Comments on: Why isn’t there an infant fare for frequent flyer miles?

By: Matthew Holt

Matthew Holt — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:30:15 +0000

Let’s be clear–this is pure fucking theft. I’ve just run into this exact situation. I bought a miles ticket for business class, but for an infatn on my lap they want 10% of the full friehgt business rate

I cant pay with miles, I cant; pay 10% of the base cost of economy — yet there are ZERO extra costs for the kid sitting on my lap in business vs economy. The $600 more I’ll be paying goes straight to the airlines bottom line

In addition a business class ticket for award travel is only double the cost of an economy one. A cash business class fare is about 5 time it. I didnt pay cash, so at most I should pay double what it costs in economy–but the thieving bastards at American want 5 times the amount.

By: Christian

Christian — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:54:12 +0000

When booking the ticket(s) book them as adults and show up at the airport. That has never created a problem for us and our two kids both within the US as well as on transatlantic flights. Check-in and gate agents as well as security screeners have an uncanny ability to match one ticket with one human being without questioning anything whatsoever. And when planning, sometimes it pays to make a few phone calls and probe a little bit, then go ahead and call back and get confirmation of the answer you wanted and reference both phone calls. Have ticket – will board… technically you are “overpaying” for an infant when you get an adult ticket so don’t overcomplicate things and “volunteer” to pay the adult fare…

By: craig

craig — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:53:52 +0000

Before I had a child I wasn’t thrilled if there was a baby close by that was screaming but I certainly didn’t think they didn’t have a right to be there! If someone with a child buys a business class ticket for their family they should be able to fly in that class. Children can be loud for sure but please stop being so elitist as to say that they should be sent to the back of the plane. I fly business class every chance I get now with my 7 month old, it makes a parents journey much, much easier.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:39:31 +0000

I’m going through this with Delta right now on an itinerary to South Africa. I have infant twins and have booked an award ticket for both my wife and I for economy class. I had quite an argument with customer service over the explanation of the infant-in-arms international fee. A CS agent first told me it was 10% of the base fare plus taxes and fees for the ticketed itinerary on that day (not the day of flight, the day of ticketing!). I then spoke to a ‘supervisor’ who explained that it is actually a fee that is calculated by determining the average fare for the market being serviced. In otherwords, it appears that Delta needs to determine how much a ticket to Africa SHOULD cost, not how much it actually costs. The problem of course is, if you’re not a Platinum and you suddenly find out your ‘free’ ticket is actually going to cost you over $1k, you have to pay to redeposit your miles if you can’t afford the trip. A separate mileage tier for infants is a much more transparent and productive way for airlines to deal with customers. I’m wondering if I would have to pay the infant fees if I booked on Air France or KLM.

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:16:54 +0000

I used to wonder why I would occasionally see infants/toddlers in business class. The first thought was “wow, their parents must be rich”. Now that I have a 9 month old who just took her first transatlantic flight last month, I know why. I have tons of miles and it was a very easy decision for me. Pay 10% of the full fare or use miles for biz class – use the miles. My child was very happy. On the way there, she slept most of the time in her car seat and had lots of room to play on the floor (bulkhead biz class seat – used the duvet to cover the floor) on the way back. It was relatively stress free for all of us. Spending 7-9 hours with an infant on your lap sounds about as appealing as nails on a chalkboard.

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:13:33 +0000

Thanks for the correction/clarification, Gary.

With regards to the bmi (British Midland, or airline code BD) Diamond Club as a program for collecting Star Alliance miles, I would add that they’ll give you 3000 miles just for signing up. You get the bonus even if you don’t fly with them.

Alternatively, if you know you will fly with bmi, and you join their program, you can get 9000 bonus miles, if you join and fly before March 31, 2009.

bmi’s redemption chart for flight awards is here.

By: apoivre

apoivre — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:58:39 +0000

Yet another reason to park your *A miles in BD Diamond Club:

Infants under 2 years, accompanied by an adult and not occupying a seat, travel free on all flights. Children aged 2-11 years (inclusive) travel for approximately 75% of the adult redemption level on bmi, but for 100% on all partner flights.

By: Gary Leff

Gary Leff — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:51:45 +0000

This varies entirely by airline (note: the ticketing airline, not the airline you’re flying).

For example, Qantas, Lufthansa, and british midland (among others) do not charge anything for an infant fare other than some de minimus incremental taxes.

United will charge 10% of full fare for an infant on an award internationally, I believe. But if your United award flights are redeemed for out of a Lufthansa Miles & More account, the infant is free. The ticketing carrier’s policies are what applies here. A great demonstration of how choice of frequent flyer program matters! And ‘babies on planes’ and ‘babies in premium cabins’ discussions aside, 10% of full fare on an award ticket is ludicrous regardless of class of service, though I suppose I could swallow 10% of lowest published fare for the route….

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:00:12 +0000

Maybe it’s an income thing, but my sister never flew with a child on her lap when they were babies. Always bought a seat and used a child car seat.

By: Asy

Asy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:48:50 +0000

We paid around $800 for each child on a lap. It was Delta\Aeroflot one way business class Denver-JFK-Moscow. And we hhad a big problem with issuing the infants tickets, because our was paid by miles and babies are paid in full.. It’s impossible to book mixed (paid with miles and by money) pax in one PNR and it’s prohibited to issue just babies without parents in the same reservation. So it was i huge problem.