a7m

I cannot find anywhere on the Delta site how to reserve a ticket for my lap infant when flying internationally. More importantly, I want to know exactly what it costs for a specific flight. And yet, I see nowhere in the online reservation system how to factor an infant while searching fares. All I found is the following vague statement: "For infants under the age of two and held in the adult's lap, the cost is usually about 10% of the adult fare plus any international taxes and surcharges, which can be significant." Don't you love the vagueness of "usually" and "can be"?

I am ready to give up and just reserve one through KLM or AF. Any ideas? Am I missing something obvious?

rwoman

You'd probably need to call DL to book.

misterbean

Yup, or go through a TA.

cappilot

International lap infants need to be booked with an agent. Because of the variations in prices and taxes it is a completely manual process that results in a paper ticket being issued for the child. I can tell you the steps on how an agent must price the ticket, but I won't bore you with the details.

Often1

I can't imagine giving up and calling a less convenient carrier without having called. Intl. laps are actually complicated tickets. Perhaps needlessly so, but that's what they are.

hfly

It is as you say above normally 10% of your ticket price plus some taxes. In my experience this meant (roughly) that a ticket that cost me $1800 (for example) would cost in the region of $400 for the infant ticket, give or take $50.

hfly

Also in my experience, it was often easier to just show up at the airport a bit early and get it done there, rather than try and do it on the phone. In my experience Delta agents at international gateways are far more experienced with this than those on the phone.

JSteele

This is terrible advice. The last thing you want to do is leave this up to a ticketing agent at an outstation, which you will have to do on the first leg of any international itinerary. These could even be contract workers with no clue whatsoever that will put your entire journey in jeopardy.

Always do this over the phone long in advance, and even then it could take several calls to get this right. Besides, the 10% is often based on the current ticket price, so waiting until day of travel will cost more.

This article sums up just about everything I have learned on the subject:

http://mommypoints.boardingarea.com/....TvOi2R9r.dpbs

3Cforme

That approach has some $ risk. The rule is 10% of the available adult fare, plus applicable taxes and fees. Wait to do it at the airport on day of travel and risk finding only full Y or J fares available.

misterbean

That seems unnecessarily risky.
I am not doubting you have done it, as you say, but IMO it's not the way to go given that it could be done pretty easily through other ways, far enough in advance. Infant name and ticket number is shown on the website after it's been booked so you know it was done right.
Also, connecting pax to an international flight will not be able to "show up at the airport a bit early", unless they intentionally take a long layover. One might do that anyway (moving slowly with infant, need buffer time for any unexpected issues), but I wouldn't want to have to deal with sorting out the ticket issue during that time.

a7m

My choice is between Delta (my primary choice) and KLM (which sells the same tickets and awards the same miles). What I see is that KLM sells infant tickets online (pretty easy) whereas Delta, for whatever reason, does it only by phone. I guess I have to stop complaining and call them! Thank you all.

rwoman

If MQD are important to you, your best bet is to book via Delta.

twohundredfifty

My experience with a baby was to book on nwa.com (while it still existed)

Now with a child (still gets a small discount on TATL tickets) I use Orbitz. If it's all DL coded you get a 006 ticket and MQDs. Works for infants, too.

HongKonger

Certainly not if the point of origin is overseas! You might be ok doing this if the origin is in the USA, especially at a hub or larger airport.

Originating overseas you are dealing with people who aren't actually DL employees and who have to call into DL for help with anything out of the ordinary. A lady at HKG I used to talk to for lap infant tickets told me that there have been cases when she wasn't there where it took so long for the others to figure out what to do that the family missed the early HKG-NRT departure.

ALWAYS buy ahead of time if you originate overseas.

Calling DL will not necessarily help. I tried this once and actually thought I had the ticket booked and they promised to send the paper ticket by mail to me in HKG. Only it turns out that for some reason they weren't allowed to do so, and they simply cancelled the transaction and never charged my card. I only found out I didn't have an infant ticket because I called a few weeks later to inquire why I hadn't received it yet. From then on I just made time to go to the airport and buy at the counter after booking the regular tickets. Annoying but it works every time.

Thankfully I'm (probably) done with lap infant tickets for life.

BahstunDLPT

I just did this for flights to India on DL / Virgin. It took about 45 minutes because the DL agent had to work with the Virgin desk to figure out the correct pricing. It is a paper ticket process which is entirely manual.

The added complication was figuring out the correct price because my wife and I are on mileage tickets in BE so there was no cost associated with our ticket.

Anyway, do not take the advice of waiting. As soon as your plans are set, call.