Daughter will be 26 months old, do I have to get her a ticket?

[alba216]

We are flying to San Juan for a cruise, which is like flying to any other state I think. SO if thats the case, could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two and have her sit in my lap & save the money on her ticket?

[Shorex]

We are flying to San Juan for a cruise, which is like flying to any other state I think. SO if thats the case, could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two and have her sit in my lap & save the money on her ticket?

 

Children over 2 years of age are required to have tickets and seats of their own for most, if not all, US airlines. Airlines have been known to ask for birth certificates as proof of age for "lap children," and have also denied boarding to children who might be over the age of two and have no proof of age. Is that the way you want to start your vacation?

[flhokie]

Agreed. The airlines have the right to ask for proof of age. I'm assuming you'll have either her birth certificate or a passport for the cruise so, if they asked for it you would have to purchase a ticket for her in order to get her on the plane. The walk-up price for the ticket would be much higher than purchasing one now--if a ticket were available on the day of departure.

 

Another thing, the reason that there is a limit set is for the safety of children and the other passengers.

[FlyerTalker]

Do you also order from the Senior's menu at Denny's??

 

I'm not a lawyer, but don't the words such as fraud and theft come to mind?

[pms4104]

Buy your daughter a ticket and save yourself embarrassment, and the cost of the walk-up fare, at the airport.

[paul929207]

THe airlines are required by DOT to ticket all passengers 2 or older. You run the risk of being denied boarding. If you are forced to buy another ticket, there may not be one on that flight. There may not be a seat next to yours.

[6rugrats]

We are flying to San Juan for a cruise, which is like flying to any other state I think. SO if thats the case, could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two and have her sit in my lap & save the money on her ticket?

 

What difference does cheating and lying make, if you are flying to another state or someplace else? Of course you can't get away with this. The airline will require you to show her birth certificate.

 

Why not just pack her into your baggage, and check her in that way? Oh wait, you don't want to pay the $15 checked bag fee either, right?

[Globaliser]

... could I get away with telling the airline my daughter is still under two ...

It isn't true. Therefore it's fraud, and you'd be a criminal to do it. End of story.

[6rugrats]

Apparently, OP has already done this twice in the last year:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=924422&highlight=

[pms4104]

Apparently, OP has already done this twice in the last year:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=924422&highlight=

If I understood that thread and post correctly, the daughter still was entitled to be a lapper ... not so on the upcoming trip.

 

As an aside ... I had occasion to meet the senior flight attendant on the UA plane that tumbled down the runway in Sioux City IA several years ago and, yes, a lapper died of massive head trauma. When that woman retired, she spent her time and energy lobbying the government to require a ticketed seat for each and every passenger ... for the safety of all crew and passengers onboard.

[travelntreats]

Apparently, OP has already done this twice in the last year:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=924422&highlight=

Wondering why the OP hasn't asked if they should be able to lower the tips for the 24 month old too !

 

Wait, I may have fueled their fire for more cost savings ! :eek:

[kenish]

As an aside ... I had occasion to meet the senior flight attendant on the UA plane that tumbled down the runway in Sioux City IA several years ago and, yes, a lapper died of massive head trauma. When that woman retired, she spent her time and energy lobbying the government to require a ticketed seat for each and every passenger ... for the safety of all crew and passengers onboard.

 

I'm a private pilot and the OP may not realize kids are definitely at risk if they are not belted securely into a seat or infant seat of their own. Besides a crash (which is fortunately very unlikely), hitting bad turbulence can cause severe or fatal injuries as anyone or anything loose in the cabin gets violently tossed around. Parents would never think of grabbing their toddler by the heels and slamming them into a wall. As terrible as that image is, that's exactly what happens in severe turbulence.

 

The FAA looked into prohibiting lap kids after the United 232 crash. The conclusion was requiring families to spend more to fly would cause a certain number to drive instead. The additional highway fatalities would outnumber the lives saved on aircraft, so the rule stayed as is.

[pms4104]

I'm a private pilot and the OP may not realize kids are definitely at risk if they are not belted securely into a seat or infant seat of their own. Besides a crash (which is fortunately very unlikely), hitting bad turbulence can cause severe or fatal injuries as anyone or anything loose in the cabin gets violently tossed around. Parents would never think of grabbing their toddler by the heels and slamming them into a wall. As terrible as that image is, that's exactly what happens in severe turbulence.

 

The FAA looked into prohibiting lap kids after the United 232 crash. The conclusion was requiring families to spend more to fly would cause a certain number to drive instead. The additional highway fatalities would outnumber the lives saved on aircraft, so the rule stayed as is.

It isn't just the lapper kids at risk ... in turbulence or a crash, that lapper can become a flying projectile and cause serious or fatal injury to any crew or other passengers the child bounces into. Personally, I think the government's logic for continuing to allow lappers is faulty.

[james j feller]

FLYERTALKER,

 

I order from the senior menu all the time.

 

JIM

[Hflors]

This reminds me of a "funny" story. My DD was flying home from Charlotte to BWI and it was the last flight of the night. The plane was full and boarding went very slowly. One of the last people on the plane boarded only to discover that their seat was taken. There was a family of three sitting in the row. A mother, father and a boy about 12 years old. The stewardess was very kind and asked the "father" to show the boarding tickets. The father produced two tickets for he and his wife and when pressed as to why the son didn't have a ticket he said that his son was a "lap child"! The steward was not impressed and after some wrangling back and forth about a 12 year old "lap child" the stewardess finally called the captain. He came back and reiterated that the man and his family had three choices. Either the man and his family could leave the plane, the man and his wife could fly to bwi and leave the son behind in Charlotte or they could buy the son a ticket so he could fly to BWI with his parents.

 

My daughter along with the rest of the passengers were pretty upset as the departure was delayed about 1/2 hour. In the end the man was forced to buy his son the "lap child" a first class seat since that was the only seat available.

 

The stewardess had the last laugh because the man had to get off the plane and pay for the ticket at the gate, when he reboarded with his son he tried to put the son in coach with his wife, but the stewardess told the man that the first class seat had the son's name on it and they were required to seat the son in first class and the father had to sit in coach with his wife!

 

My daughter got the feeling that this family had been done many times before, but it just so happened that this flight was full so there were no extra seats. She said the parents were very put out that they had to buy their son a ticket!

 

Now of course with all the rules and tsa that couldn't happen. (Or lets hope it couldn't happen) Which is a good thing.

[DanJ]

I'll see that story and add a recent one. On flyertalk, there was a topic about a person, a frequent flier no less, you is upset at the airline for making him pay the walk-up fare for his 2 year old so the kid could sit in his car seat. The check in agent was already nice enough to block the third seat in their row, so they would have room for their lap child. But they wanted to be greedy about it and take the car seat on with them. Now that the child would definitely be taking a seat instead of being a lapper, the gate agent told them to buy a ticket or gate check the car seat. This airline has a policy that on a space permitting basis, they will block a seat for somebody with a lap child, on domestic (Canadian) flights, and these people were flying to Hawaii. So, the airline went over and above to allow them an empty seat on a transborder flight but these people are now mad at them and saying they won't fly them again.

 

As for the OP's question, aside from the fact that it would be wrong to try this, who the heck would want to hold their toddler all the way from Denver to San Juan? I enjoyed cuddle time with my kids when they were small, but, we're talking, what, 6 hour flights here. I'd be buying the seat and saying the money was well spent.

[Sea Hag]

I can't imagine not putting a child into his or her own seat, with a safe, secure carseat to sit in. To my mind, it's a safety issue.

[tiyana4]

This equates to lying and stealing. The same goes for parents who lie about their children's ages at restaurants, theme parks, and other places that do not require identification. Fortunately, airlines and cruiselines cannot be deceived so easily because they do require gov't issued identification.

 

If you can't afford to bring the 2 yr-old, then leave them with grandparents if possible. But lying only brings bad karma....too much could happen as other posters have mentioned. To even think of doing this is unconscionable and only bad will come of it.

 

If you have to question whether or not you can get away with something, then you know its wrong.

[steve20832]

Even if it was legal, I wouldn't want ~40 pounds on my lap for several hours. Every airline has something on their website about kids. You didn't say which airline you are using but here is JetBlue's policy saying kids age may be verified.

 

http://help.jetblue.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/webisapi.dll/,/?St=18,E=0000000000015216364,K=3557,Sxi=13,Case=obj(1939)

 

If the airline does ask for proof, you will have to pay last minute airfare (very expensive) or have someone rush to the airport and pick up your kid then you run the risk of missing your flight and cruise.

You might want to look at FlyerTalker's signature line before you answer that.