THALALO

Here’s a little secret that I discovered when traveling with a lap child.  As a courtesy, it is the standard policy of many airlines to keep the seat next to a person with a lap child empty until the plane is completely full.

So when booking your airline ticket with a lap child, always choose a seat with an empty one next to it.  If you are traveling as a family, try for window and aisle seats — don’t worry about sitting together – any passenger will happily exchange their middle seat if the flight fills up.   And check with SeatGuru.com – it’s one of my favorite reference tools, and will tell you if your seat doesn’t recline, or if it’s near a lavatory or congested area.

On many flights the seat between my husband and I has been the only free one on the plane.  This trick doesn’t always work (especially during the holiday season), but it’s definitely worth a try.

When making your flight reservation, you always need to tell the airline in advance about a lap child.  For domestic flights, there is usually no charge, and on international ones, there is a nominal fee (that corresponds to tax).  Confirm that the lap child is listed on your ticket on all flights.  Several friends have had serious complications on international flights when their lap child has not been listed – once, the harried couple had to spend several hundred dollars to buy a new ticket for the child!