It's official. You've just planned your first trip overseas as new parents, and you want to take your baby with you on the international flight. Congrats! But before you start making yourself a list of the essentials for your journey, such as diapers, formula, and toys, keep in mind that the first thing you'll need is a ticket. If you've flown with your baby around the U.S., you might not realize that this detail is a little more complicated than you're used to.
An infant needs a ticket on an international flight – yes, even if you are planning to have your little one sit, lie and wiggle on your lap for the entire trip. And you'll have to shell out for it, too: the price is usually 10% of the adult fare, plus any international taxes and fees.
Once you've purchased a ticket for your infant, you might feel like you are all set. But don't trust the airlines to make things smooth for you. Instead, take a few steps to protect yourself, because errors involving these tickets are frequent, and you don't want to find yourself the victim as you try to board a plane.
How to Buy a Ticket for an Infant Flying Internationally
Purchasing an international airline ticket for an infant in arms is less straightforward than buying your own. The simplest strategy is to purchase all your tickets over the phone from an airline agent or a travel agent. When you purchase your tickets, just tell them you have an infant and would like to get his or her ticket at that time.
Nowadays, most fliers purchase their tickets on the internet, using "bargain-hunter" websites such as Travelocity, Expedia, or Priceline. These websites are definitely a great resource. Keep in mind, though, that their systems are often unable to sell you the infant ticket, even if you have ticked a box that said "infant in arms."
Once you finish your transaction, immediately try to get someone from the internet site on the phone. Ask them if you have bought an infant ticket. Most probably, you won't have one yet. They should be happy to sell you one.
But there's more!
Is There Going to be a Paper Ticket for My Infant's International Flight?
Feel like it's complicated yet? Now here's this: most of us, after 20 years on the internet, don't even remember the days when one received a paper ticket in the mail and had to remember to bring it to the airport on departure day. E-tickets have been a great boon for those of us with less-than-stellar memories, for example, the sleep-deprived parents of young children. This hasn't stopped some airlines from requiring that their international infant tickets be issued on paper, mailed to you and presented at check-in time.
On the day of your flight, if you don't have that paper ticket in hand and they are expecting one, they will send you to the ticket counter to purchase another one before you can check your infant in. This is expensive, and definitely an unwanted additional hassle when traveling with children.
When buying the ticket over the phone, be sure to ask if this is an e-ticket or paper ticket. If they are sending you a paper ticket, ask when it should arrive. Mark your calendar. If it hasn't arrived a few days after it's due, give them a call and let them know. Do your best to have the paper ticket in hand before the departure date, and don't forget to bring it to the airport!
Most importantly, don't get off of the phone with the agent without writing down the infant's ticket number. If it doesn't arrive, at least you'll have documentation that the ticket was purchased.
Don't Throw Away the Boarding Pass
It may seem that once you've presented the paper ticket and boarded the outgoing leg of your flight that all will be smooth sailing from then on. Unfortunately, fliers have arrived for the return leg of their journey, and even been halfway through it and trying to make a connection, only to be told that the airline has no record that the ticket was ever sold. At this point, the airline will make you purchase another infant ticket. Obviously, this is a scenario everyone would like to avoid.
Keep all your boarding passes handy, even the used ones. An outgoing infant boarding pass provides proof that you did own an infant ticket. Since boarding passes can be issued without a ticket number on them, try to also keep a written or electronic copy of all the ticket numbers.
If you have this information, it's less likely that the airline can make you spend money that you already spent.
These simple steps should help you avoid any ticketing problems on the day you fly internationally with your infant:
- At the time you purchase your tickets, call to confirm that your infant ticket has been purchased.
- Is it a paper ticket? Then make a note of when it's expected to arrive and call if it doesn't.
- Write down your infant's ticket number, and have that information with you at the airport.
- Keep all your boarding passes handy, even used ones, until the trip is over.
- And of course, don't forget baby's passport either.
Bon voyage!
Ellery Klein - Ellery Klein's writing career began in high school, at the acclaimed School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, where ...
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