Travel with infant who turns two during the trip

[Kimnhi]

Hi, I'm new to the site and just want to ask what is the general rule for infant tickets???

I travelled on Vietnam airline to HCM recently with my son who was turning two a couple of days after our departure date from Sydney. He travelled as an infant sitting in my lap. We stayed in Vietnam for 5 weeks, and on our return trip, the check-in staff said that she couldn't find my son's ticket number on her system and told me to go and buy a return ticket for him. I said that he doesn't have a ticket number because he was traveling on my ticket as an infant. She refused to process the boarding pass and I had to buy a return ticket for him again. I then had to buy a child ticket because he was no longer considered as an infant from the date of departure from HCM. But I thought airlines calculate infants fares based on their age at the time of departure from where they first started their journey???

 

[samh004]

Welcome to AFF!

I would have thought that the ticket you need is based on the age at the time you're using it. So part way through a journey you may need to pay more. However, having not been in the situation I'll defer to someone else. In my opinion though, seems correct.

 

[feezable]

Hi Kimnhi, You are correct, age is determined by the date of the first flight on a ticket.

 

[feezable]

That's not necessarily the journey though as you could be using multiple tickets for the journey. The age rule applies to each ticket.

 

[feezable]

Soor, for multiple posts, writing this on my phone. A lot of families try to schedule departure dates in the lead up to a child turning 2 or 12. Turning 2 or 12 does not affect the ticket.

 

[feezable]

*turning 2 or 12 while away does not affect the ticket

 

[serfty]

Each airline has their own rules on this, but with separate tickets what occurred would be the norm.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This from Qantas:

If your child turns 12, or your infant turns 2, after travel has commenced, Qantas will allow you to use the ticket at the reduced fare within its validity. For other carriers, we recommend that you check their policy before booking.

https://qantas.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/40/kw/infant/related/1

This from Malaysia Airlines

An infant or baby is a passenger who has not reached his or her second birthday. The age is taken as at the commencement of the journey.

MH Experience - Kids' Corner - Infants | Malaysia Airlines

This from Jetstar

Infants over 2 years of age on an inbound flight who were under 2 years on the outbound flight, may travel for the applicable infant fee, or for free if none is applicable, providing they are not occupying a seat.

Infant Age Guide | Jetstar

Cathay Pacific

The infant passenger must be under 24 months throughout the whole journey.

Adult, Child & Infant - Cathay Pacific Australia

 

[trooper]

I'm not surprised by the CX rule.... So on other airlines you could commence the trip with a child 23 months and 3 weeks old... and fly back 11 months and some weeks later... with a child nearly 50% older than the "under 2" concession is meant to be for... and presumably of a much greater size too....

 

[knasty]

Jetstar and Virgin both allow 2 year olds to be restrained in an infant belt. I guess this allows for the situation you outlined. On a few occasions I've had kids at two in a paid seat but spending the descent on my lap.

 

[Kimnhi]

Thank you all so much for your quick and informative replies.

We booked our inbound and outbound tickets through a travel agent, and I have checked that its not multiple ticket. I've also checked with Vietnam Airline policy regarding infant travel, but the information is ambiguous and rather lacking when considering children turning two during their travel.

I'll just have to wait for their reply regarding this matter.

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Yes not covered here

Infant | Vietnam Airlines