LA in Feb wtih 11 month old

[fitnfortyone]

We'll be flying to LAX in Feb with DS who'll be 11months old at that stage.
Dilemma #1 : Will he fit in the bassinet thingy at that age or is that only up to 6mths?
#2 Do we buy an extra seat for him or risk it and hope we get a seat free next to us?
#3 I have a problem with bulkhead seats in that they're designed for people with rather slimmer hips than me. And you can't raise the arm rests so I'll be as fidgety as a toddler.
#4 Do we just pay for 2 seats in prem economy (not much more than 3 seats in cattle class) - I've never paid much attention to any child-friendly facilities there in my previous travels as i never thought i'd need to know! Do they have the same sort of bulkhead seat arrangement?
#5 DH is 6'3" so bulkhead will be fine for his legroom as will prem economy, but we're buggered if no extra leg room seats are available on the day
#6 Should I seek psychiatric help for even considering the trip?

We won't need car seats etc as we're staying at the airport hotel and can get where we want by public transport as we've been there before, just prechild!

1. Whats a bassinet thingy?
2. Why do you need a seat for an 11 month old? Hold him on your knee.
3. I'm pretty sure you can raise the armrests on all seats, bulkhead seats can't recline, but the armrests still move.
4. Don't know what 'premium economy' is, sorry
5. If you are really worried about the space, pay the extra money for 1st class. You can't expect to get door seats because your DH is a bit tall.
6. No!

1. Bassinets are really only designed for babies not much bigger than newborns

1. You will have to pay full child price if you buy him a seat next to you; seats are not normally allocated to children under the age of 2. No seat will mean he will be sitting on your lap for the duration (the crew will give you a lap belt for him for take off and landing).

1. If you do fly BA you can choose the seats online 24 hours prior to departure (not emergency row seats). You will not be given any emergency row seats anyway as you are travelling with a child. Bulkhead seats are often only allocated at check in and often as well to those travelling with infants.

1. Premium economy on BA or Virgin will be much more expensive and you'll get the same sort of service. The only real advantage with PE is that the cabin is smaller and can be quieter as a result. And that cabin has its own toilets.

With PE as well the armrests do not raise either; they are fixed. In BA economy the armrests raise. The seating in the front row of economy class i.e the bulkhead are the same width as those in the rest of the economy cabin.

1. Would go for PE seating if legroom is an issue.

1. No!

ta, suppose all the questions i was asking really boil down to knowing is it feasible to go for an 11hr flight with LO on our laps if the arms on the seats don't raise up to let him lie across us?
I know the service in PE is the same as plain old economy and have costed it up (horrendous!)but the extra leg room there is good...I used to work for BA and got far too used to travelling in Club or 1st class so appreciate that extra bit of space! I know we can cope with economy if it's just the 2 of us (though DH has to squash up a lot), I just haven't ever travelled with a child before, and one who'll probably be crawling as well

The arms do lift up. I have had my son lie across the seats partly me.

Really would hate to do the journey with a child on your lap. I think you'll find it very hard work. I took my son to NZ via LA when he was 2 and he had his own seat and slept most of the way. I also made sure we had a window and next to window seat so we weren't the ones having to move every time someone wanted to go to the toilet.

Definitely worth getting the premier economy if you can. Sign up to the airlines loyalty card. I have a BA one and you can only get the premier economy seats on their website if you are a card member. My dad booked me a ticket via another agency one time, was a BA flight. I had to phone up to get it changed to premier as I was a member. But they are quite helpful if you call the help/booking lines.

Gilly

well, have bitten the bullet and paid for World Traveller Plus seats for me and DH (prem economy)...can't believe how much they can charge for an infant to sit on your lap, the fare is 10% of the adult's but the taxes/fees/charges were nearly £250 just for LO!
Anyway, the advantage of booking is that we're preallocated seats with a cot at the bulkhead without having the hassle of waiting until we check in.
And the seats are slightly wider than standard economy, but am furiously dieting now to make it slightly easier on my hips...last time i was in WTP I kept changing channels on the tv every time i moved as my hips were pressing against the remote in the armrest .