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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Easyjet charging £22 each way for an infant is pretty outrageous...?!

89 replies

TurquoiseDress · 05/05/2014 15:29

We're in the middle of booking our holiday for this summer, our LO will be barely 6 months old.

The flights we need are with easyjet- just seen that there will be a charge of £22 each way for our LO who will be sat on our lap the whole way.

When did this come in? I naively assumed that infants don't pay to fly...and more to the point, what exactly is the charge for..?!

OP posts:
JennyCalendar · 05/05/2014 16:45

Our 20 month old is flying for free (up to 2years) on Monarch airlines, with a 10kg allowance if parents book luggage and the pushchair carried for free in addition to this.

However, I wouldn't have begrudged paying £22 for him.

Cookiechef · 05/05/2014 16:53

Flown 3 times when ds was under 2 and paid. We flew last year after his 2nd birthday and he was free under a package deal we are looking for another package deal for this year.

JeanSeberg · 05/05/2014 16:55

Is that as part of a package holiday though Jenny or flights only?

im not beinG rude about overweight ppl. I'm quite petit

Would you be offering to pay more if you weren't?

JennyCalendar · 05/05/2014 17:04

Flights only, Jean, to Barcelona. We booked our accommodation through a completely unrelated company.

Darksideofthemoon88 · 05/05/2014 17:09

I know the question wasn't addressed to me....but I'm very tempted to answer it anyway. Won't make me popular, but yes, I do think extremely overweight passengers should be charged extra, given the sometimes ridiculous charges for other passengers being a fraction of a pound over on their luggage allowance.... Surely a combined weight (passenger plus luggage, I mean) would be fairer and safer/better for the airline as they would be able to more accurately calculate how people they can safely carry.... Add into that the fact that sometimes two different sets of airport scales can weigh luggage to a slightly different total, meaning that you can get through baggage control at one end without a problem and yet face a charge at the other end of the same airport , I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect an obese passenger to pay for their extra weight. Un-PC maybe...

JeanSeberg · 05/05/2014 17:09

Ooh I'm thinking of going to Barcelona this summer, combining city and beach hopefully. Hope you have a good time!

PiratePanda · 05/05/2014 17:13

You're wrong about BA - you don't have to pay the airfare under 2 but you DO have to pay the tax. That can be as much as £500 economy for a flight to Australia.

Take the £22 - it's a bargain.

Andrewofgg · 05/05/2014 17:13

Darksideofthemoon88 You are of course right, but you are pissing into the wind (now I come to think of it that's a male metaphor Grin let's say spitting!) in saying so.

Original poster
TurquoiseDress · 05/05/2014 17:15

"This is the most unreasonable thread I've seen for a long time"
Do I get a prize?! Grin

I've only flown once with LO, they are only a few months old- that flight with BA didn't cost extra for baby and our lugguage was included in the ticket price.

That has definitely skewed my outlook and expectations.
I'm sure I'll be indignant with rage in a few years time after travelling with a child!

OP posts:
Preciousbane · 05/05/2014 17:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BuntyCollocks · 05/05/2014 18:17

I've always paid to take mine, and we've flown Ryanair, jet2, easyjet, Thomson, ba and virgin.

Janek · 05/05/2014 18:29

Why does everyone keep saying the 'infant' gets a baggage allowance? They certainly don't on Ryanair, is it different on the budget airlines?

MandarinCheesecake · 05/05/2014 18:48

Was just about to say the same Re luggage allowance with Ryanair.

Flew with all of mine when they were under 2 on Ryanair and never had a luggage allowance although we were allowed to take 2 items of baby equipment. Might have changed since though as youngest is now 11.

JennyCalendar · 05/05/2014 18:50

Thanks, Jean! I've not been before, so rather excited about going.

Janek -
This is the one I mentioned: www.monarch.co.uk/faq/flights/flying-with-children-and-pets/flying-with-infants

'Infants travel on their parents laps with the use of an extension seat belt. Parents carrying infants will be issued with seats that allow for an extra drop down oxygen mask for infants in the event of an emergency.
Infants receive a 10kg baggage allowance on all flights (flight numbers beginning with ZB and MON) (subject to payment of hold / checked-in baggage charges); however pushchairs, prams and car seats should be accepted for carriage free of charge in addition to the baggage allowance. Travel cots may be carried in the hold but must form part of the 10kg infant bag allowance (on payment of the relevant bag fee.)'

OwlCapone · 05/05/2014 18:55

never had a luggage allowance although we were allowed to take 2 items of baby equipment

The equipment is their luggage.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 05/05/2014 19:08

Easyjet charge £3 per kg of excess so £22 for a baby doesn't sound too bad. Ultimately they're running a business, they get to set the charges, you either buy a flight or you don't.

TequilaMockingbirdy · 05/05/2014 19:10

Isn't it insurance and all that malarky too in case anything happens to the baby?

MandarinCheesecake · 05/05/2014 19:58

never had a luggage allowance although we were allowed to take 2 items of baby equipment

The equipment is their luggage

Yes I know this but I meant that there is no checked/cabin baggage allowance for infants.

Have just looked on Ryanair website and you used to be able to take baby equipment for free and it is now charged at £10 per item but pushchair/pram is free. Like I said its been a good while since I travelled with an infant.

They charge £30 each way for an infant now, so I don't think £22 each way is bad in comparison.

Billygoats · 05/05/2014 20:44

I had to pay this and it didn't even include baggage for dd, so had to pay another £30 + for her luggage.

BEEwitched · 05/05/2014 21:11

Yes, I was surprised that EasyJet charges £22 - we're taking our baby home to visit my relatives in Germany in October and Lufthansa charges
€5 each way and have much better service and just as cheap ticket prices on our route, so when I was looking up prices on EasyJet and saw their infant prices I was surprised and thought it was expensive.

Always depends what you expect, I'd say, and having seen the €5 charge £22 seems steep.

KokoLoko · 05/05/2014 22:12

We're currently on holiday and travelled with Ryanair. Our flights cost £20 each way, the baby cost £30 each way! Mind you, by the time we'd added a suitcase and allocated seating I think our flights were also £60 each in total..

MrsMopOnTop · 05/05/2014 23:21

I am sorry Turquoise but I think YABU.

If you had mentioned in your original post that you weren't taking pram/cot etc. as visiting family and using sling then you may have got some less harsh replies but with the same tone none the less.

People get a set luggage allowance on planes ... people could be given the option of not paying for little one if they didn't take hand luggage to cancel out the weight and cost roughly the same. Or people could be given the option of paying based on how much additional luggage was needed for little one e,g pram in hold, cot etc......However all of these options would be costly to implement and bring up additional problems of there own.

So the logical solution is to charge an amount for all little ones and give them luggage allowance much like we do for all adult passengers.

After all - it's hardly fair for travellers without children to have to pay ££ for extra hand or hold luggage but you for you to be able to bring your child for free.

I think £5, £10, £22, £30 etc. each way is very reasonable - probably about the same as an excess luggage charge depending on the airline ... maybe a bit less even.

Unless you are being charged the same amount as an adult seat then really there is nothing to complain about.

UncleT · 05/05/2014 23:24

Sorry, YABU. An infant's stuff isn't free to fly through the air - there are costs involved.

parentalunit · 05/05/2014 23:27

22 is a bargain. If you ask me which admittedly you didn't exactly infants should have to have their own seat. If there is turbulence, a baby can be thrown out of your arms. It poses a very real safety threat to both the infant and other passengers.

On the other hand, strapped into a car seat on the plane, the child and other passengers are safe and you can bring your car seat knowing that it hasn't been knocked around while out of your sight

Cerisier · 06/05/2014 00:39

I can't believe someone is complaining about the £22 cost of taking a baby on a flight. It is an absolute bargain. As everyone says there is extra weight, extra stuff (usually) and paperwork too.

If £22 is a problem why spend £££ on a holiday?

At age 12 you have to pay full fare, so enjoy the discounts while you can.

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