JPG3392

If you are travelling alone with the infant, you may wish to make sure in advance that you have any paperwork that may be required for you to take the infant out of the USA.

RxCapt

Thanks for the heads up. Both parents will be traveling.

RxCapt

I contacted DL about the $35 ticketing fee and am happy to report that DL responded a week later by making a one time exception and refunded the fee. I do not have status on DL and feel that DL should not charge a fee to any pax for a transaction that cannot be completed online and that requires agent intervention. Furthermore, their reservation and ticketing staff need to be trained better. It shouldn't take 40 minutes on the phone and another hour at the airport to process this type of transaction. Would be nice to speak directly to "global" since they seem like the only department familiar with lap child tickets.

That said, I hope that DL adds to their list of dot.bomb issues to fix, the ability to purchase an infant lap child ticket online when making adult reservations. B6 and UA have this ability.

green79

Hi all,

We have a couple of flights (SEA-CDG and LHR-SEA) in D1 October/early November. Flights look pretty empty (9 seats and 11 seats, Thursday and Tuesday flights).

We have a lap child (16 months) and was wondering if anyone has had any success in using an empty seat post-boarding for a lap child? If so, we'll probably bring his carseat on the plane rather than check it.

Thanks!

krlcomm

The fact that flights look empty now is meaningless, they will most likely be full at flight time.

luv2ctheworld

Welcome to FT!

Even if it is empty, you should not (perhaps will not) be allowed to bring the car seat into the cabin. The flight manifest will show the seat as empty, and the FA may very well (and rightfully) prevent you from installing the car seat onto a seat that wasn't paid for.

I don't think a FA will have an issue if you place your lapchild in the empty seat however.

The difference is that you can move your child back on your lap if needed; that car seat won't be movable anywhere.

cre95

I imagine you know that you'll need to add the lap child to your airline record even though you are not booking a reserved seat. Just pointing out that your fee is 10% of the D1 ticket which typically runs over $1k. Many travelers are familiar with flying with their lap child domestically which does not incur any additional fee. Better to find out about the added fee now rather than closer to the departure date.

kop84

I did not think a car seat is able to be used in D1 as they aren't compatible with the seat belts.

MSPeconomist

Yes D1 seats have airbags and thus cannot be used with a car seat. For the same reason, I'm not sure they're suitable (or permitted) for use by a very young child. However, this is moot because the D1 cabin will likely be full and, even if not, others cannot be expected to move so that there is an empty seat "near" (not really in D1) the OP.

orlandodlplat

This is not true.

All of these ships are equipped with "universal seat belt extenders" for passengers of size. These extenders also disable the in-seat airbag, so you can loop them through an FAA-approved car seat.

This is allowed, and even says so on a label on the back of the airbag itself.

PRWeezer

OP watch your flight for the aircraft type. A quick glance at random dates shows they're currently using the A333 SEA-CDG but later in October it looks to switch to a 767. Since every seat in D1 is an aisle seat, I don't know if the note below is a recommendation or a mandate?

From Delta.com:
Where to Sit with a Child Restraint

The window seat is the preferred location for an approved child restraint system (car seat). Other locations may be acceptable provided the child restraint system (car seat) is not installed between other passengers and the aisle. An accompanying adult must sit next to the child. More than one child restraint system (car seat) may be in use in the same row and section of seats. When using a child safety seat, don’t select seats in the following areas:
Aisle seats
Emergency exit rows
Any seat one row forward or one row back from an emergency exit row
Bulkhead seats when the safety seat is a combination car seat and stroller

Flat bed seats in the Delta One™ area of the following aircraft: Airbus A330-200 or A330-300; Boeing 777 or 747 aircraft*
*Child Safety Seats are not permitted in this area since the airbag seat belt cannot be deactivated.

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en.../children.html

(ETA: Of course this is given that there is an empty seat on the flight in the end and the FAs allow you to take it for free.)

kchoya

You're flying SEA-CDG and LHR-SEA with a 16-month-old in your lap(s)? That's torture. Why not buy the kid a seat?

We did the infant in lap route once domestically, and it worked well because our son was only 3 months old. Since then, we've purchased him his own ticket. It's so much easier to put him in his child seat.

We're going to Kauai in December with our twin girls, who will be 10-months-old. I wouldn't dream of thinking about holding a squirming baby on my lap for that long.

green79

Thanks on the replies - sounds like we'll just check the car seat.

We've paid the lap child fee - I had a separate post on that - they ended up charging use 10% of my economy fare + taxes (I used a GUC) so it was pretty reasonable. It only ended up being around $400 with most of it being taxes.

I got seats for my wife and 4 year old on miles during the recent Europe award ticket sale. Our 16 month and 4 year old are good with each other in close quarters so we were planning on them sharing a seat (and bed).

ILovetheReds

J will end up filling up with nrsa's, etc. Even if J goes out with empty seats and the FA will allow it, odds are going to be the empty seat won't be beside you and I'm sure you aren't going to be find many people willing to swap seats.

MSPeconomist

That's what I said, although I didn't explicitly mention NRSAs.