American Airlines fares for infants

Hi

Can anyone give me an idea of how much AA charge for under two year olds flying from Heathrow to, say, Tampa or Orlando or Miami with a fare paying adult (sitting on adult's lap)? We have been given various answers to this question, not least from AA themselves when enquiring. The problem is, you have to book first and then ring them to inform them you are taking an infant with you and then I suppose they give you the price for the infant. Could be a bit of a shock and then you would already have booked the adult tickets. Any info would be welcome. Thanks

From their website, it looks like under two year olds don't pay if they don't have a seat?

For fare purposes, passengers are defined as follows

Adult - Age 12 - 64
Senior - Age 65 and older
Child - Ages 2-11
Infant in a seat - Younger than age 2, must be at least 2 days old to travel. Applies to domestic travel, must be booked at same time as accompanying adult(s).

Their website also says that you have 24 hours in which to cancel your booking if you booked online.

AA.com allows you to place certain reservations on hold. AA.com will reserve it for you for 24 hours (and some international flights up to 72 hours), unless advance purchase requirements prohibit this. In that event, your reservation will only be placed on hold until 11:00 p.m. of the same day the reservation is made.

Most under 2's pay around 10% of an adult price if they sit on your lap. The fare is normally very cheap say 10 pounds but then they add tax so it could be 150 pounds. I think that is the most we have paid. Our daughter is 2 in August then we will need to book her a seat and then you pay 75% of an adult price + taxes.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by blott

Their website also says that you have 24 hours in which to cancel your booking if you booked online.

AA.com allows you to place certain reservations on hold. AA.com will reserve it for you for 24 hours (and some international flights up to 72 hours), unless advance purchase requirements prohibit this. In that event, your reservation will only be placed on hold until 11:00 p.m. of the same day the reservation is made.
[/quote]

I think you may have misinterpreted that provison. What it actually means is that you can hold the reservation for 24 hours (timed right it can be done for longer) without payment with the option to purchase at that price during the period. You can even hold seats.

I'd suggest holding the reservation online - it will give you a 'Record Locator' reference. Call AA reservations and quote that number and see what the infant position is before purchase. Don't purchase with the agent unless you absolutely have to or you'll be charged a fee.

with taxes and fees added, our infant fare was coming out to over £300 if we flew with BA or Virgin, it may be worth asking how much a child seat is as sometimes it's not that much more we discovered and then they get their own seat rather than on your lap....it's what we just done for our flights at christmas but i know this isn't an option for everyone

Thanks for all your replies. I thought someone may have travelled with AA and would know exactly how much we would be charged. I wish they could quote online along with the adult prices, that way you know exactly what you are paying.

Thanks Blott but I think that quote may refer to travel within the US. The more I read on the internet, the more differing amounts I saw so my husband telephoned them and they quoted £600+. I don't think the guy he spoke to, who was French, fully understood what my husband was asking (as in the infant on a lap of a full fare paying adult)unless they were thinking of charging MORE than the adult fare I had seen online!!!

Oh dear, it's still confusing! [?]

Fares
International (outside the United States/Canada and Hawaii/Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands)
For fare purposes...
an infant is defined as a passenger under 2 years of age
a child is defined as a passenger 2-11 years of age.
Availability of fares for infants and children varies depending on your travel plans. Additionally, AA.com is currently unable to book a reservation for an infant traveling internationally as a lap child. Please contact Reservations for further information assistance.[website link edited]

The answer seems to be that AA don't allow an online reservation for 'infants' (children under 2) to travel as a lap child internationally. It looks like there will be a charge and you have to call (although they strongly recommend purchasing a seat). As you've seen for yourself, they do allow free travel as a lap child on their domestic routes.

The explanation for the apparently higher fare for the child will be due to the fact that a telephone agent won't quote a cheaper web fare. I'll bet if you telephoned and asked for fares for 2 adults and a child, the child fare would be cheaper but may still be more than a web fare.