Flying with Lap Baby

I plan to fly back to the states in December with my husband and the baby I'm currently pregnant with. I'm due at the end of November, so she will be quite small and I'm happy to have her as a lap baby.

Do I need to buy her a ticket? I've never dealt with this before and I'm just wondering how it all works. We are hoping to buy the tickets soon, but they tend to ask for names of passengers which, being unborn, the baby doesn't have. Do I just buy our tickets and add her on? Does it depend entirely on the airline? It's funny how I've done this a million times but add one small person and I feel like I'm back to square one!

Thanks for any advice.

I forget exactly how we did it, but we definitely bought tickets before our first was born for a trip home.  It was on Virgin Atlantic.  I called them and spoke to someone and they did the whole thing for me over the phone (I think that you couldn't even book a lap baby online).  There is a fee for a lap baby on transatlantic flights, I think it's the taxes or some admin fee, but it's always been about $200 or so when we have flown with little ones.

There are a few threads kicking around about getting a passport(s) and the right visa, if needed, before you fly with your new baby.  End of November to December doesn't leave you much time, so make sure you have a plan in place for getting the right travel docs for the baby.

As far as I know you need a name to book the ticket. when we flew with my son as a lap baby his ticket cost 10% of an adult fare.  

If you are due at the end of november you're not leaving much time at all as you could go up to two weeks after due date. You'll need to register the child's birth with your local registry office, register their birth abroad with the US Embassy and get them their US passport (as well as sending off for their British one if your husband is British).

Realistically I don't think you will have enough time to get that all in.

Hiya - My husband and I have been flying with our 18 month old (back and forth to Europe and elsewhere) since she was 3 months old. 

She sits in one of our laps - so what we need to do is when we book our flight - we include her name as a passenger as well.  Some airlines (when booking online) then confirm if they will sit on your lap or have a separate seat.  Once you confirm lap, you'll see typically the tax only added onto your total.  But yes, every time my daugther needed her own ticket.  And I believe every time we needed to pay 10% of fare or taxes (never full fare + taxes).

I agree about the passport timing stuff, maybe something to think about.

I've done the lap baby thing often as well but I think we waited till after we had a passport in hand to book tickets just incase something goes wrong.  Awhile ago I booked the ticket myself then had to call to add the baby as a lap and more recently I was able to just add them to my ticket online.  I'd call the airline you are looking at to see what they say.  Our trip last month I think we paid less than $100 for the baby. 

Every time I flew with a small baby I requested a bassinet which was a huge help.

Agreed with the others that you are going to be pushing it to get the birth registered, go to the embassy to register the birth and get US passport and get the UK passport.  You'll have to do all of those--you know you will need both passports, right? It's a lot to do when you will be tired after just having a new baby, but if you want to push to get it done, more power to you.

All that aside, I booked an international flight while I was still expecting my little one.  It was just an EasyJet flight, but I'll share my experience. I decided to telephone and ask what to do before I booked any tickets online because I was worried about the fact that we didn't have a name yet, and we could always be surprised to have a boy when we thought it would be a girl. They advised me that I would need a name, and would have to pay to change the name if I booked the tickets and we named the baby something different than was on the tickets. I believe they had me do my tickets online for the rest of the family, but I was able to call in and add her to my ticket later without incurring any additional charges.  I'd check with your specific airline first though to be certain.

Do also call once you have the tickets and try to reserve the bassinet seats. You then get the galley, so you have more room for baby stuff, and that cot is a life-saver!! Sometimes you can reserve it in advance, and sometimes it goes to whoever reserves it first on the day, so you'll want to show up early at the airport.

If you're flying United this section from their website gives info on requesting a bassinet: http://www.united.com/web/en-us/content/travel/specialneeds/infants/default.aspx

Happy flying

I agree that your turn around time is quite tight. We flew Aer Lingus in May and we booked our son's flight over the phone after booking our flights online. On the phone we were able to request the bassinet seats for both legs, which was pretty handy. I'll also plug flying Aer Lingus with a baby - they were brilliant.

Also, keep in mind that your baby won't have all (or any depending on when you deliver) vaccines. I guess that personally, I'd be a little nervous taking such a tiny baby on a germy international flight. You might want to get an opinion from your GP or pediatrician.