Airplane tickets...

Does anyone know the cut off age for a child riding in your lap during a plane ride? We are going out of state next year for Christmas-New Years, our babies will be 20 months old. Also how do you carry their carseats, will the Britax fit up above? They seem so big!

 

I just looked into this for our 1st flight next month. I called Frontier, and their cut off is 2yo for lap babies. Also, there can only be one lap baby per seat section (ie, one for ABC seats, one for DEF) because there is only one extra O2 mask per section.

Car seats and strollers are free to take along, and you check them when you get on the plane and then they are waiting for you when you get off at your destination. You don't have to declare them as carryons, and there is no fee.

Your should call your airline to be sure it's the same, though! Good luck!

 

2 years old is the cut off for "infant in arms."

You will have to check your carseats unless you plan on buying them a seat.

 

Every adult can have one infant under 2 (in lap). So if travelling by yourself, you'll need to buy 1 seat. If travelling with 2 adults (= usually over 14 years old) you can take one infant under 2 in lap each.

 

Im based in Europe and 2 years is also the cut-off age for travelling in an adult´s lap. I didnt take car seats but I took my double pram and it wasn´t at any extra cost.

 

The problem is that if you're traveling with your dh, there is only four masks per row, so you will have to be split up. Other than that, I'd be worried about safety with a baby on my lap, but with the price of tickets it's a hard decision sometimes!

 

Yep, it's 2 years. We flew with our twins when they were 10 months old and they sat on our laps.


QUOTE
The problem is that if you're traveling with your dh, there is only four masks per row, so you will have to be split up

That is true we had to split up, on the flight down I had Emilie on my lap in one row and the next row over DH had Trevor on his lap and our oldest DD Caroline in the seat next to him. We could not all sit in the same row.

 

Thanks everyone

Does anyone know when I can start booking late December flights? I tried to see how much it was last night and all of them stopped in the middle of December. I guess I'll try again in a few weeks.
As far as safety goes, if a plane is going down, I really doubt a carseat makes that big of a difference, that's just my personal opinion though. Besides, if I was going to die in a plane crash, I much rather comfort my child by holding him/her than looking at him/her in a carseat . I really don't want to think about that though. I am kind of scared of planes as it is.

I hope I can get our stroller on the plane. Does anyone know if the jeep stroller does good in snow?? We don't have snow in TX, so I need to know if I should buy another stroller.

 

We've flown a couple of times with ours. 24 months is the cut off for lap children, and ditto on the "one lap child per row" thing. We try to book two aisle seats so we are across from each other, then as soon as we get to the gate, we check with the gate agent to see if there are any empty seats. If there are, and the gate agent is nice, they can put you in a row of three seats and block an empty seat for you, which makes everything easier.

I would also recommend gate checking your stroller and car seats instead of checking with your luggage. It's a pain to lug the Britaxes through security and the airport; but they are more likely to make it to your destination. I have a friend whose car seats were checked with luggage, and they ended up having to change flights--the car seats didn't make it until 5 hours later. They had to wait at the airport that whole time.

Good luck, and happy flying!

 

We've flown with our twins twice internationally (4 12 hour flights, 4 1 hour connecting flights), and have never had any problems with them on our laps, even in some pretty serious turbulence. Like everyone else was saying, the cut off is 2 years. We gate check our strollers (we use 2 singles when travelling as they as lighter and there are two adults anyway), and just rent car seats at the location. Just make sure they have plenty to keep them entertained (its amazing how interesting the plane safety brochures are to babies), and that they have a bottle or dummy (pacifier) on take off and landing to release the pressure on their ears.

 

You can usually book tickets 280-290 days in advance ... so not a full year.

 

mmmh...yes we're in the same boat, we are travelling from LA to Zurich/Switzerland in Sep, it's a non-stop flight with swiss, but very long. so we are thinking about buying tickets for kids so they can have their own seats, sitting in car seats. I just cannot imagine our then 1 1/2 year olds sitting, eating and sleeping on our lap, and we cannot count on empty seats, those planes are usually full.
also my DH is 6'4" so he needs his own space already
we are using miles for our 2 tickets and then buy for kids, I think every airline is different, this one would charge 10% of adult ticket for lap seat for kid, and about 75% of adult ticket if you buy seat, I know it's a lot, but hey, we don't have a choice.

glad to read the tips about gate checking the stroller and car seats, I am wondering, can I use my snugride graco carseats in a rental car there without the base?

oh well, we have a lot of time to organize.....this will be our 1st big trip/flight with kids!

alexa

 

QUOTE(alexafaeh @ Jan 21 2009, 11:51 AM) [snapback]1155944[/snapback]
I am wondering, can I use my snugride graco carseats in a rental car there without the base?


Probably, but a year and a half they will probably have outgrown that seat.

 

QUOTE(Leighann @ Jan 21 2009, 03:13 PM) [snapback]1156451[/snapback]
Probably, but a year and a half they will probably have outgrown that seat.



hugh, leighann, you're right! I haven't even thought about that....I guess they will be flying in their next stage carseat...