From my own experience, booking tickets (especially award tickets) with infants is a bit of a black box that requires some effort.

Lap infants vs infants in their own seat

For clarity, infants are children who are no older than two years of age.

There has been some debate over whether infants are safer in their own seat or if it’s fine for them to be in their own seat. From an absolute perspective, yes, children are safest in their own seat–but only if you restrain them properly. If they’re not secured in their seat, it’s not going to be much different. For example, your plane gets hit by severe unexpected turbulence but the child is out of their seat.

Sure, if the pilot announces turbulence and you can get the infant back in, having their own seat is better. And it helps during takeoff and landing in the event a problem happens. But I’ve always been in the camp of flying with infants in your lap. In my view, the risk of a catastrophic event occurring (that would be mitigated by a car seat or harness) is very low. And I’ve been comfortable with that risk.

If you do want a seat for your child, make sure to either use their car seat or a CARES harness. We’ve tried the harness before and it requires some setup, along with potentially some patience or assistance from the person seated behind you. Please note that the harness does not work in every seat (especially in first class). And remember that a child in their own seat means you need to buy a ticket for your child. Some airlines do offer a discount at least.

The one time infants in their own seat is a must

If you’re traveling with more infants than adults, you’re going to have a problem. There simply aren’t enough laps to go around. That means at least one child will need to have their own seat. I’d recommend the oldest have their own seat since bigger kids squirm a bit more. They also weigh more and it can get exhausting to hold the child on a longer flight.

Another thing to recall is that you cannot have two lap infants in the same row. If the plane loses pressure and oxygen masks drop, you’ll see four masks for a row of three seats. That fourth mask would accommodate a lap infant. But if there are two lap infants, there aren’t enough masks to go around. Again, that would mean either having infant in their own seat or you can separate them in different rows or across the aisle.

What you need to book a lap infant

Some airlines make it relatively easy to book a lap infant online. Back when we did it with our children, online wasn’t an option and we instead called to add a lap infant. Despite calling, we still had to appear in person to chat with an agent to prove our child’s age. Yes, you’ll need to prove your child’s age to get them a lap infant ticket.

If you have a passport for your child (a necessity for international travel), that’s an easy option for you. Or you could provide a copy of your child’s birth certificate. In fact, we always traveled with a copy of our children’s birth certificates because you never know when you’ll need it.

You might get free seat selection for having a lap infant

Some airlines don’t charge a seat fee if you’re boarding with a lap infant. That might make the price of adding a lap infant a little more bearable. You can also take those dedicated bulkhead seats with a bassinet. Sometimes airlines block those bulkhead seats for travelers like you. And they might be more desirable with more legroom!

It’s best to check with your airline if seat fees are waived for adding a lap infant.

The cost of lap infants varies

This is where the confusion sets in because the rules vary depending on where you’re flying.

Domestic flights in the United States or Canada

There is no cost to add a lap infant domestically within the United States or Canada. If you’re not crossing between the countries, there shouldn’t be any taxes you would need to pay. You will need to get a ticket with your operating carrier for the infant, but that’s generally just a quick chat with an agent.

If you’re crossing between the United States and Canada, you’re not going to pay a fare, but you will have to pay taxes.

Domestic flights in Japan

I bring this one up because I’ve always thought it was interestingly different. Just like the US, flights within Japan are free for lap infants. However, lap infants for wholly domestic Japan flights count for children under age three. I can’t imagine having a nearly three year old sitting still on a flight–not to mention how heavy the child would be.

Update: ANA is changing its rules to no longer have two year old children count as lap infants on domestic Japan flights.

And speaking of Japan, I think it’s interesting that JAL shows where lap infants are seated on the seat map for your flight. That’s potentially helpful if you’re looking to avoid lap infants. Of course, at the same time I don’t know if that encourages creepier people to think a young mother is likely to be occupying that seat with the child.

Other countries might also offer free domestic travel

Many, but not all, countries also offer free domestic travel for lap infants. It’s a bit much to list the rules for each country in this post, so I’ll refrain from blowing this up too much. I only had personal experience with reviewing the rules for the three countries listed above. It’s best to check your operating carrier’s website to see what they list as charges for your child.

International flights

In general, expect lap infants to cost money–and sometimes a lot of money–when flying internationally. The most common cost to expect is 10% of the cash fare and usually there is no cap. So if you spent $1,000 on your ticket, it will cost $100 for your child to sit on your lap. If you spent $5,000 on your ticket, the cost jumps up to $500. Ouch.

But what about when you use airline miles to pay for your flight? Again, most programs charge you 10% of the current cash rate for the flight. Use 60,000 AA miles on a business class flight to Japan and you want to add a lap infant? That will cost you a pretty penny.

If you want an estimate of the price, you can go to ITA Matrix, enter your route and date, and add a lap infant. You can’t model out a price for just a lap infant alone, so make sure an adult is still included in the fare.

Then click on your flight’s price to see the fare breakdown.

Here’s a representative flight I chose at random. If you happen to be on this flight and wanted to book your lap infant today, it’ll cost you almost $800.

Tips to save money on your award flights

Some of these might sound trivial, but it’s worth calling them out. While the below mostly applies to those booking with airline miles, similar principles can also be used to lower prices for cash flights.

Book roundtrip flights instead of one-ways

Remember that we’re mostly talking about international flights since many domestic flights are free. One-way international flights cost more than half the price of a roundtrip. They’re assuming there’s a inelastic reason you’re taking that one-way flight (not a vacation). So one easier way to lower the price of your infant ticket is if you simply book a roundtrip with your miles.

Book using the correct award programs

There are a few loyalty programs out there that allow you to pay miles (or cap the cash price) for lap infants. Here are a few to keep in mind:

• Air Canada Aeroplan: lap infants only cost $25CA or 2,500 miles
• ANA: lap infants cost 10% of the miles price, but only when flying solely on ANA
• British Airways Avios: lap infants cost 10% of the miles price
• Lufthansa Miles and More: lap infants cost 10% of the miles price
• United Airlines MileagePlus: lap infants are capped at $250
• Virgin Atlantic: lap infants cost 1,000 miles in economy, 2,500 in premium, and 5,000 in upper class per direction

Also, you’ll want to avoid using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, which charges a massive 25% of the cash price depending on the route. That’s incredibly punitive considering the price every other airline charges.

Call both the ticketing airline and the operating airline

If you use points with one program (say, Singapore Airlines) to book travel on another (say, EVA), who do you call to add a lap infant? I’ve heard people who adamantly say to only call the ticketing airline and others who say the operating airline only. I’ll admit that I have sometimes been tossed around by the phone agents who stress the other airline is the one I want to talk to.

Well, I can also say that both ticketing and operating have quoted me a price, and I simply chose the price that was lowest. I can’t exactly say why one price was lower than the other. Before United’s current policy, they also charged 10% of the cash fare without a cap. They quoted me a price for award travel on EVA that was well above $600. But I simply called up EVA and they sold me it for $200. Perhaps they have access to cheaper fares than United had?

Whatever the reason, if you’re looking to save money, it’s not unreasonable to call up both to ask for a price.

Get lucky from a misinformed agent

This one is less of a strategy and more a note that you can get lucky if you’re quoted a wrong price. I once used Delta miles to book a China Airlines flight and called up Delta to add a lap infant. I was expecting to pay somewhere in the range of $600 for the flight. But the agent said I only needed to pay the departure taxes. I knew that wasn’t correct, since Delta charges 10% of the adult cash fare on international fares.

I gently pushed back (yeah, sometimes it’s better to just shut up), but the agent insisted he was correct. He ended up booking it at the cheaper price, at a small fraction of what I expected to pay. Then he issued me a ticket for the lap infant, which meant the process was a success. Perhaps the moral of the story is that these tickets might be manually calculated by the agent.

But it’s probably not worth it to HUCA (hang up, call again) in the hopes of getting an agent who will quote you an incorrect price.

For more general advice on how to travel with kids, see our dedicated post.

What advice do you have when booking infant tickets?