econjon

Originally booked award tix for return from NRT via LAX in F on JAL. Now 2 seats are avail on the non-stop NRT-SAN in biz (787 so angle flat).

Money and miles aside, would you experienced parents prefer the extra room/comfort for the transpac followed by short hop to SAN or the non-stop on the angled flat biz seats.

Erasmus

Two things. First, I'd take the miles saved from down-grading the F awards to C and book 3 C seats, even if that meant connecting. I'd never take a lap infant on a flight of this length, but maybe you have one of those (imaginary, at least in my household) babies who just loves to cuddle for hours on end.

Second, I'd take the C non-stop over F. The 787 seat is not great, but fine, and, IMHO, you will not be able to appreciate JL F with a lap infant. Much better to just get the flight done and over with.

Finally, please patronize the JL SAN flight so they'll keep it---I love being able to skip LAX on the way to Asia!

econjon

Ha, thanks for the full disclosure! From what I can tell, JAL is not great at releasing more inventory. So no guarantee we'd be able to pick up a 3rd in J for NRT-SAN. So assuming the kiddo's lap bound (bassinet some of the time, hopefully?) would you still go for J non stop? I was just thinking that the extra space might be useful. This is our first, so don't really know how cuddly he'll be for 10 hrs!

PWMTrav

My first is now 15 months. Get the seat, even if it means in C.

My advice to any new parent, considering of course that I am one and don't know anything: Just because they aren't required to buy a seat, doesn't mean you shouldn't. Even if your kid will sleep for 10 hrs, holding a baby is really tiring after a couple of hours. It may feel dumb to have a big business class seat just to strap a car seat into, but about 4 hrs into that flight, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The bassinet is only good in theory. First you have to get one - no guarantees there. Then your kid has to be ok in it. Then depending on the airline, you may still need to hold her during takeoff and landing. And if it gets bumpy, do you really want a child in a bassinet? Nah.

Tip #2, reinforcing again that I am, in fact, without knowledge: Non-stop is always better. Always. You know what's harder than getting on the plane with a baby once? It's doing it twice. However, if you insist on doing it, see tip #1 (SEAT!) and get a Snap-n-go or whatever fits your car seat. Then hope and pray she's sleeping during the connection so that you can just roll her down the jetway, gate check the snap-n-go and get the car seat strapped in. Without #1, you risk baby removal to check the car seat too, and that involves a child who is no longer sleeping - or sleepy.

My sarcasm aside, I really do recommend a seat for the baby on a non-stop flight.

Anna Phor

Voice of dissent here--my child would have been an awful traveler if we'd have had to strap him in a carseat for 14 hours. He was much much happier as a lap child; he was better behaved, cried less, and in general, our family was more pleasant to be around if he could curl up and sleep in someone's lap. We did Washington, DC, to Perth, Australia, via NRT and SIN when he was 13 months; that's 30 hours airtime with a lap child. Not that I'd *recommend* this, exactly, but for our purposes and with our child, trying to do that with a kid strapped into a carseat would have been hellish rather than simply just miserable.

That said, I'd recommend the non-stop over the transfer. Also, what's the configuration of the first class seats? Usually they are contained and separate from each other, right? With 2 parents, the side-by-side configuration of the business class seats lets you pass kiddo back and forth more easily.

PWMTrav

If you get a seat, nobody says you have to strap him in there for the entire flight. But when he wants to sleep, it's excellent.

Eclipsepearl

my child would have been an awful traveler if we'd have had to strap him in a carseat for 14 hours

ANY child would be a terror if forced to be strapped in for 14 hours in a row. It's simply not necessary and NOT a reason to base your decision. So nice to have somewhere to put the baby and be able to get up and go to the restroom, or get a drink. Can't leave them alone in a bassinet but with a car seat it's easy.

There is NO rule that a child has to stay strapped in. It's not just lap babies that can sit in laps (not during take-off and landing).

PWMTrav

Not to mention, some kids like seats. Yeah, it's a lot of mileage to redeem if flying F/J, but to your child - especially toddler age - that seat pod might as well be their own personal universe. Properly supervised (of course), the seat itself could be a huge distraction for them, raising the odds of a pleasant flight for you and everyone else around.

For a younger child, it's still nice. We did a PHL-SAN trip when our daughter was about 6 months. She was asleep an hour in. I couldn't imagine my wife or I having to hold her for 4-5 hours straight. Sure, we got some odd looks strapping a car seat into domestic F, but it was worth the upgrade miles. It meant having a leisurely dinner while our child slept peacefully/undisturbed.

azepine00

Nonstop. I actually would consider nonstop f to lax (which would give you plenty of space and more attention) and then driving to san over connection to remote eagle terminal, rechecking bags etc etc... That's a miserable experience by itself further enhanced by long haul and lap kid.

PWMTrav

Oh crap, I missed the fact that OP is in SAN and the other flight option is out of LAX. DRIVE! We do that a lot - fly out of PWM unless a direct is available out of BOS. Then we just consider the 2 hr drive the connection. Much easier to do it in a car.

If traffic is enough of an issue based on the flight time, consider going the night before and staying at the airport hotel. If LAX has an option with a direct walkway to the terminal, that's the way to go.

Anna Phor

My point was not that the OP *should* take their kid as a lap child, but rather that it's entirely individual to the child, and that some children aren't going to do well in their own seat. If you have the kind of baby that you can put down in a seat and they will sleep, I can very well see how you'd recommend that. Not all kids will do that.

Eclipsepearl

Not all kids will do that.

I think it's fair to say that most kids WILL sleep at some point on a transpacific. That would be a long time for them to stay awake! Also, the child doesn't have to fall asleep in the car seat. I usually put mine down after they nodded off. It was nice to have somewhere to put them down and not have to continue to hold them. Was able to visit the restroom and get something to drink without waking them...

I worked transpacifics and I don't recall a toddler or baby who didn't sleep at some point. The OP's child is 4 months. There will be sleeping going on during this flight!

I did have a 20 month old who slept all of 20 minutes of an 11 1/2 hour transatlantic. I think I'm still recovering...

PWMTrav

Other than the cost, there is no downside to having a seat for an infant. I could see where you're coming from if you were going from the financial (or mileage) angle, but otherwise I'm just not able to agree.

Even if you don't have the kind of kid that you can put in the seat to fall asleep, almost 100% of kids can be put in the seat after they've fallen asleep. It's nice to have a break on a really long flight. My daughter is 15 months old now, and she's had a seat on almost every flight back to when she was 6 months. It's raised our cost of flying by 50%, but there's nothing like being able to relax a bit while your child sleeps in her own seat. And we don't have a child who will fall asleep in the seat, so we need to put her in after she falls asleep on one of us. Still worth it!

Anna Phor

Well, mine would not have, as an infant. *That's* the downside of having a car seat. I mean, I would have had paid for an extra seat, and never never had the opportunity to use it, except for a brief period during take off and landing where my kid would have bawled his head off.