Cost for extra seat for baby

[SunnyT5]

We are going on holiday really soon - my husband, son and new baby daughter 10 months. We travelled with our son at almost 1 and he was fine on the lap for the short trip morning to Spain but this is a later flight but not quite bedtime....and she is at such a wriggly stage!!! Im taking the baby carirer, got the inflatable pillow for her legs and toys and will breastfeed her but was thinking we could possibly book an extra seat and take the carseat. She would be strapped in safely and would (hopefully) fall asleep easily. I called TUI and was quoted 500! Ive heard from a few Mummies that they book the extra seat but surely people arent all paying this amount? Is it just about booking that seat when you book holiday? Perhaps its just TUI. Any thoughts/advice appreciated! If it really costs that much then she will be on laps!! But wondered what your experience was.

Never flown TUI but normally you just book as if they were another child and pay whatever that fare would be. Did you pay anything like that for your older DS? It doesn’t sound unreasonable if it’s long haul… but pretty extreme if it’s short haul!
Car seat rules can vary so you would be wise to check you can bring yours, if not you’ll have to have them on your lap for take off/landing but can still use the extra space to spread out in flight.

if you want a seat for them then you've to buy the actual seat hence another ticket so i guess that's why it's the price.
we flew to mexico when my son was 18 months. i booked the seats at the back for my husband and myself (11h flight) as they were more spacious and we were lucky enough that at these area there was loads of empty spaces so they gave him once onboard a seat to him next to us. this is the only way really to get one for free .. waiting and seeing but it's got its risks

You can't just book an extra seat without having paid the fare for that. If that comes to £500 return then that's the price. I imagine it's more expensive because you're phoning to add another fare rather than having booked it at the same time as your original booking.

I would also check the car seat. The CAA (I think that's the UK version) list of approved car seats to use on flights is very small, and the seats are surprisingly more narrow than you'd think. A lot of car seats don't fit, especially once the arm rests are done.

It’s whatever the seat price is, and last minute flights are more expensive than ever at the moment.

It’s also really hard to find UK car seats which are on the approved flight seat lists.

If you book a seat you pay the fare price for that flight, whatever it is on the day you book.

They're not just going to give you an extra seat for pennies when they could sell that seat to someone else's for full fare.

Thank you for info - I just heard from two people that they paid less and that does seem expensive I think its possibly as we are going away soon - maybe its cheaper if you book earlier. Just strange as they quoted me 100 on phone then made me wait and said its now 500 - so possibly a last min thing or just that everything is more expensive since we booked|!!!

And its short haul to Spain!

When we’ve flown with DS and wanted an extra seat we’ve always booked an extra child seat and paid for it. If it seems expensive compared to your other tickets it may be because availability has decreased since you booked, sending prices up.

OP can you not quickly price the flight on the TUI website as if you’re making a new booking? It’ll be for an adult but it should give you a ballpark as to whether £500 is the going rate for the ticket at today’s prices or if the customer service agent you spoke to has got it wrong somehow.

Great idea thank you - thats all I was thinking - maybe it wasn't that much!

Just to say a lot of airlines have banned the blow up leg pillows for infants.