Seriously Dumb Question - Flying

kdsmith43

Do I note anywhere that a child will be flying with? Trying to make reservations on Southwest and didn't see that anywhere. Just wanted to make sure he was included! He'll be sitting in my lap. (Yes, I realize I am crazy).

Holly_1007

Yes. When you plug in the number of people, do 1 adult and 1 child, then it will ask you if he child is a lap child or needs their own seat

LyndseylovesHugh

You have to call and tell them his name, and make sure to bring his birth certificate to the airport that day, they will verify he is under 2.

Eta: make your reservation first online and they will just add him to your reservation, it takes 2 mins.

danabsd

Call and tell them you need to add a lap baby. SW will ask for a birth certificate copy so don't forget that.  

Also, on SW if you go al the way to the back sit in the isle and stick the baby in the middle seat he will likely have his own seat on the flight and you two your own row.

Stasi

You don't have to call them. We didn't when we flew in December. We just went to the ticket counter with her birth certificate and they printed her a boarding pass on the spot. However, it might be more responsible to call, we just kind of wing everything we do

kdsmith43

I (finally) found on the website that you just go to the ticket counter when you arrive at the airport. @Stasi looks like you did the right thing.

Thank you all for your reponses. Now to figure out how to travel with all of this CRAP. @danabsd weren't you the one that had the cool car seat carrier?

danabsd

PACgirl71 said:

We've just added him as a lap baby when we checked in at the airport.  I also have never had to show his birth certificate, but I imagine as our LOs get closer to looking like they are 2, that might be more of an issue.

SW was the only airline out of 3 we've flown that asked for it.  

danabsd

kdsmith43 said:

I (finally) found on the website that you just go to the ticket counter when you arrive at the airport. @Stasi looks like you did the right thing.

Thank you all for your reponses. Now to figure out how to travel with all of this CRAP. @danabsd weren't you the one that had the cool car seat carrier?

Nope, I just stuck it in the stroller and gate checked both. 

Flamingemu

kdsmith43 said:

I (finally) found on the website that you just go to the ticket counter when you arrive at the airport. @Stasi looks like you did the right thing.

Thank you all for your reponses. Now to figure out how to travel with all of this CRAP. @danabsd weren't you the one that had the cool car seat carrier?

We didn't bring anything with us to prove age - though I will for future flights. I bought a car seat bag that has wheels and starps to wear like a backpack. DH carries it like a packmule. I think it is Brica brand? Works great.

MississippiCatfish

PACgirl71 said:

We've just added him as a lap baby when we checked in at the airport.  I also have never had to show his birth certificate, but I imagine as our LOs get closer to looking like they are 2, that might be more of an issue.

This exactly.

LyndseylovesHugh

PACgirl71 said:

We've just added him as a lap baby when we checked in at the airport.  I also have never had to show his birth certificate, but I imagine as our LOs get closer to looking like they are 2, that might be more of an issue.

The first time I flew with Audrey she was 3 months old and I did not know I needed the birth certificate.  They let me on anyways but told me that I really needed to bring it, especially as she gets older.  Since then we have flown about a dozen times and some times they check it, some times they don't, but now that she could easily be mistaken for 2 I make sure to always have it, I would hate to be turned away!

Stasi

We had a cool car seat carrier that looks like this:



My MIL found it at a garage sale for $20. Once we got to the airport, DH just strapped it on...knocked some people over walking around...and gate checked it.

Flamingemu

Stasi said:

We had a cool car seat carrier that looks like this:



My MIL found it at a garage sale for $20. Once we got to the airport, DH just strapped it on...knocked some people over walking around...and gate checked it.

That's similar to ours. I checked it wit luggage since it was free and gate checked my stroller. That way I could check both for free. 

mrsbhk22

In my experience, the closer our kids get to 2, the more likely they will ask for it. It's obvious a 6 month old is less than 2. 18-23 month olds start to get in that gray area.