

Equally - I've been on board in WTP and been told "I'll go get one right now before everyone else does as there's 10 babies on this flight" as we got on board.

I completely believe you that this is current operating procedure. I am just not easily going to accept it as it is an unecessary restriction unless anyone on the inside can tell me why they have such a crazy policy.

Do other J pax really want a 14m old baby in their cabin denied a decent sleeping spot when the need for it was known 6m in advance?

Since those with babies have already advised you that is what happens I am not sure what you are hoping for. Whether someone from the "inside" can explain why or not is largely irrelevant, as is whether you accept it or not. it is what happens. Knowing why or accepting it isn't going to change anything.

If you don't approve perhaps have a look at an alternative.

My alternative is to liaise with BA until I either get the assurances I need, or I have enough of a paper trail to make it bad news for them if I don't. Not because I want to be bloody minded, but because this is a completely reasonable request being made several months in advance on what purports to be a premium airline and by someone flying in a premium cabin.

People with babies explaining to me that 'this is what happens' doesn't mean I have to accept it. I appreciate their info for sure. But we each choose what we sit back and accept and what we fight. I may not win but no-one but me gets to decide whether I try and fight the battle or not.

You can't as noted by others. Two people have said you can't reserve them.

It is noted on ba.com:

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...|||||L2|||||||

It is also noted on the speedbirdclub site:

https://www.speedbirdclub.com/nl/res...g/infantseats/

I suspect you won't get either of them, and I suspect you may well end up wasting a lot of your time and theirs.

Why not try to put effort into something more productive, e.g. booking a carrier that guarantees providing it, or buying your own, approved seat etc.?

FWIW we tried it for our eldest when she was 15 months and it didn't really work out. She was bigger than average and overall a bit too big for it, and only slept restlessly up at angle so she ended up sharing my seat more effectively.

Well it's a query for an already booked long haul flight so that's not an option. And as for wasting their time, I think that is not necessarily a fair description of a customer making a reasonable and timely request. If BA see it that way then that would be a tad telling really. You don't work for BA by any chance do you? (just curious as you seem to be taking this thread a tad personally).

In the end I may not get what I want, but I believe in asking the questions where necessary. Otherwise how will the service ever evolve the way customers want it. As I said, I honestly don't think I am asking for the moon on a stick. To be able to reserve this kit months in advance seems entirely sensible to me.

Thanks for the tip. My son is not tall (product of not overly tall parents) and is generally a very good sleeper. He's just done 6 short haul flights in very quick succession and was a model citizen on all of them so hopefully he's ready to graduate haha.

No, I certainly do not work for BA, and I have not taken it personally at all.
I simply believe no guarantee would be forthcoming because it has been made abundantly clear in writing by BA that it would be on first-come, first served basis on board.

If I felt I absolutely needed such a guarantee, I'd cancel the flights booked and book it with another carrier that can provide such a guarantee. If for some reason I cannot do that, that would be my problem, not the carrier.

A reasonable request (requesting a baby seat would be perfectly reasonable) would rapidly become unreasonable when it has been made absolutely clear there would be no guarantee that it would be met, yet the customer insists upon such a guarantee despite the refusal. A bit like a seating request. We can request a specific seat but if we try to get it in writing from BA that we would absolutely be guaranteed a particular seat, it wouldn't be forthcoming. I think we all know that, and insisting such a guarantee is given to us would be unreasonable after a refusal.

Maybe it would be worth asking BA to cancel the flights booked on the basis of their refusal to provide such a guarantee for a baby seat, and take them to court for a refund it they refuse, and see what the court says?

My daughter also hated those seats. They're small and there's not a lot of room for the child to move around. We last tried one when she was 9 months old and she wasn't a big baby. At 14 months your son may be fine sitting in it for a while, but he'll want to get out of it pretty quickly.

It's a difficult age though; they're old enough to be moving around (I'm guessing he can either walk or isn't far off) but don't have their own seat. If you're in J or F you won't have an issue, especially if there are free seats available. If you're in the back you'll have to hope that he falls asleep in your arms.

If I were you, I wouldn't fret too much about the seat. By all means get the best seat you can on the plane, go forward at the gate as soon as you're called, and ask for the seat as soon as you're on the plane. If you're lucky he'll sit in it and fall asleep. If you're even luckier there'll be free seats on the plane. Good luck.

*Edit Just a word on "reserving" - there will be a set number of these on each plane. If there were many babies on a flight, with reservations for all of them, they would need to be taken from another plane, and there may of course be no babies on the return leg. Then there may be demand on another plane before the first returns, meaning seats taken from yet another plane. And where do you stow all of those not in use? A logistical nightmare, easily solved by just making it first come first served.

I agree it seems an entirely reasonable request, but unless something has change it's simply not possible (I tried reasonably hard too having I spent 5 or 6 years travelling longhaul with at least 1 of my 3 being an infant)

The best advice I can give is to board in a timely manner and talk (nicely) to the crew and or CSD straightaway. I'd say we've needed a bassinet about 20+ times over the years and always got one.

As they get older (even as an infant who can fit in the Britax seat) my advice is to get a comfort seat, which as a redemption costs Avios only (with no taxes). On longer-haul like EZE (and now SCL) the extra space is invaluable, as they can sit or play somewhere to eat when not sleeping.