Infant Travel

[essell]

I'm flying with a toddler and a 6 month old baby in a few weeks to Manchester from nyc, They only have with a stop for the dates I'm looking for would anyone know if they give back the stroller at the gate when I get off the plane in BRU which is Brussels airport or DUS which is Düsseldorf int.? I flew last year through LHR which is London and they dont give back the stroller at gate only with luggage!!!! I had to schlepp around the airport with a baby in my hand....

[mmermss]

I'm flying with a toddler and a 6 month old baby in a few weeks to Manchester from nyc, They only have with a stop for the dates I'm looking for would anyone know if they give back the stroller at the gate when I get off the plane in BRU which is Brussels airport or DUS which is Düsseldorf int.? I flew last year through LHR which is London and they dont give back the stroller at gate only with luggage!!!! I had to schlepp around the airport with a baby in my hand....

 

[L'Chaim]

They should give you the stroller when you exit the plane regardless if you have a connecting flight or not.
Obviously you if you gate-check the stroller 

[essell]

They should give you the stroller when you exit the plane regardless if you have a connecting flight or not.
Obviously you if you gate-check the stroller 

Here is what I got as email reply from BA:
-------------------------
Dear ....

I am sorry we have been unable to reply to you sooner.

Usually you can keep the pushchair (stroller) beyond the check in desk area, if you want to. Our check in staff will provide you with a baggage tag to be fastened onto the pushchair.

Upon boarding the aircraft, the pushchair should be handed-over to a member of the British Airways team so it can be stored in the aircraft hold.

Upon arrival at your destination, you will find the pushchair at the aircraft side, if this is not possible, it will be delivered to the baggage arrivals hall.

Further, London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports have already advised us that, due to the volume of flights and passengers that use the airport, they are unable to deliver children's pushchairs at the aircraft side. It must be collected from the baggage arrivals hall.

This may also be the case at other airports and we advise passengers to check with the airport they are travelling from as we cannot guarantee that buggies can be taken beyond check in at all airports.

For your information, infants who have not reached their 2nd birthday will be permitted a baggage allowance of one piece and will be permitted an additional fully collapsible pushchair, and a car seat.

I hope the above information is useful to you.

[Ergel]

Got to love bringlish

[RT]

What's the best way to add a baby to my itinerary? She will be 3 mths old when we travel.  I booked ticket just for me and my husband.

Also, bottom line, does AA allow infant car seats if there's an empty seat? ( i know i came in in middle of this discussion..)

BTW, booked my flights on AA.com and booked using our FF#'s why am I not offered any decent seats? I know premium seats are reserved for ppl with status or if you pay but why are they blocking off all aisle and windows and only showing middles? Is this some way to sucker me into buying a seat?!

[Mocha]

What's the best way to add a baby to my itinerary? She will be 3 mths old when we travel.  I booked ticket just for me and my husband.

Also, bottom line, does AA allow infant car seats if there's an empty seat? ( i know i came in in middle of this discussion..)

BTW, booked my flights on AA.com and booked using our FF#'s why am I not offered any decent seats? I know premium seats are reserved for ppl with status or if you pay but why are they blocking off all aisle and windows and only showing middles? Is this some way to sucker me into buying a seat?!

Are you flying domestic or intl?

[RT]

Are you flying domestic or intl?

Domestic..

[Mocha]

Domestic..

you can either call AA and simply add the infant by phone or you can wait until check-in. It takes 2 minutes either way.

AA officially allows car seats on board if there is an empty seat next to yours, if there isn't they will just gate-check it. (remember that per FAA regulations the car seat must be by the window seat)

[RT]

Any idea why I can't pre-select a decent seat?

[Mocha]

Any idea why I can't pre-select a decent seat?

Maybe they no longer are available?

[RT]

Maybe they no longer are available?

Apparently according to the agent I spoke to, they hold a whole bunch of seats till the day of departure. I can pay $19/seat if I want to make sure I get a decent seat......

[BP13]

Does United give bassinets for infants on domestic flights ?  JFK-LAX (first class)

[BP13]

Does United give bassinets for infants on domestic flights ?  JFK-LAX (first class)

Any1 knows ?

[kosher]

Hi folks,

I am new here, so please be gentle with me.  I tried looking around for some help regarding my trip to Isreal with my baby, I even tried posting on flyertalk.com, but I am not getting adequate information.  Perhaps this audience is more "family friendly" and has more specific experience and can help me.

Basic story is that my neice is getting married in Isreal.  I booked two business class award tickets for me and my wife (that was all that was available as an award at the time I booked).  I need to take along my baby who will be 10 1/2 months old at the time and not very small.  The airlines confirmed bassinets, but various forums are getting me concerned that they might not be big enough.  Any experience with my specific flights or any other ideas how to deal with the baby (and in general make the trip manageable) would be greatly appreciated.

Here are the flights:

Tue UA978 I (Business Class) NEWARK, NJ (EWR - LIBERTY) 6:50 PM ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ZRH) 8:40 AM 767-300 Dinner
 
LX254 I (Business Class) ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ZRH) 9:45 AM TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (TLV) 2:40 PM A-330
 
(Destination)
 
LX257 I (Business Class) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (TLV) 5:30 AM ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ZRH) 8:50 AM A-330 Breakfast
 
LH1185 I (Business Class) ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (ZRH) 9:50 AM FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 11:05 AM ERJ 190
 
LH402 I (Business Class) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 1:30 PM NEWARK, NJ (EWR - LIBERTY) 4:05 PM 747-400

Thanks everyone for the help!!

Update:

My baby weighed in at 20.5 lbs a few days before the trip

I asked in the lounge about an empty seat for my baby on UA and the response was something like, "sure there are seats available - the cost is $5200"
 
When I was connected in ZRH, as soon as I got to the gate the agents noticed I had a baby and went on the computer to find an empty seat. (They approached me before I could get to them.) When they noticed that there were empty seats, but not next to me, they paged the lounge to ask the person next to us to see if he would change his seat (he did).
 
On the way back, there were no empty seats so this wasn't relevant.

UA - Bassinet was flimsy and too small. We could not use it.  We had him sleep on one of our seats in the flat position while we sat at the end of the bed/seat reading and keeping him safe

LX - On one flight they proactively found an extra seat for him, as mentioned above (which he didn't end up sleeping in).  On the second flight we used the bassinet. It was a drop tight, but we put him in already sleeping and he slept for another hour.

LH - Pretty good bassinet.  He slept in for a few hours and once even went to sleep in it (with a little encouraging on my part)

In general, I still think that two business class seats were a lot better than three coach ones would have been (except perhaps on the first flight).

[L'Chaim]

Nice report! 

[mmermss]

Does any one know of a way to get UA to reserve a bassinet seat in Y international for a baby not born yet?  Let me explain...can I up UA and tell them I want to add an infant to the ticket (the infant isnt born yet) and make up a name and bday, so they will say yes and give me the bassinet seat thats available.  Then call up after and cancel the infant ticket...but still keep the bassinet seats (?).  Then when the baby is actually born..all i'll have to do is call UA and add the infant on again just for the return and ill already be booked in the bassinet seats.

The advantage of this is that if I wait till baby is born..the bassinet seat might not be available anymore (there only one more available on the return flight).

Any one familiar with this?  Do you think it would work? Would me being *G with TK help?

TIA!

[Dan]

Does any one know of a way to get UA to reserve a bassinet seat in Y international for a baby not born yet?  Let me explain...can I up UA and tell them I want to add an infant to the ticket (the infant isnt born yet) and make up a name and bday, so they will say yes and give me the bassinet seat thats available.  Then call up after and cancel the infant ticket...but still keep the bassinet seats (?).  Then when the baby is actually born..all i'll have to do is call UA and add the infant on again just for the return and ill already be booked in the bassinet seats.

The advantage of this is that if I wait till baby is born..the bassinet seat might not be available anymore (there only one more available on the return flight).

Any one familiar with this?  Do you think it would work? Would me being *G with TK help?

TIA!

Yes, you can book a ticket for "Baby Goldberg" and just fix the name after birth.  Agents know how to deal with that.

[mmermss]

Yes, you can book a ticket for "Baby Goldberg" and just fix the name after birth.  Agents know how to deal with that.

Can I do it directly with United?

So I shouldnt cancel the ticket and rebook when infant is born?

They will for sure give me a bassinet seat knowing that there is no infant born yet?

Is it a problem that I already booked everyone else?  Meaning how annoying is it to add a "baby goldberg" now?

Another thing is..the outbound flight the infant wont be born yet..so would the "baby goldberg" ticket get canceled? only on return will there be the infant

And one more thing...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-children/463992-booking-international-ticket-unborn-child.html#post4488447


Thanks

[WhyAich]

Yes, you can book a ticket for "Baby Goldberg" and just fix the name after birth.  Agents know how to deal with that.

which? TA's? AFAIK it's a pain and we can't do it...maybe united reps