Before your child is two years old, most airlines will allow you to bring the child as a lap infant. Fees to do so range from none at all to thousands of dollars depending on the situation. It’s worth noting that many parents won’t consider bringing a child as a lap infant due to safety concerns, whereas others will. I won’t hash out that debate here but rather provide an overview of the best deals for booking lap infant award tickets for those who do want to travel with a lap infant.
Does an infant need a ticket to fly?
Yes, an infant always needs a ticket to fly. If you want to fly with an infant on your lap, most airlines will allow that before the child’s second birthday, but the lap infant needs a ticket.
Note that if your child turns 2 years old during your trip (such as between the “outbound” and “return” legs), most airlines will require that you buy the child their own ticket for the entire trip (even the leg(s) traveled before they turn 2 years old). There are two airlines that offer a key exception to this rule, but more on that later.
Whether or not you need to secure your lap infant’s ticket before you travel varies based on the situation. Generally speaking, you do not need to sort out the lap infant before arriving at the airport if you are flying an itinerary entirely within the United States. For international travel, do not wait to arrive at the airport to get your lap infant ticket sorted out.
It’s worth mentioning that in most cases, a lap infant is not entitled to any checked luggage. Furthermore, while most airlines will allow you to bring a car seat / stroller / medical device like a breast pump free of charge and without counting toward your carry-on allowance, it’s always worth checking for airline-specific policies in advance.
If you plan to travel internationally, know that while many US-based airlines will allow certain (highly collapsible “Yoyo”-style) strollers to be carried aboard and put in an overhead compartment, some foreign carriers require your stroller to be in a bag to go in the overhead compartment.
Lap infants are free within the United States
If your travel is wholly within the United States, you can add a lap infant for free (provided your infant has not yet reached their second birthday). All major airlines within the United States allow a lap infant to travel free of charge.
While it is possible to add the lap infant ticket in advance, you typically don’t need to do so for travel within the United States — a check-in agent should be able to handle this at the airport (in my experience, this was usually a quick and easy process, though occasionally it took a little while so we always arrived at the airport early).
Note that if you book through a foreign partner carrier, it may not be possible to add your lap infant in advance (or the ticketing carrier may quote you a fee based on their rules). In that case, you can just wait until you arrive at the airport. For instance, when flying on United Airlines on a fully domestic ticket booked with my Turkish Miles & Smiles miles, I would have had to have paid Turkish to add the lap infant in advance, but an agent was able to add the lap infant at the airport for free when the travel was entirely domestic within the USA).
Most airlines charge 10% of an adult revenue fare
Most airlines offer a lap infant ticket for 10% of the adult revenue fare, whether the adult(s) on your reservation have booked a revenue fare or an award ticket.
In other words, while you may have used American Airlines miles to buy a business class award ticket for yourself, American Airlines (like many others) will charge you 10% of a revenue fare for an adult ticket in order to add a lap infant to an international ticket.
While that may not sound like much, be aware that one-way international fares, especially those in premium cabins, can be quite high. Furthermore, there isn’t an easily identifiable standard as to how they calculate the revenue fare. For instance, I once added my son as a lap infant to an award ticket booked via American Airlines and AA told me that it would cost more than $1,000 to add my lap infant to the ticket. It wasn’t clear to me how they arrived at that number (see: Adding a lap infant to an award ticket: Don’t get ripped off), but the bottom line is that you want to avoid programs that charge a lap infant fee based on a revenue fare.
Finally, it is worth noting that some programs can not add lap infants on partner award tickets. I recommend calling the airline to confirm the ability to add a lap infant on the award you want before transferring miles to book a ticket.
In most cases, the rules of the ticketing carrier apply
In almost all lap infant ticket cases, the fee you pay depends on the ticketing airline, not the operating airline.
Let’s take two different airline policies as an example:
- American Airlines charges 10% of the adult revenue fare for a lap infant ticket
- British Airways charges 10% of the Avios required for an adult ticket if you buy the adult ticket with Avios
Imagine you buy a business class ticket from for travel on British Airways from New York to London. As an example, such a ticket would cost you 57,500 miles and $733 for the adult ticket.
If you buy that adult ticket using your American Airlines miles, American Airlines will charge you 10% of the adult revenue fare to add a lap infant. The same flight above is selling for $2,308 for such a one-way fare, meaning that a lap infant ticket booked through American Airlines would cost at least $230.80 (though they may base their lap infant ticket on a higher fare bucket, so it may cost more).
If you bought the adult ticket using British Airways using your Avios, British Airways would charge 80,000 Avios + $375 for the adult ticket.
If you added a lap infant to that flight via British Airways, it would cost 10% of the Avios (plus taxes) for the lap infant. In this case, you would pay an additional 8,000 Avios + $35.90 for the lap infant for a total cost of 88,000 Avios and $410.90.
As you can see, the cost of a lap infant ticket can vary based on the carrier through which you book the ticket.
Note that if you book your ticket in the above example using American Airlines miles, you can not add your lap infant via British Airways for 8,000 Avios. You must book via British Airways to take advantage of their lap infant rules.
The best programs for booking award tickets
The best airline programs for adding a lap infant to an award ticket are:
Air Canada Aeroplan
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? Air Canada’s Aeroplan charges just 2,500 miles or $25 CAD to add a lap infant to a one-way ticket.
- Can it be booked online? Yes, you can select and ticket an infant during the online booking process. Alternatively, book over the phone with Aeroplan at 1-800-361-5373
- Key things to know: Air Canada charges the same amount on any partner in any class of service and on any partner, making them the best program for booking lap infant award tickets.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Marriott
ANA Mileage Club
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? ANA charges 10% of the mileage required for an adult ticket.
- Can it be booked online? No, you’ll need to call ANA at 1-800-235-9262 to add a lap infant.
- Key things to know: ANA used to charge 10% of the adult revenue fare, but has offered the mileage option for at least several years. Note that according to this reddit thread, it can be difficult to add a lap infant to a partner award ticket. My experience with a lap infant for travel entirely on ANA metal was smooth and easy.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
British Airways Executive Club
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? 10% of the Avios required for an adult ticket.
- Can it be booked online? Yes, you can include a lap infant in your online award search and ticket with the online booking tool.
- Key things to know: While British Airways is known for high surcharges on its own flights, lap infant tickets are not charged those surcharges. Furthermore, this can be a great program for booking a lap infant for travel on other oneworld airlines.
- Transfer from: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo. Also transfer to Qatar and then to BA with: Citi.
Turkish Miles & Smiles
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? 10% of the miles required for an adult ticket
- Can it be booked online? Yes, you can include a lap infant in your online award search and ticket with the online booking tool.
- Key things to know: Turkish is known for a clunky customer service experience, so if you need to add a lap infant after booking and/or you need to make changes, expect a less customer-friendly experience and that you may need to make more than one phone call.
- Transfer from: Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Citi Thank You, Marriott Bonvoy
United Mileage Plus
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? 10% of the adult revenue fare, capped at $250. Note that the $250 cap applies whether one-way or round trip.
- Can it be booked online? Yes, you can include a lap infant in your online award search and ticket with the online booking tool.
- Key things to know: While 10% of the adult revenue fare isn’t the best deal, United caps the price at a maximum of $250. According to reddit, the $250 cap applies whether booked one-way or round trip.
- Transfer from: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- How much does a lap infant ticket cost? Varies, but with most partners you’ll pay 1,000 miles in economy, 2,000 miles in premium economy, 5,000 miles in business class, or 7,000 miles in first class.
- Can it be booked online? Yes, you can include a lap infant in your online award search and ticket with the online booking tool.
- Key things to know: Virgin Atlantic may not be able to add a lap infant on all partners. Check their partner award charts or call before transferring points to book.
- Transfer from: Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy
What if your child turns two during your trip?
If your child turns two years old during your trip, most airlines will require that you pay full price to buy a seat for the child for the full itinerary.
However, two notable exceptions to this policy are British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. If your child turns two years old between your “outbound” and “return” legs, you can add them as a lap infant at the lap infant price, but both airlines will provide a seat for the child for segments taken after the child’s second birthday for no additional charge. I believe this only applies when booking a flight operated by British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
I do have experience doing this with British Airways. We booked a round trip ticket from Europe to the US and then back to Europe (we flew the “outbound” from Europe to the US, then he turned two a couple of months later, then our “return” to Europe was a few months after that). Sure enough, our son was assigned a seat at no additional charge on the British Airways flights after he turned two years old.
See this post for more information: Lap infant tip: save on a round trip when the child turns 2 with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
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Alaska is by far the worst for international partner bookings if you want to book with an infant. Adult fare is required. Pop up is “Each infant must have their own ticket when traveling with our international partners. We’ve added your infant as an adult passenger; you’ll be able to enter their correct birthdate later, on the Passenger Information page.” This applies for paid flights and award flights.
Qantas charged me zero miles OR dollars for a lap infant on Air Tahiti Nui metal, so I would put them at #1.
In hindsight, I should have mentioned that it is extremely common for phone agents to not know what they’re doing and either not change you the correct amount or, in some cases, not charge you at all. I have sometimes heard of a passenger who was not charged at all receiving follow-up from the airline saying that they’d have to pay or the infant ticket would be cancelled.
The Qantas website says the infant fare is 10% of the adult fare:
“For QF fares, if an infant is included when the booking is created, issue the infant ticket at 10% of the adult fare plus applicable taxes. The fare bases ends in ‘IN’.
If an infant is added to the booking later, issue the ticket at 10% of the ticketed adult fare plus applicable taxes. This applies regardless of ticketing time limit and whether the ticketed fare is still available for sale. No authority is required. If issuing a nett/private fare, please check the fare rules for any special requirements.”
So I think that was probably a happy mistake.
Your info is incorrect Nick. I think you’re looking at cash fares. For award bookings, the policy is:
“Infant passengers under two years and not occupying a seat travel are not required to redeem Points to travel as long as the accompanying adult is travelling on a Classic Flight Reward. Taxes, fees and carrier charges may be payable for Infants accompanying other passengers travelling on a Classic Flight Reward booking.”
This is stated on the Qantas website, and it should be added as a great program for lap infants as well.
Is there data on JetBlue partner awards (especially TAP)? I know they don’t charge for lap infants on outbound flights, but is there a chart somewhere or a consistent rule for flights originating outside the US? I can’t get to that point in the booking process to test without enough points.
Are you saying that JetBlue doesn’t charge for lap infants on international flights on their own metal? I’m not aware of that policy if that’s the case. Other US carriers do on international flights.
From their lap infant page…
“Customers traveling with lap infants and departing from an international destination (Exception: Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) to the U.S. will be assessed an infant fee. Please note the infant fees vary based upon international point of origin. Should you be traveling roundtrip, the fee is only assessed when flying from the international city to the U.S. ”
The question is does this apply to their own awards and partner awards. I was going to call and ask, but then I saw this post. I hoped someone here would know, seeing as the TAP awards are a recent topic.
Overhead compartment?