Infant Fares on Southwest...

[fterie4u]

Does anyone know or has anyone used the infant fares on Southwest? I was reading about them on their website but they do not mention what the discount is. We are going to WDW in October and are bringing our dd who will be 18 months at the time. We are trying to decide if we should get a seat for her or just hold her. At the moment, she hates her carseat and would rather be held and play on someone's lap.
My parents, brother and his fiancee are coming with us as well so we have plenty of available laps!

What has been your experience? Thanks!

 

[freckles and boo]

In my experience (not with Southwest specifically, mind you) infant fares are typically discounted full fares, which can cost much more than the cheaper adult fares. It would probably be less expensive to just find the best SW fare you can and buy a ticket for her. We always bought seats for our children when they were infants. I am not judging those who don't, but take-offs, landings and turbulence are much safer for kids when they are fastened up. My kids did better overall in their own carseats. They just assumed they had to be buckled up in the airplane because they were buckled up in our car.

 

[ShawnaF]

Flew on Southwest MANY times - if the child is under 2, you can have them ride as a lap child - that's free. HIGHLY recommend doing that. We did that up until our daughter turned 2 and now we keep her in the carseat and she sleeps on the plane. Other question - could her carseat be becoming uncomfortable? Wondering because it was night and day with ours when we got her new carseat.

 

[labst60]

In my experience (4 RT flights from PHL-MCO in the past 2 years) Internet and DING fares have always been signficantly cheaper than the Infant Fare. The advantage of the infant fare (or so I was told by an agent at one point) is that it is fully refundable up until check-in - which means you can change your mind about the seat and still get your money back up until that point.

If you can get a good Internet or DING fare - I'd recommend the seat for your child - even if you decide to check the carseat. For us, the RT fares have always been less than $100 and worth every last penny just to give DD her own space -- and us a little extra room- she even slept with her head on my lap and her body in her seat. I'm sure you'll get lots of opinions on safety, etc - but you know your DD best and you know what will be best with your family - good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[MinnieGi]

I have always come up with good SW fares, Ding! or sale that is cheaper than the so called "infant" fare. To us it is so worth having a seat for the baby. No one in our family now qualifies as a baby, but when they did it was wonderful for the extra room. Even if our baby did not sit the whole flight in his chair it was great to be able to place him in there while getting snack/activity for older child. I also think it helped during take-off and landing being in his own familiar seat.

 

[danielle782001]

Can only access the infant rate by calling but the first response is correct... the discount is only on a full-rate. It is cheaper just to get an adult rate from the interent. Get the seat if you can afford it!! The baby is more likely to be restful and will more much safer!!!

 

[dopeysgirl]

thought id chime in....as someone mentioned, youll get lots of opinions so you just need to consider them all, but ultimately youll know whats best for your child. that being said, my family ALWAYS flys sw (cheapest fair from MD to MO, where the inlaws are) and they always have an early, cheap, direct flight to mickeys house too! anyway, we never bought a seat until the kids officially turned 2. take off, landing, and turbulence wouldve sent them into a tailspin so we wouldve taken them out of the seat and moved them to our laps anyway to quiet the screams, so why not just start them out on your laps and save the $? besides, what safer seatbelt then a mommy's deathgrip bear hug? as i said this is just what our family did....but whatever you decide, be sure to bring lots of goldfish and activities to entertain!

 

[dhardawa]

Buy her a seat and use her car seat. It is WAY safer for her. Nothing can ruin a vacation like an injured or killed child due to turbulence or an emergency landing. In a situation like that, you physically can not hold on to her and she will fly around the cabin. Everything on a plane is strapped down. Even the coffee pots are strapped down. This is done for a reason.

 

[tjmw2727]

It's not required but both the FAA and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend using a CRS for children until the 40lb mark on the aircraft. That was enough for us to purchase a seat for our children even when they were under two.

Do some reading online and make a decision you are comfortable with. Lots of babies fly on laps and do fine but it wasn't a chance we were willing to take.

As mentioned prior the ding or sale fares on SWA are usually much less than the infant fares so that's what we always did. Even on the legacy carriers the regular internet fares are cheaper than the 1/2 price infant fares.

Here is the info from SWA website regarding carseats:
"Proper use of a child restraint device (CRD) enhances child safety on aircraft. For this reason, Southwest Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly recommend that infants and small children who weigh under 40 pounds be secured in an appropriate CRD when traveling by air."

And the link to the full page on traveling with children from SWA:
http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/infants.html#crd

HTH
TJ

 

[tjmw2727]

I forgot to mention that if you do purchase the infant fare or decde to lap sit a child under two make sure you have the childs birth certificate. SWA will require this to prove the child is eligible to fly for free on a lap or at the infant fare. In my experience they are very strict in requiring this.

TJ

 

[jmay127]

We never bought a seat when ds was under 2 but always took the car seat to the gate with us. If they had empty seats they let us take it on the flight and ds basically had a free seat. If the flight was full we just checked the seat at the gate instead. But this was all pre 9/11.

 

[bumbershoot]

When we asked them, they said it was half off the full refundable price. Which is always more than even though $99 fares, and definitely more than the Ding fares, which I've only recently discovered.

 

[HelenePA]

I called once and each WAY was 129$ from Philly to MCO... we just bought him a seat at 49$ each way... MUCH cheaper than their "low price infant fares"!

 

[skjuls]

We never bought a seat when ds was under 2 but always took the car seat to the gate with us. If they had empty seats they let us take it on the flight and ds basically had a free seat. If the flight was full we just checked the seat at the gate instead. But this was all pre 9/11.

This is still the case. As long as there are empty seats then SW will let you do this!

 

[tjmw2727]

This is still the case. As long as there are empty seats then SW will let you do this!

Actually I wouldn't count on this with SWA at least that hasn't been the case recently. With SWA because of the way they board they will not let you bring the carseat onboard if you haven't purchased a seat for the child. The reason acc'd to the FA is that they never know how full the aircraft will be or how the seating will go so they can't assume there will be an empty seat next to you.

If a ticketed passenger needs the seat you took for the infant it takes too long to uninstall the seat and bring it off the aircraft to gate check it. SWA likes a quick turn around and this causes delay.

So while you could get lucky once in a while, if you want to be sure of a seat for your child the best option is to purchase one.

TJ

 

[skjuls]

Actually I wouldn't count on this with SWA at least that hasn't been the case recently. With SWA because of the way they board they will not let you bring the carseat onboard if you haven't purchased a seat for the child. The reason acc'd to the FA is that they never know how full the aircraft will be or how the seating will go so they can't assume there will be an empty seat next to you.

If a ticketed passenger needs the seat you took for the infant it takes too long to uninstall the seat and bring it off the aircraft to gate check it. SWA likes a quick turn around and this causes delay.

So while you could get lucky once in a while, if you want to be sure of a seat for your child the best option is to purchase one.

TJ

This is true but Southwest told me that if there was an empty seat then you could use your carseat. They told me that when I was making arrangements for my son.

I don't know why Southwest wouldn't know if the flight would be full or not. Sometimes, it's pretty obvious.

Also, once they take your boarding pass, some people check their car seats. So there is no way for a flight attendant to know if you paid for a seat for your child or not. Even though my son is three, they always ask me once I board (I preboard) and have him settled in if I bought him his seat. Yes, I did but since my boarding pass is gone I don't have any proof.

 

[NotUrsula]

The key with SWA is that the flight has to be non-stop for your itinerary, and significantly undersold. We're talking half-empty, not with a few seats left. There is always the possibility that there will be last-minute walkups, standbys, or passengers re-routed from another delayed flight.

IME, if you insist on trying for an open seat on a SWA flight that is more than about 60% sold, you will have to wait and board last, so that the FA will know if there is room for the seat BEFORE you take it onboard.

Oh, and about the BP. You don't have proof, but you have ID -- if there are more warm bodies than they are supposed to have, they will check it against the manifest of BP's checked in.

 

[skjuls]

I never used that option because my son was always a lap child.

I wish they would give us something if my son had a boarding pass because they always ask if I paid for his seat.

I don't want to be responsible holding up the plane for them to check the manifest if they don't believe me. My son is 3 so he has to have a ticket. I think they assume he's under two.

I always preboard and they only question me after 30 people have already boarded.

I have seen people bring their car seat on board and then later check it when there isn't any seats.

The policy of having those who want this option doesn't appear to be consistent.

 

[KTMEMOMMY]

Another point to consider if you're flying and want to have your child strapped into her carseat- whether the carseat itself FAA approved. We had given up on the lapbaby idea by the time my youngest dd was about 1 and a half; she was just too active and squirmy to be held on a lap for that long but could manage better in her own seat. We bought her a seat and brought the carseat onboard. On our flight to MCO it wasn't an issue but on the return flight the FA checked the labels on the seat and said it wasn't FAA approved for flying and they would have to stow it until we landed. They didn't check on the way down, and this is the first and only time that it happened that way, but I'm pretty sure it was Southwest (that's almost always what we fly).

Just FYI

Lisa

 

[skjuls]

Another point to consider if you're flying and want to have your child strapped into her carseat- whether the carseat itself FAA approved. We had given up on the lapbaby idea by the time my youngest dd was about 1 and a half; she was just too active and squirmy to be held on a lap for that long but could manage better in her own seat. We bought her a seat and brought the carseat onboard. On our flight to MCO it wasn't an issue but on the return flight the FA checked the labels on the seat and said it wasn't FAA approved for flying and they would have to stow it until we landed. They didn't check on the way down, and this is the first and only time that it happened that way, but I'm pretty sure it was Southwest (that's almost always what we fly).

Just FYI

Lisa

Yes, also not all booster seats are approved. SW only approves one. I have the new seat belt system that the FAA approved several months ago so I don't have to carry the car seat on and off the plane.