Southwest Infant Fare?

[cdrn1]

I am flying SW from Chicago to Orlando with my twin grandsons (18 months at the time) and the parents would like to buy a ticket for one of the boys so that they have a whole row and can change off and not have to hold the boys the whole flight. Can anyone tell me how discounted the fares are for babies? In the past when we have flown with little ones, I was unaware that they had infant fares and bought regular tickets for them; this particular set of parents are fine with having lap babies, and have flown with them before, and don't want to buy tickets for both. Is the discount a certain percentage off the fare? (I know I can call them to ask, but no time so sit on hold...)

 

[kaytieeldr]

Infant fares are discounted off the full fare. It's virtually always less expensive to just purchase a Wanna Get Away or Web Only fare - about 65% cheaper.

In fact, it's so much less expensive, they can buy seats for both boys.

 

[NotUrsula]

Note that two lap babies CANNOT be seated in the same row; that is an FAA regulation. The reason is that the oxygen mask count in each row is the number of seats in the row + one, so there are not enough masks if there are two passengers more than the number of seats in the row.

If they plan to use a carseat in the third purchased seat position, be aware that there are restrictions on legal placement of the seat. It cannot be placed in an exit row or in the rows immediately in front of or behind the exit row, and it also normally must be placed in the window position so that none of the adults in the party would have to climb over it in the dark in the event of an emergency evacuation.

 

[cdrn1]

Infant fares are discounted off the full fare. It's virtually always less expensive to just purchase a Wanna Get Away or Web Only fare - about 65% cheaper.

In fact, it's so much less expensive, they can buy seats for both boys.

Thanks for the info; I wondered if that might be the case. We will just go ahead and book another seat at the Wanna Get Away fare. I don't think they want to buy seats for both boys because they want to sit together. I am not entirely comfortable with the thought of lap babies; we have always purchased seats and used carseats with the other grandkids, but they are comfortable with it and feel it's a calculated risk, and it isn't my decision to make.

Note that two lap babies CANNOT be seated in the same row; that is an FAA regulation. The reason is that the oxygen mask count in each row is the number of seats in the row + one, so there are not enough masks if there are two passengers more than the number of seats in the row.

If they plan to use a carseat in the third purchased seat position, be aware that there are restrictions on legal placement of the seat. It cannot be placed in an exit row or in the rows immediately in front of or behind the exit row, and it also normally must be placed in the window position so that none of the adults in the party would have to climb over it in the dark in the event of an emergency evacuation.

That's interesting to note about the two lap babies reg; they flew to the Bahamas earlier this year and didn't buy a third seat. They were seated in the same row; perhaps the flight wasn't full so there was no one else in the row.
They don't plan to bring a car seat on board; neither of the adults want to be crammed in to the middle seat lol. They just want to leave it empty to ensure they can put a baby down if they need to, and to have a bit more space. That will also ensure that they can all be in the same row, as there would be four O2 masks.

 

[henry72]

When we took DS at 19 months we bought the infant seat which you had to call to reserve and it was cheaper than the cheapest fare but this was 2006. Since then we have just done the Wanna Get Away fare for the kids when they were under 2. We never take car seats and the kids do great. I think 2 18 months olds can pretty much share the seat (except during take off and landing) and be fine.

 

[JediBonas]

We opted to buy our twins (they'll be 23 months) seats and it was much cheaper to buy the getaway Internet special seats then the infant ones.