tjlewis

can anyone give me some advice on travelling to uk with my 4 mth old baby girl. i thought under 2 yrs they flew free, this doesn't seem to be the case. i always fly with either virgin or ba and both charge but i don't know what the arrangements are on board. do i get a seat or not, if not can i take my car seat on as luggage as i will need one when i get there? i think maybe some kind of sky cot is provided but not sure .please can any one with experience on this help me out ,web sites don't make it very clear. cheers:

hobbes79

Never flown with Virgin with a baby.

BA do have the basket which fits into the bulkhead of the plane - but they are not guaranteed. You need to check and ask before the plane takes off, since they might have some around. The times I flew they had them already, but that might have been luck. Without that, you are holding the baby the entire flight - a bit exhausting after a while. But those seats at the bulkhead are first come first served. So show up to the airport early. Or try calling ahead and try your luck... you might find someone in a generous mood on the phones.

When we showed up, the bulkhead seats were taken in economy, so they upgraded us to World Traveler Plus Ask for this if you are having problems.

For take off and landing, you'll need to attach the baby to you. The air host/ess will help you with this - no problem.

You can take a car seat, but unless you pay extra for the baby to have a seat (you'll need to pay the child rate - not infant) then it will just be luck if you can locate a free seat.

Unless you want to carry the baby the entire time while waiting to take off, take your pram. You can check it as you board the plane.

Yeah, expect to pay for the baby on international flights. I think domestic in the US they are free.

When flying back (and perhaps flying out) expect security to be a complete pain in the arse about bringing milk/liquids on board. Expect to have to taste it . When flying out of Heathrow (and probably Gatwick) after security there is a Boots where you can buy more if you had problems at security. We had ours taken away (the packets were sealed, so to open them and taste them would effectively destroy them... not much point) so bought more at Boots. Not the end of the world, just irritating.

That's all I can think of for now - good luck!!

AlienUk

Took my son at 4 months to the States.
Babies travel free, but you pay taxes, probably about £60.
When you make your reservation, ask them to reserve a cot.
You can take both a car seat and a pushchair free, but you will have to keep the baby on your lap unless there are spare seats.
If you breastfeed, try and feed the baby as you are taking off and landing, it stops that horrible ear thingy...Bring some rattles and toys.....My son slept the whole journey, so I didn't have to use them

commoner

As far as I know, on Delta and other airlines, children under 2 fly for free if they share your seat. If you pay for a seat for your baby, usually it's at a reduced rate. Call the different airlines to clarify.

I flew with my daughter for the first time when she was 8-months-old. The only thing I can stress to you is don't expect any help with your infant.

Also, at least in Gatwick airport, babies are not allowed to ride on the motorized carts. On coming back from Atlanta to Gatwick, several elderly people stayed behind and waited for a cart. I asked a steward if he would reserve one for me and my child (and the heavy bag and car seat I was carrying), and he said sure.

After getting off the plane last, the man on the cart said, "No babies allowed, lady." I had to place my infant in her car seat, and drag her in the seat on the floor from gate 54 to immigration. And along that entire stretch there was no help. :curse:

Still pisses me off thinking about it!

penguinsix

Babies can fly as a 'lap baby' on many flights for free, or for taxes only, meaning they sit in your lap However, you don't normally get an additional luggage allowance for them and on an 8 hour flight, you're going to get a bit tired.

You can ask about an 'infant fare' for children under two, and for a flight to the UK, I'd actually recommend it as it will give you an extra seat for them to spread out.

As for other things, bring two or three of everything, pacifiers, wash clothes, toys, etc. Expect everything to land on the floor (and that is not very clean). I'd also get some cleaning wipes for the handrests, seats, other things the baby will touch (and if you want to gross yourself out, clean the headrest on your seat).

Other than that, try for the bulkhead as you can get the bassinet to put the baby up on that little part. The only downside with the bulkhead is there is no under seat storage for the diaper bag and other things.

Good luck.

kins

Take more diapers/nappies than you think you'll need. Allow for delays and much more poo than expected.

Take a sling to carry your baby, and put all your baby gear in a backpack. That way if you can't get your stroller back till you get to the luggage carousel you will still be able to walk around the airport comfortably.

Poppy girl

There should be collapsible cots in the mid of the aircraft on all planes when you book inform them that you have an infant but the child must be strapped into your seat with you for take of and landing.

chicagojlo

They will give you a 'lapbelt' for the takeoff and landing. It's a baby seat belt that attaches to yours then goes around the baby. You will have to have them sitting up on your lap for this. No laying down even if baby is sleeping. You should also ensure they are either sucking a dummy if they have one or drinking something (even water) to avoid ear trouble taking off and landing.
For seats - a lot of the times we have flown the check in staff have tried to leave us with a spare seat so that we could spread out. But it's not always possible, especially if you turn up towards the late end of check in. You can't usually check in online with a baby ticket so you'll have to do it at the airport which means a lot of the seats will be gone. Sitting near the back of the plane is your best hope of getting space as most want to sit near the front (to save a whole minute when they land).
Also the smaller your stroller, the more likely it is that they'll let you take it airside, and deliver it to you on landing rather than sending it through to baggage claim. Make sure you ask them to tag it as deliver to gate when you check in for the most chance of getting it straight away on landing, but be prepared to not get it.
The car seat issue - I'm divided. It's bad for the baby to spend so long in the seat, so I wouldn't normally say take it on board, but if you check it then of course you risk it getting lost and if you need it at the other end you will be screwed so it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. We never drove with our little one overseas so whoever picked us up always brought a seat for us. Grandma and Grandad have one we left with them for that specific purpose. When we travel stateside we rent them from Hertz with the car, but we get them for free because we are frequent renters!
Also - the obvious but don't forget the baby needs it's own passport! I have heard some amazing stories...

MsElui

american airlines made us pay for the infant. he had no seat but we were lucky enough to get a bulkhead cot for some of our flights. Otherwise he had to go on one of our laps. AA also do not use an infant strap on landing/take off anymore - you just have to hold them.

miss scouse atl

If you plan on taking your car seat make sure it is airline approved. There will be a sticker on it somewhere in red writing telling you if its ok.

If you need baby milk/food heating up just ask the crew and they should do it for you. Hopefully if they are a nice flight attendant like myself they will also offer to help you with all your bags as you are getting on.

I am not a mother (yet) but I always see people with small babies and kids and wonder how the hell they manage when they travel!

Have a safe trip!

chicagojlo

I forgot, the infant belts are not mandatory in the US, but they are in Europe.

kez81

I recently flew with a 4 month old from oz to the uk then back again she was fantastic booked a bassinet and she slept most of the time but you need to book them i think its fine to take the carseat on board but you will have to store it on the over head locker, i was charged 10% of a adult fare for my infant not sure if its the same from the USA.

neil

I don't think it's free any more. When we went to the UK for Christmas (with a 5 month old) all the airlines were charging $25 for an infant without a seat - the kicker was that somehow taxes were about $200 for the infant. We ended up flying with BA who were great; we got the bulkhead seats (the weird thing was they put us in other seats for the return so I went online to change our seats around; once I'd put us in the bulkhead seat it wouldn't let me make any more changes because "regulations required infants to be in those seats" - thought that was strange because they didn't put us there to start with).

We didn't need to take a car seat with us so we didn't but worse case scenario you can put it through as checked baggage. I would call and ask the airline. There were others with kids who had the large strollers which got checked at the gate. We decided to travel light and just had her in a sling which worked out great as getting her through the airport at both ends was really easy.

Edit to add: BA has a policy where you can't book the cot in advance but we didn't have a problem both ways in getting one.

Deedee13

infants dont get strapped in anymore, they have to be held . supposed to be safer. Remember if u dont pay for a ticket for baby, and under 2 they are free ur not entitled to the luggage allowance. So think twice before going cheap, especially as excess luggage can be quite pricey.

remember there is a weight limit on the bassinets! If u get one!

hobbes79

I know a US/Brit couple who had their baby in the UK (they lived there). They knew the kid had a claim to US citizenship, so went to the US embassy to get a US passport since they were flying to the US a week later. At the Embassy, they asked if that had gotten the baby a UK passport, which he was of course also entitled to. They hadn't. The US Embassy pointed out that when they returned, the baby would only be able to enter the UK as a tourist and would technically need to leave! With no time to sort that out, they want anyway.

They got a hard time upon arricing back in the UK, but were told to just get the UK passport ASAP and present it later to prove the baby can indeed stay (which got me thinking, would the US would be so easy going!?).