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Award Travel with Baby: Lap Infant Fees Guide
Navigating award travel with an infant comes with unique challenges, especially understanding those often-surprising lap infant fees. This guide simplifies how these fees are calculated, explains your booking options, and shares smart strategies to minimize costs for your family's next adventure.
Understanding Lap Infant Fees on Award Travel
Planning a trip using points and miles is a rewarding experience, but adding a baby to the reservation introduces a few crucial extra steps. While you might assume your "free" award flight would extend to your little one, airlines have specific rules and fees for infants that can catch even seasoned travelers by surprise. This guide will walk you through exactly what to expect, from how lap infant fees on award travel are calculated to the exact process for booking, ensuring you can make the most of your hard-earned points without breaking the budget.
A "lap infant" is a child under two years of age who travels on an adult's lap rather than in their own seat. For domestic U.S. flights, this is often free or only requires paying nominal government taxes. Internationally, however, the costs can be significant. Airlines typically charge a percentage of the adult's cash fare (usually 10%), plus applicable taxes and hefty carrier-imposed surcharges. This is the most important takeaway: the fee is not based on the miles you used but on the cash price of your ticket at the time of booking. This means a "free" business class award seat that would have cost $5,000 in cash could result in a $500 lap infant fee, which is always paid in cash, not miles.
Your Two Options: Lap Infant vs. A Separate Seat
When booking award travel with an infant, you have two primary choices, each with distinct pros and cons.
Option 1: The Lap Infant This is the most common choice, especially for short domestic flights where the cost is minimal.
- Pros: It's the most cost-effective option, often free or very cheap for flights within the U.S.
- Cons: On long-haul international flights, comfort can be an issue for both you and your baby. From a safety perspective, the FAA recommends all passengers, including infants, have their own seat. Furthermore, the international lap infant fees can sometimes be surprisingly high, diminishing the value of your award booking.
Option 2: Book a Separate Seat for Your Infant Using Miles This involves booking an additional award ticket for your child, just as you would for an adult.
- Pros: This is the safest option, as you can use an FAA-approved car seat onboard. It also provides significantly more comfort and personal space for the entire family.
- Cons: The primary drawback is the cost—it requires redeeming the full number of miles for another adult ticket, which can be a substantial expense. This is where strategies like family pooling to unlock travel rewards faster can be especially helpful.
How to Add an Infant to an Award Booking: A Step-by-Step Guide
Unlike booking adult tickets online, adding a lap infant to an award reservation almost always requires a phone call. The process cannot be completed online.
- Book the Adult Award Tickets First: Secure your own seats online as you normally would. Have your confirmation number or record locator handy.
- Call the Airline Directly: This is the most critical step. You must call the airline operating the flight, which may be different from the airline whose miles you used thanks to airline alliances and transfer partners (e.g., if you used United miles to book a Lufthansa flight, you would call Lufthansa).
- Provide Your Infant’s Details: Have your infant's full name, date of birth, and passport information (for international travel) ready to provide to the agent.
- Inquire About the Fee and Pay: Ask the agent for the exact cost of the lap infant fees for your award travel. If the quoted fee seems excessively high, it's worth politely ending the call and trying again with a different agent, as calculations can sometimes be inconsistent. Once you confirm the price, you'll pay it over the phone with a credit card.
Smart Strategies & Airline Policies to Minimize Lap Infant Fees
High lap infant fees can quickly erode the value of an award ticket, but with some strategic planning, you can keep costs down. A key strategy is to choose your airline and booking method carefully. Some frequent flyer programs, like Air Canada's Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, offer a flat fee or a fixed number of points for lap infants, which is often much cheaper than the standard 10% of the cash fare.
Another powerful tactic is to avoid carriers known for high fuel surcharges, as these are passed on to the infant. British Airways is a primary example, where lap infant fees in premium cabins can easily exceed $1,000. Instead, look for airlines with lower surcharges or book through partner programs that don’t pass them on. For example, booking an ANA flight using Virgin Atlantic points can be an excellent value and a great example of an award chart sweet spot. Finally, always compare the final lap fee to the cost of booking a separate award seat for your infant—sometimes, the price difference is small enough to justify the added safety and comfort.
- U.S. Airlines: Southwest is the domestic champion, as lap infants fly completely free. American, Delta, United, and Alaska typically only charge taxes and fees on domestic itineraries.
- International Airlines to Watch: British Airways and Lufthansa are notorious for high fees tied to high cash fares and surcharges. Air Canada/Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic are often more favorable, offering fixed-rate options. Air France/KLM Flying Blue follows the standard 10% rule.
Essential Logistics and Final FAQs
Before you fly, ensure you have all the necessary infant travel documents for international journeys. A passport is required for your baby for any international flight. It's also wise to carry a copy of their birth certificate. If only one parent is traveling, a notarized letter of consent from the other parent is highly recommended. Many long-haul aircraft are equipped with bassinets, but they are limited and have strict weight/length restrictions. You must request one by calling the airline immediately after booking.
Remember, your child must be under the age of two for the entire duration of the trip to qualify as a lap infant. If they turn two during your vacation, you will be required to purchase a one-way ticket for them for the return flight at the prevailing cash price. Lap infants do not earn miles, and even if you book your adult tickets through a credit card portal like Chase or Amex, you must still call the airline directly to add your infant. By planning ahead, understanding the fees, and choosing the right airline, your first award trip with your baby can be both memorable and affordable.
