Flights when infant becomes a child mid-holiday

[Jan1984]

Has anyone got any tips for booking flights either side of a child’s second birthday?

We are planning on going abroad with our child next year. Her second birthday will be mid way through our trip. This means she will be an infant on the flight there (share seat with parent) and a child on the way back (own seat). But airline companies need the kid to be either an infant or a child on both legs of a return flight.

There doesn’t seem to be a way to just pay a child price both ways - because the child will be less than two on the way there (even though this would get the airline more money!).

The only way seems to be to book two one-way flights which is silly money…

Contact the airline, they can book a return flight with an infant on one leg and a child on the other. You might want an extra seat for your nearly two year old on the outbound flight anyway.

I booked a seat for my son when he was 18 and 20 months (no way could he have sat on my knee!) can’t remember there being an issue in doing so - one was easy jet and one was British airways!

If the child is almost 2 and the flight is longer than an hour, book them a seat both ways. A wriggling toddler on your knee for the duration is sheer torture - for them, for you and for any other passengers nearby.

I had this when DC flew out aged 11 and returned as a 12 yr old (birthday trip!)
You have to contact your airline and they will book the return flight for you.

As previous posters have said you need to contact the airline.

Charges will depend on the airline, as an example this from.ba.com

"If your infant turns 2 during their journey, you’ll have to book them a seat for any flights on and after their 2nd birthday. We won’t charge you extra for this, you’ll pay the infant fare for the entire journey. This booking can’t be made online, so please contact us and we’ll happily arrange it for you."

https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/family-travel/seating

Thanks for the advice everyone. Good to know there’s a way to arrange it.

I'm not sure who you're flying with, but with the airlines that DP and I can afford, there are no return ticket prices, for "silly money" or otherwise. Everything's priced one way, with a different price every day, and the price of a return is the price of whichever two singles you choose. I thought the days of having to "stay a Saturday night to get a reduced PEX/APEX return fare" were long gone.

It's a bit of an it depends; you can still see significant (as in 3 or four figure) differences between a return verses two matching singles, certainly with the legacy operators, especially on long haul.

Why would you not just book with the seat as a 2year old for both flights? If you look at T&C’s they will say it dependent on the return age.

Why give yourself the hassle when for the aake of a week, it will be easier with the seat anyway

It depends on the airline and their policy usually states clearly what happens in such instances. BA will look at age of the child on the day of the outbound flight to determine what fare to apply for the return leg too. If they are an infant out and child in, you'll pay infant return fare but they'll still get their own seat on the return flight. Other airlines have different policies.