Long haul with 6 month baby

[marcoakis]

I'm flying next year with my soon to be born baby girl. She'll be 6 months by the time we fly to LA from Melbourne, so I'm bracing myself for a long flight.

From a cabin preference, I'm tossing between 3 options:

- Have my wife or me fly Business class with the baby
- Fly with my wife premium economy
- Fly economy and buy an extra seat between us

For the first option I'd be using points to upgrade and I don't have enough points to upgrade us both.

What are your thoughts?

Marco

 

[Hvr]

Do remember that baby girl will need her own ticket and she'll only be allowed to travel in her ticketed cabin.

Congrations on your impending fatherhood and don't forget to enrol her in your chosen FF program as soon as she can earn points.

 

[marcoakis]

I was under the impression that children under the age of 2 do not need a full ticket.

Flying With Children | Virgin Australia

 

[Hvr]

I was under the impression that children under the age of 2 do not need a full ticket.

Flying With Children | Virgin Australia

Sorry I missed the bit where this was in the Virgin thread.

 

[blackcat20]

For the first option I'd be using points to upgrade and I don't have enough points to upgrade us both.

And points upgrades are never guaranteed.

 

[Mumfreqflyer]

Both of you fly premium economy.

My 1st child is very well travelled including to Las Vegas from perth and she was a dream right up until around 14 months....

6 months she will just sleep quite a bit of it anyway.

If you do decide to fly economy, no need to buy an extra seat as you should be able to allocate the bassinet seats which give you some more leg room anyway.

 

[docjames]

I'd go premium economy together - the cost is likely to be marginal vs 3 economy seats. You'll be more comfortable overall, and the cabin crew a little more time/flexibility to assist (eg. Deferring meals if you're feeding the baby).

Don't forget to buy the infant ticket (!). And to request a bassinet row seat (if available).

 

[Mumfreqflyer]

Also if there are specials on at the moment buy your tickets and add your infant in when they are born with names and DOB...

 

[Quickstatus]

We travelled with out twins and daughter SYD-CDG when the twins were 1.5 and daughter 3.5

If you get an infant ticket - you will not get a seat for infant but you will get some luggage allowance. The bassinet in my experience can be hit and miss. You may or may not get a bassinet - depends on whether there are any other infants in your cabin. BOOK early and arrive at airport really EARLY. An infant ticket does not guarantee a bassinet. I have seen pax with non infant occupying bassinet seat while pax with infant relegated to non bassinet seat (Air Canada!!!)

Bassinet: remember than when the seat belt sign comes on (eg turbulence) you are actually required to take baby out of bassinet and put the infant into seatbelt which is attached to yours. This is even if infant has just gone off to sleep after hours of crying and turbulence happens. Depending on the crew they may choose to enforce this rule or let it pass.

Car seat on aeroplane. you can actually fit a small baby car seat onto a airline seat. This way the infant is in its own car seat which you can use while on holidays - rental car etc etc. You will need to contact airline to see if it is compatible for their seat,

I have been on two flights where there were not enough bassinets in the cabin and the parents had to hold the squirming infant for 14 hours in a sardine class seat.


Options: 2 Y+ and bassinet for infant or 3 Y seats - one for each and use car seat in one seat.

If you buy 3 Y seats your chance of getting bassinet could possibly be less as the airline sees the infant with a seat??? therefore does not need bassinet???. - I dont have evidence one way or another. but I would prefer 3 Y with car seat for infant.


We did the car seats for the 1.5 year olds when we went to CDG

So on the B747 (I think it was SQ) we got two car seats for the twins and attached it to the airline seat using the normal seatbelt. The airline engineer came in and attached a special strap to the top of the car seat. \\\\


We had the car seat which transforms to a mini stroller. Dont know name but im sure the baby stroller shops will have options....



Good luck and oh... carry twice the amount of nappies (assume travel time as door to door x2) and formula - we put formula (powder) into several bottle but dont add water until needed.

I have found the antihistamines can sometimes have the opposite effect on young kids and send them berko.....

Dont assume flight attendants will take your infant for a few minutes while you eat your meal. They wont... In fact in my many travels no flight attendant ever offered to look after infant. That said some airlines have inflight nannies - but i would not rely on them. Its likely these airlines will have larger number of infants - so even less bassinet chances.

 

[xtra]

We travel internationally regularly with our now 17-month-old. I remember how nerve-racking our first long-haul flight was ... But honestly it's a breeze at six months. She only became challenging a couple of months later, firstly because she couldn't fit into a bassinet and secondly when she became mobile (too young to be distracted by entertainment, too old to sit still!).

Definitely book early and secure a bassinet - at six months they'll fit and likely sleep. In the premium cabins it's much less likely there'll be other infants, so you have a better chance of a) getting a bassinet and b) not being disturbed by other infants.

The ultimate is to go Business. The bassinet position is in row 5 by the window. If the three of you are travelling together, you have your own cabin (two seats, one bassinet) once the curtain is pulled. I'd be trying to get your points balance up so you can achieve this, particularly as Virgin confirm upgrades ahead of time.

If you can't get there, Premium is significantly better than Economy. The only downside (I believe) is that the bassinet position is in the middle set of four seats, not the two by the window.

I'd never split up in different cabins. Our baby rarely sleeps on demand so we take turns eating etc. The extra set of hands is vital.

 

[Simo]

IMHO,

If you fly Economy book a comfort seat so the little one can lie down.

We have done that before and you don't have to pay taxes.