Airlines - ticketing requirements for infants

2

2010-NewDad

Registered User
Hello all

Well the time has come for us to start travelling with our baby. I am getting very confused with what ticketing requirements are needed.

I was under the impression that you could fly with a baby for free if it sits in your lap. However, that does not seem to be the case. Delta says this:

http://www.delta.com/planning_reser...s/services_for_children/child_fares/index.jsp

When a ticket Is required

You'll need to purchase a ticket for your child when you:

* Have a child that is age two or older.
* Prefer the child to sit in a seat in order to travel in an approved restraint.
* Have a second child, regardless of age, and you already have a child who will be sitting in your lap.1
* Want your child to earn miles in his SkyMiles account.
* Will be traveling between countries regardless of whether or not the child occupies a seat.
Click to expand...

Cathay says this

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_HK/helpingyoutravel/children


Infant fare will be charged when an infant travels with a parent / guardian and the infant does not occupy a seat
Click to expand...

However, neither Delta nor Cathay appear to offer any way to book infants through their websites. Delta just lets you put in passengers (no distinction adult/child/infant) and Cathay have adult/child 2-11 years old.

Zuji is no good either

Flight booking for infants can only be done by contacting the airline directly. This is due to recent IATA regulations to impose e-ticketing, and many airlines are yet to turn on the e-ticketing facility for infant bookings .
Click to expand...

I tried with my Asia Miles, which DOES let you choose infant but wants the whole adult Miles charged for the infant, which is a bit excessive!

Has anyone had any luck booking recently?
 
Hi,

Either our agent buys infant ticket for us. Or we have gone to CX counter a few days / hours before with our tickets. They would issue the infant ticket and "attach" it to one of the adults. They prefer if you have the infant's passport with you (a wrong spelling could make ticket invalid). But we have once got this infant ticket without passport as well.

Havent booked through asiamiles for same reasons stated by you above. Infant ticket is usually much cheaper than an adult one.

Am not sure how Delta does it but have travelled on CX, SQ and Thai with an infant ticket. Hope this helps.
 
I called Singapore Airlines directly to ask, and was told that I have to purchase an 'infant ticket', which cost HKD 780. However, I already have a ticket for myself so they just add on this infant ticket and put in a request for a bassinet if I want it. Some airline websites do have the option of choosing infant as a traveler, but not the flight websites like kayak.com.
 
Thank you both. I just got through to Cathay (a minor miracle, normally I spend hours on hold) and they advised I should book the adult tickets on the web, and then call them up to "add on" the infant. They quoted HK$1,412 for the infant ticket.

I also asked if I could purchase the adult tickets using my Asia Miles, then call up and give them the booking reference and buy the infant ticket. They said this would be fine.
 
infants are not free (unless you are travelling domestic flights in north america, on some airlines0, they are generally 10% of a full fare, but this can vary with the carrier on international flights.
 
Just found expedia.com do allow you to specify infants, and it does seem to work properly. Delta only charge US$40 for an infant ticket, a lot less than Cathay.
 
Yeah, infants cost usually 10% of the adult ticket. Most online flight booking companies don't let you book infants. You can on Virgin though.
 
banane76 said:
Yeah, infants cost usually 10% of the adult ticket.
Click to expand...

A key thing is whether they charge 10% of the adult ticket price that you pay on booking, or 10% of the full rack rate. When I flew back to the UK in May I flew with KLM instead of Cathay as my son's ticket (then 5 months old) was 10% of the really good online KLM deal that I paid for my seat, whereas Cathay wanted 10% of the full published rack rate which was 10% of double the fare that I would have paid for my seat and almost 3 times as much as I paid on KLM for him. On KLM you can specify 'infant', input the age and do it all online.
 
I usually call the airline directly to book the infant fare and then I just book the whole family together. The prices are generally the same as online anyway. At least in my experience, they have been. This past trip, I needed to travel not only with an infant, but also with "medical clearance" for her, requesting oxygen to be available for the flight. I managed to do it all over the phone and a little via email/fax.
 
Yup, Cathay is DODGY for infant tickets. Supposedly 10% but on INFLATED rate(the highest possible advertised rate) and then you have to add tax. I believe Air Canada (we flew back home on them over Cathay bc of this issue) charged the actual 10%.
We are flying Cathay back to Canada next week and only chose them because hubby could get a ticket on airmiles. We are paying over $20K for 1 adult, 1 child, and 1 infant. Ridiculous.
Most airlines we have dealt with make you call them for booking infant tickets.
 
For the record, DO NOT book infant ticket on Dragonair's website. They charge the same as an adult ticket! Have asked them why but they couldn't explain.
You could buy the adult ticket online and then buy the non-seat-taking infant ticket (10% of adult ticket) by:
- calling them and paying via credit card (u can book seats, bassinet and baby meal attached to your adult booking),
- calling them to make reservation first and paying at their counter, or
- buying directly from their counter if u don't need bassinet and baby meal.
 
Seems like it is not just me who has been befuddled by this experience! Thank you everyone for your input! I guess it is back to the way things were done pre-internet then - lots of phone calls, spelling out names and credit card numbers on the "Yes, R for rabbit, not L for London" etc etc!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top