thecoogan

I have a few similar questions related to this.

We are looking at booking a 2-for-1 redemption for myself, wife and 1 year old son. He would turn two before the inbound leg.

Taken from https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...avel-documents - "If you're travelling with an infant who reaches the age of 2 during their journey, your child will need their own seat for any flights on and after their 2nd birthday. We won’t charge you extra for this; you'll only pay the infant fare for the entire journey." it's clear this is possible.

But I have the following two questions if anyone has experience of the below.

1. Does this apply for BA codeshare flights or only BA operated?
2. Can we pay for a seat for my son on the outbound flight (either Avios or Cash) if desired but retaining the free return seat?

cbagent

This is for BA operated flights only. With regard to your second question the answer is no ......if you want your son to have a seat on the outbound when he is under two then you will need to buy a child fare for both sectors of the journey.

neuromancer

I don't think so. 4 years ago I booked business class with Avios (2 adults and 2 infants), chose the last 2 central seats at the lower deck. The whole cabin was quite empty, so we just used 2 more seats at the sides of the booked seats (with crew's permission). Got 4 seats on the way back. Defiinitely the best deal I've had for fights ever.

LondonCanuck

Gadot

Sounds like you are lucky. Much safer with car seat than on the lap for baby and for you (biggest cause of burns on airplanes to parent is lap child which is largest cause of inflight injuries)

deeruck

What's your source for this information?

SAN_Finn

I would like to know too.

Gadot

The most common injuries were burns (39%), contusions (30%), lacerations (21%) and closed head injuries (8%). The most frequent causes of injury were hot soup or beverages that were spilled on a child (36%), particularly those sitting in an aisle seat, and falls from the seat by unrestrained or lap children (25%).Feb 24, 2017

In-flight injuries often involve children sitting on laps or in aisle seats ...

www.aappublications.org/news/2017/02/24/Airplane022417

FAA: Turbulence injuries jolt twice as many flights in 2016

The FAA urges passengers to listen to flight attendants and use an approved child-safety seat for children under 2 years old. The FAA also urges airlines to include turbulence in weather briefings, and to have pilots and dispatchers relay reports about turbulence.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/trave...ies/100740982/

The most likely cause of injury is burns from hot drinks, according to data presented Monday at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference. That accounted for 39 percent of injuries. Meal service was the most likely time. Sometimes the drinks splashed while they were being passed from person to person. Other times, rambunctious kids bumped tray tables, spilling scalding coffee everywhere.
Younger children were much more likely to be injured than older children, according to Rotta. Infants held on laps were the most likely to be hurt — they made up 35.8 percent of the cases. Some of the injuries happened during turbulence, but some happened when babies simply fell off their parents' laps.

"People who have children are very much in tune with the fact that you cannot hold your child in your lap in a car," Rotta says. "Somehow, that wisdom doesn't apply to planes. Nobody thinks twice about it."

Alarmingly, five infants in the dataset died with symptoms consistent with sudden infant death syndrome. Co-sleeping, when parents let children sleep on top of them or with them, can put a baby at risk for SIDS or suffocation if there is soft bedding or an adult rolls over or changes positions. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents avoid sleeping with infants, particularly in chairs and couches. This study shows that "the dangers of co-sleeping are present on airplanes, too," says Rotta.

Rotta suggests booking an extra seat for infants under age 2 if parents can afford it, and putting them in a bassinet or a car seat approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/25/499172561/for-babies-on-a-plane-hot-drinks-and-co-sleeping-pose-a-risk
FAA

USA_flyer

Aside from the risk of injury, it's going to be miserable having a kid sit on your lap for 8 hours.

thecoogan

Hello, I've just added an infant to a booking who will turn two between the outbound and inbound flight. When doing so I explained to the agent that my son will turn 2 between flights and he informed me that he could only assign a seat for him on or after his 2nd birthday. Which would be 2 weeks prior to the return flight. Is that correct? Or can they do it now? I don't understand why they are suggesting to wait until then knowing he would require the seat. Does that mean we are at risk of being downgraded from CW if there isn't an extra seat for him? Flight is GRU to LHR fyi.

JAXBA

They can, and they should.

Call back and ask them to complete the INF turned two booking.

thecoogan

Thanks, you're correct. I contacted the BA twitter team yesterday and it has already been resolved. Thank you

thecoogan

Anyone know if I can select a seat on the PNR for my son? I'm BA Silver so have seats selected already for myself and wife. Just wanted to go to MMB using his new PNR and get him a middle seat next to my wife. Looks like I'm not able to do this until 24 hours before departure. Is that correct?

scottishpoet

if he is on a separate booking from you and has no status then you cannot select a seat for him for free until T-24