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Original poster

Longhaul flight with 3 month old (UK-Aus) - Qantas bassinet booking dramas

34 replies

JaneElizabethBennett · 04/12/2019 16:28

Dear Mumsnetters - my first post on here... need some advice:
Trying to book London-Melbourne with Qantas with a 3 month old but having a nightmare trying to book a bassinet on the plane.
Would love to hear if anyone had good experiences, and which airlines!

Thought I would share my experience to - as honestly the process so far with Qantas seems so ridiculous it is almost funny... Such a shame as have flown with them for years but now am completely disillusioned.

After 3 hours of calls to Qantas, this was their advice for me trying to fly Lon - Mel via Perth (which involves the direct 17 hr leg UK to Aus):

  • When you book you can request a bassinet, but it can ONLY be confirmed at check-in... and there are no guarantees there will be one (which seems a BIT late to find out on the day that there is nowhere for a 3 month old baby to sleep for 24 hrs of transit).
  • It could sit on my lap for the entire time (not a great option - as my understanding is young infants need to be able to lie flat for spine health, not propped up awkwardly for 17 hrs at a time)
  • I could bring along an 'approved car seat' to put baby in if no bassinets available, but Qantas advisor couldn't direct me to any information or list as to what an 'approved car seat' would be for them.
  • I asked if there were no bassinets, and I managed to correctly guess which car seat they would approved and bring one along, where would it go? They said any on available spare seat, but if no spare seats (which often happens on Lon-Perth) then ON MY LAP (for 17 hrs London to Perth... ?!?!)
  • When trying to book seats for my partner and I, wanted to try and book near the bulkhead (where the basinets are), but was told that when flying with an infant I cannot sit in this row as it is an EXIT row... so I would need to sit elsewhere, away from the baby. Which makes complete sense.
Is it just me or does this process seem absolutely bonkers?

Surely it should be possible to confirm at the time of booking with an airline whether or not you will be able to have access to a bassinet.

Would love any advice if others have had good experience booking similar long haul with infant, and which carriers.

OP posts:
hairyxmasturkey · 04/12/2019 16:47

We did that trip with a baby- you just ask at check in I believe. Tbh it wasn't all that much help, on one of the legs the seat belt sign was on for the entire flight and baby couldn't be in it anyway. I would treat it as a bonus if you get one, which you probably will but if there are lots of babies then they have a limited supply. I would take a stretchy sling for a baby that small.

hairyxmasturkey · 04/12/2019 16:48

Also there are seats suitable for bassinets not on exit rows. The ones without seats in front of them

zebrapig · 04/12/2019 16:51

We flew Manchester to Orlando with Virgin and got a bassinet both ways. We had to book the flights first, then phone up afterwards to request the bassinet. It was on a bulkhead seat and there was no issue being there. The only thing was we were actually quite squished when the bassinet was out and couldn't put the tables out for meal times. We also had turbulence so couldn't use it for a couple of hours. Having said that it was great when DD wanted to nap and she slept in it most of the way home.

One of my friends had one of these sky-baby.co.uk/how-it-works/ to use so baby could lie flat on her lap.

EchidnasPhone · 04/12/2019 16:51

Also done the flight with a baby. Bassinet wasn’t used that much as it was so distracting for baby to sleep. Ended up holding her most of the way there and back but had some lovely help from flight attendants. You ask at check-in and it wasn’t a problem. I found i breastfed a lot on the flight so didn’t use the bassinet except when I needed to eat/pee.

TheGonnagle · 04/12/2019 16:52

They give them at check in, it’s a big plane, we always managed to get one sorted and we did a lot of flying when dd was little. Don’t check in online, arrive at the desk 3 hours before flight so you’re at the front of the queue.
Also, take a sling so you can wear baby for most of the flight if you need to.
And remember to take clean outfits for you as well as the baby, otherwise you’ll spend most of the flight covered in sick!

rugbychick1 · 04/12/2019 16:59

Not sure how helpful this sill be as it was 7 years ago, and dd was 6 months old. We flew Birmingham to Sydney with Emirates. We got a bassinet on all legs of the flights there and back when we booked the flight. No problems at all and the cabin crew couldn't do enough for us.

Although dd didn't sleep in it much frustratingly. She's a terrible fidget and likes lots of room around her. We ended up storing stuff in it we needed!

StillSurviving · 04/12/2019 17:02

My mum has just flown home from Oz withbEmirates. In row in front of her on the way out, was a family with twin babies. And they hadn't been given bassinets, so had both babies up the entire journey. Was v hard for the family.

The most child friendly airline I have flown with was Air NZ, but that's just my limited experience. Their air hostesses were angels.

Expressedways · 04/12/2019 17:19

It’s normal for the bassinets to be assigned at check in, I haven’t flown with Qantas but I’ve never had an issue getting one with other airlines. We mostly do transatlantic so the only airline that flies to Australia I’ve used is BA. Book a seat which is designated a bassinet seat, it’s obvious on the seat map which ones they are as they have a baby carriage symbol and up until check-in they are typically only available to families with infants so you shouldn’t have any issues getting one. In my experience they are always the bulkhead seats in front of the loos. The agent on the phone should also be able to book this seat for you. Then you request the actual bassinet itself at check in- we always checked it at the desk (typically necessary with a lap infant anyway) and got to the airport quite early for the flight.

If you want to take a car seat instead, and personally I wouldn’t, then you would need to book a seat for your infant and it would need to be airline approved- most UK ones aren’t suitable, it’s really more of an American thing.

I’d also suggest a sling so you can have your hands free and be comfy if baby objects to the bassinet or should you not get one for any reason.

Original poster
JaneElizabethBennett · 04/12/2019 21:17

Thank so much for all the advice - much appreciated!

OP posts:
SnowsInWater · 07/12/2019 05:33

No airline will absolutely guarantee you a bassinet so I'm not sure why you are singling out Qantas.

Original poster
JaneElizabethBennett · 07/12/2019 10:50

Thanks SnowsinWater - having never flown with a baby, and only usually flying Qantas, I was asking on here specifically to find this information out.
I also wanted to share my frustrating experience as a long term Qantas customer of spending a great deal of time back and forth and on hold with Qantas customer service staff who were not at all helpful in the end; as this may save others new parents wasting their time asking the same questions. Why are you bothered that I mentioned Qantas specifically - do you work for them?

OP posts:
SnowsInWater · 08/12/2019 05:54

No I don't work for them, your ignorant attitude just pissed me off 😊

MzPumpkinPie · 08/12/2019 06:07

@SnowsInWater you're a horror!
Leave the woman alone ffs

SofiaAmes · 08/12/2019 06:12

How bizarre...how is it ignorant to complain about a poor customer service experience with a specific airline?

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 08/12/2019 06:18

so I'm not sure why you are singling out Qantas.

Perhaps because they're the airline she's trying to book with? 🤨

Or would you like her to write a speculative post about what she thinks the experience of trying to get a bassinet would be like with all the airlines she hasn't yet contacted?

I like the irony of you commenting on the OP's ignorant attitude, though.

MargaretRiver · 08/12/2019 06:26

Go on line qantas.com
enter your booking ref
Go to seat reservations
Book seats with the bassinet symbol, there will be a few of them, usually bulkhead but not exit rows.
They will not guarantee a bassinet for these seats but it is very likely you will get one.

Stephminx · 08/12/2019 06:48

I was told the reason you can’t guarantee one on virgin is that the seats they are available in are also classed as disabled seats, so you would get moved if they are needed for that reason.

I personally never got much use out of them on our flights with either baby but found extra leg room seats better. Variety of reasons including turbulence and too many distractions.

timeisnotaline · 08/12/2019 07:00

I have always got a bassinet with infants that age, they never confirm them in advance. I did however have an absolutely nightmare with Qantas last long haul booking, multiple hours on the phone to confirm and they were clueless, couldn’t send our info together to their code share so my 4 year old was just on the far side of the cabin, two aisles away and Qantas said not my problem; after days of tweets and hours on the phone I still turned up for the return flight to find my 6 month old apparently not listed for the flight, luckily I had done endless tweet follow ups until they could deliver me flight confirmations so I had that, as apparently they are enormously hard Hmm.
So tweeting them is the most effective, you pretty much will get a bassinet, ground staff are generally lovely, Qantas service staff and systems are so fucking terrible.
I flew airnz instead after that fuck up. Agree with pp above they were so lovely. I was solo with a 16 month old long haul and they pretty much insisted on holding the baby so I could sort my things etc, brought me finger food as I couldn’t eat the meals with him on my lap.

Otter46 · 08/12/2019 07:20

Hi Op, my advice is get to the airport early as soon as check in opens. Bassinets are kind of first come first served so when we flew to Oz with my then 4 month old we made sure we were first in the queue kind of thing. And with a baby you want to be there early anyway so you are not rushing

Booboostwo · 08/12/2019 07:49

I think you have limited options.

You can book an extra seat for the baby and her car seat. Airline approved car seats are extra narrow, you'll find they are advertised as such. I am not sure if there are any that are suitable from 3mo.

You can hope for a bassinet and turn up before check in opens to be at the head of the cue.

You can use a sling.

I'd try for a bassinet but bring a sling for a backup.

Turangawaewae · 08/12/2019 07:53

I flew with Qantas with a baby and they were awful. Made me sit with the food tray while also holding a baby for well over an hour, despite asking them politely to take it away. They acted like I was being totally unreasonable and were generally unpleasant. But after their recent record I guess I was lucky they didn't call the police on me!

Singapore airlines were completely different and incredibly helpful. Air NZ are also very good with kids.

FussyMcBudget · 08/12/2019 08:04

Try Singapore Airlines. The customer service is amazing. The price difference is worth it. You can book the bassinet seat. They will help you on board with bub. They think about things like if you’re holding the baby and it’s meal time and will keep your preferred meal / help out. I have done it with a 10 week old, 3 month old (solo), a toddler and 6 month old (solo) and every time they were awesome.

KristinaM · 08/12/2019 08:11

I just flew a similar route with Emirates via Dubai. I don’t have an infant but ended up sitting in the row behind a family who had two babies in bassinets . They told me they had been allocated these seats ( and the bassinets ) straight through from UK to Australia.

The cabin crew seemed very helpful , bringing them bottles and one meal early and one late ( so one of them could hold one baby ) .

So it might be worth phoning emirates to check their policy.

Parker231 · 08/12/2019 08:12

My understanding is that you can’t book the bassinet seats until check in as if there are disabled passengers they will be seated in that row and you (and baby) would be allocated a seat elsewhere in the plane.

lifeisgoodagain · 08/12/2019 08:23

They have a limited number of bassinet positions but never had an issue when mine were babes, not that they used them much! I flew 10 hour flight regularly and always found very willing volunteers for cuddles and pacing duty from cabin crew to grandmothers off to see their grandchildren. I always flew alone (h working overseas)

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