Do lap infants travel free to Caribbean?

Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
My saga of booking a seat for Dylan continues... I have BA calling me to lock in his seat, but it is being handled by a high touch team it seems so they call me at daft hours of the night from Blighty. There was some problem pricing the ticket, but they seem to be ready to pull the trigger now,providing I can get them on the phone.

Current status of the ticket is that they cancelled my first Lap Child ticket, but I wonder if that matters?

BA has a special rule compared to many other carriers in that they charge 10% of the award ticket rather than revenue ticket for a booking. However, other carriers domestically charge zero (only 10% when flying internationally).

Just wondering where the Caribbean fits into that...

We are flying on Friday to Antigua on American, and now he has no ticket, if I rock up to the airport would he:
  • Be charged 10% of the revenue fare?
  • Be allowed to travel for free as lap infant?
  • Be thrown in the brig?
Cheers,
Matt
 
Toni Perkins

Toni Perkins

Level 2 Member
So, I flew to PR with my 17 month old on AA last year, not recommended because 17 month olds are insane, but anyway, I didn't have to pay anything extra for him! I don't know if it makes a difference that Puerto Rico is a territory of the U.S., but it is a part of the Carribean. Sorry I am not too helpful!
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
To follow this up...

We ended up managing to get a lap infant ticket for about $17 RT (one way fares were about $800 at that time). Its a bit tricky, but you basically book for the parents, then call in later to add on the infant. For this itinerary it seemed to work well...

JFK-ANU using Avios on AA. Called AA to add infant ticket.
 
C

Chris D

Level 2 Member
I've encountered this a couple times so far with my now 6 month old. First international was Aruba, called day before and added even though was told I only needed to check in early day of for lap child. Around $17 was our price as well.

Second international I'll be flying Thursday to UK on AA/US flights. I called and added her early (about $67RT) so I could get reserved seats with a bassinet. I had to get the US air record locator from AA to do this. They were proactive and moved me to bulkhead but still urged early check-in at airport to confirm. Just in case there is an equipment change.
 
Toni Perkins

Toni Perkins

Level 2 Member
Chris D said:
I've encountered this a couple times so far with my now 6 month old. First international was Aruba, called day before and added even though was told I only needed to check in early day of for lap child. Around $17 was our price as well.

Second international I'll be flying Thursday to UK on AA/US flights. I called and added her early (about $67RT) so I could get reserved seats with a bassinet. I had to get the US air record locator from AA to do this. They were proactive and moved me to bulkhead but still urged early check-in at airport to confirm. Just in case there is an equipment change.
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So, sorry if this is totally dumb, but I thought that most airlines won't even allow lap infants for travel overseas. I know that sounds contradictory to my response because we did fly to Puerto Rico with my son, but I figured that it didn't really count because it's technically the United States. I guess you learn something new every day!
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Toni Perkins said:
I just always thought you actually had to pay for a seat for them, not that I have ever really researched it! How fun that he has twins!
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They do need a Passport, but not a seat. Dylan flew with us to Madrid recently on IB. They even provided him with a CARES harness (loops into your seatbelt so he is secure) Great flight.
 
El Turk

El Turk

Level 14 Insurance Salesman
This gets much more complicated, as I found out the hard way, if you want to fly business or first. Especially if you book your trip as a few one way segments rather than a round trip, because 10% of the cost of two one way tickets is more than 10% of the cost of a round trip. The solution I have found is to use BA, for oneworld, or Air Canada, for Star Alliance. This doesn't work as well if your itinerary has you flying somewhere where BA levies heavy fuel surcharges. But, it did save me from having to pay thousands of dollars on the Cathay Pacific first class segments we booked (CX charges 25% of the ticket price!!!).
 
K

kampung

Level 2 Member
El Turk said:
This gets much more complicated, as I found out the hard way, if you want to fly business or first. Especially if you book your trip as a few one way segments rather than a round trip, because 10% of the cost of two one way tickets is more than 10% of the cost of a round trip. The solution I have found is to use BA, for oneworld, or Air Canada, for Star Alliance. This doesn't work as well if your itinerary has you flying somewhere where BA levies heavy fuel surcharges. But, it did save me from having to pay thousands of dollars on the Cathay Pacific first class segments we booked (CX charges 25% of the ticket price!!!).
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When you say it saved you alot, are you comparing to paying 25% of ticket price on CX? How much did it cost on CX F (i presume to HK) ? I am trying to get a ticket on CX J from IAH-KUL using AA miles but AA charges 1.7k for lap child one-way!!. BA charges 10% of Avios needed but the miles needed is much more. Comparing the both i get the following for 1 adult +1 lap child:

Avios : 112k Avios + $162
AA : 55k + $1,750

Clearly burning 112k avios is better than forking out $1.7k. Next thing that comes to mind - is 112k Avios worth 55k AA miles? Reason being i could pay another 55k AA miles (instead of 112k Avios) for the infant and he actually gets his own seat !
 
El Turk

El Turk

Level 14 Insurance Salesman
kampung said:
When you say it saved you alot, are you comparing to paying 25% of ticket price on CX? How much did it cost on CX F (i presume to HK) ? I am trying to get a ticket on CX J from IAH-KUL using AA miles but AA charges 1.7k for lap child one-way!!. BA charges 10% of Avios needed but the miles needed is much more. Comparing the both i get the following for 1 adult +1 lap child:

Avios : 112k Avios + $162
AA : 55k + $1,750

Clearly burning 112k avios is better than forking out $1.7k. Next thing that comes to mind - is 112k Avios worth 55k AA miles? Reason being i could pay another 55k AA miles (instead of 112k Avios) for the infant and he actually gets his own seat !
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Flights were JFK to HK and HK to Haneda (and Haneda to SFO on JAL). I can't recall the exact rates off the top of my head. But I don't think the difference between the miles required for BA and AA were anywhere near as substantial as what you're seeing. Also, I took advantage of the 40% Amex-BA transfer bonus, so the rates made more sense. Lastly, I don't think I had enough AA points to get my son his own ticket in F. I suppose in some instances, especially post devaluation, the rates on AA will be so much better than BA that it makes sense to just book an extra ticket on AA, assuming you have that flexability.

As for the fees they quoted, amount AA wanted to charge for the lap ticket was also more than the price you were quoted for J, something in the neighborhood of 6K. I obviously wasn't going to pay that.
 
Belisarius

Belisarius

Level 2 Member
A few general thoughts, as we've done quite a few Europe trips with my son from newborn to 16 months and have a flight to Mexico coming soon:
  • Contrary to popular belief, little babies travel incredibly well if they're well socialized and you did your pre-trip prep. Up to a year or so. The bassinet + bulkhead seating is a lifesaver and the white noise of the plane and the stimulus of the new environment knocks 'em out. They think it's a big adventure and a chance to smile at every person that walks down the aisle. You will be praised as amazing parents with a "good baby." Enjoy that while it lasts...
  • Kids between 13-24 months are functionally insane (I could end the sentence here) in small, boring spaces and a tall 16 month old will test the bassinet - check the individual airlines for weight limits. SAS, United etc has it at 22 pounds - it's not just his/her age. While your kid may technically qualify, he might look like Shaquille O Neal on a twin bed. Alternatively, trying to get a 18 month old to sleep quietly on your lap for 6 hours isn't that achievable (without bourbon, chloroform and Benadryl)
  • At 2, no more infant fares. Hard coded on their passport birthday. On many airlines, that's enforced even if he turns two during the trip.
  • I find most people are sympathetic and incredibly helpful - so long as they see you're trying. If you're checked out wearing Beats By Dre and a eye cover while your toddler rampages and is almost stampeded by a drink cart, you'll get some hate. And it's probably deserved.
 
NickPFD

NickPFD

Mmmm.... yeah....
Staff member
Regarding Matt's initial question: I've found lap infants to be handled differently, sometimes even by the same airline on the same type of ticket, as they're not always 100% sure about how to handle the booking. I even almost missed a flight one time because Delta screwed something up and they couldn't figure out how to issue the ticket.

Regarding kids 13-24 months being functionally insane: absolutely true, this is far and away the most difficult age. They're too old to sit still in your arms or lap, too young to understand why they have to stay in the seat, and often too young to even be entertained by an ipad / cell phone for long.
 
Belisarius

Belisarius

Level 2 Member
NickPFD said:
Regarding kids 13-24 months being functionally insane: absolutely true, this is far and away the most difficult age. They're too old to sit still in your arms or lap, too young to understand why they have to stay in the seat, and often too young to even be entertained by an ipad / cell phone for long.
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The iPad point is dead on. At two and a half, they'll happily play on one for hours. Just six months before that, they swipe on it a little and then want to jam it into the tray table. And if you prevent that from happening YOU HAVE RUINED THEIR LIVES AND NOW YOU MUST PAY.

Kid air travel is a lopsided malformed doughnut - 0-12 is surprisingly easy, 13-24 is the "hole" and after that it's dependent on individual personalties and flight dynamics.
 
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