Macarron

I just booked an economy award ticket through the UA website putting the infant's information in the search as well. PHX -> SEA --> NRT --> BKK on US Airways/United/Thai Airways. Return is BKK --> NRT --> LAX all on Thai airways. Fees were $65. There was an option to go on Singapore Airways on the return flight but fees came up to ~$400.

I called UA to ask about additional fees for the infant and he said that nothing else was required and that her name was listed on the ticket as a lap child. Is there something I should do to make sure that I don't get hit with exorbitant fees when I show up for the flight in November? Should I call Thai Airways?

Thanks for any info.

travellerK

It sounds strange, but considering UA's IT issues these days, anything can happen.
I would look up the reservation online. If the infant is there, I wouldn't worry any more. If not, obviously you have an issue.
(Its probably not a bad idea to confirm with the operating carriers as well)

Macarron

Thanks for the response, travellerK.

In case anyone runs into this, here's what happened in my case.

I called United again and after an hour the agent said the infant's ticket was queued and to call back in 24-48hrs to find out what the fees were. I also requested that since I was still in the 24 hr window and could cancel the award without a fee, I wanted to extend that until the time I could find out the infant's fee.....in case it would be better economically to buy the ticket without award mileage. And she verified it with her supervisor. (I didn't want to be hit with the $150 award redeposit fee)

I called UA back 48 hrs later and was on hold for another 1.5 hrs (ugh). They gave me a confirmation code for the infant and the charge was $574.10 for the infant in lap ticket.

Since this was an open jaw ticket, I thought it might be cheaper to try a RT award LAX --> BKK but the fees on the website was $528.30 (including the $65 fee for the adult). I called Thai Airways to see how much they would charge directly and it would be $503.40 just for the infant. So that wouldn't save me anything. Oh well. At least the baby has a confirmed ticket reservation #.

bwatt99

Hi im thinking of going business class myself,wife and adding the baby as lap child.
I have miles to use and can get myself and wife with these miles and still have left over,i think we would be paying approx £860 on fees and taxes for us to go business class.Not a lot considering what the flights cost per person.

What im looking to find out, as we would add infant as lap child she will be 8/9 months at the time what this might cost us,im sure its like 10% of the fare,what fare what it would cost one of us?I take they would add taxes etc on top of the 10%?
Im just trying to figure out what the end cost might be if we went business class.I believe we can add infant as lap child but also request and get a bassinett too.
I take that its ok to have the infant in the seat,or bed when folded with you and if needed use the bassinette.
If im right and using my miles as an award,we would pay approx £860,im just trying to figure what it would be to have infant as lap child.
I sure would not be able to get her her own seat anyway she would be too young any help feedback on this would be great

bwatt99

anyone?

dfreeman02

Lap child on a C award ticket pays 10% of full J fare, which could be $8-12k for tatl.
I don't think you can get a bassinet in C since there's nowhere to hang it.
We did lap child in C sfo-fra at 6mo on the evening departure, baby slept on mom the whole time. Return lhr-sfo felt like an eternity.
8-9mo is borderline for lap child on such a long flight, you might prefer 3 Y seats.

bwatt99

May i ask what c,j and y fare are i take thats class of fare so which is each one sorry i am not clued up on it all,what do you mean $8 to 12k??
Is c business class?if so im pretty sure you are given one of these if required,if c is business class why would child sleep on mom cant they sleep in the folding down seat which becomes a bed?
8-9 months border line for lap child what do you mean by this she is still and infant.
If y is economy then we was thinking of doing this and getting three seat,the baby with her own and a car seat,which we would to get rid of when we got there as they are not legal in australia from uk,we are flying with singapore airlines

aacharya

bwatt99 - I think you need to take a step back and learn a lot more (and maybe not use your phone) about what you really want to do with this flight.

Look up award tickets and lap children rules on UA.com.

bwatt99

ua.com??

Tinman

Short answer:

United will tell you exactly what the 10% amount will be. In fact, this can be paid in advance.

I paid 1300 USD for infant in first from ORD to Israel on Lufthansa when we had 2 first award tickets.

If I had to do it again I would have gotten three business class tickets, one for the infant for about the same amount or less in miles at the time, and saved the 1300 dollars.

Scott

csauvain

I booked a business saver award flight for my wife in November to Europe. Back then the agent told me that there would be no cost to add my baby. When my baby was born in December, I called back and UA told me that I had to pay 10% of the business fare ($542). Of course now there are no more economoy saver award on this date. I could change the date, but UA will not waive the $250 change fee on the ticket purchased for myself. So I have the choice between paying $542 and keep my business ticket or $250 and downgrade to economy.

My recommendation: Get the agent to confirm in writing, if they tell you that there is no cost to add an infant.

PS: Really disappointed that UA could not waive the change fee given the fact that they had misinformed me.

6rugrats

Welcome to FT csauvain!

I don't know what an agent told you. I find they sometimes just don't understand what you are asking. You can find information regarding traveling with infants here, on UA's webpage:

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...s/default.aspx

Infants traveling without a seat to other international destinations are charged 10% of the adult fare at the time of infant ticketing (it is usually less expensive to purchase the infant ticket in advance). Infants traveling on an adult’s lap on front cabin rewards or upgrades must pay 10% of the front cabin fare in applicable markets.


It's just the way it is.

ufo

as mentioned earlier in this thread, I received lots of bad info when adding an infant to a economy reservation that had been upgraded using a GPU. In the end it was 10% of the cheapest available front cabin fare. But during the delays for them to ticket the infant, some Z fares showed up for sale, and so got them to re-price it and ended up paying something like $400 total as 10% of the Z fare.

csauvain

@6rugrats
Thanks. I guess the agent should have sent me the link you posted and tell me to buy the infant ticket in advance and not wait until the last minute when fare are skyrocketing...

kmfdm91

Hey Parents...

As a new Dad, with new SWUs to burn this year, I'm trying to map out a strategy for using them the best and most cost-effective way...

Does anyone have any empirical evidence (since the merger and other updates) on UA's charges for lap infants on international flights when SWUs are used to upgrade from Y to C?

I'd obviously like to pay the 10% for a lap infant on a W fare instead of a C fare on my flights - but i'm not sure if people are getting hit up with any other costs when they get to the airport (like the Chirac tax) for having the infant in a C seat, when they only paid for the Y fare (10% of).

Also, any other good strategies to use for International flights with a baby...I'm all ears, given this new addition in our lives

Cheers,
jeremy