"Free" Lap Child on Flight not so free. Budget Buster.

[andrews_dad]

Washington DC to Nassau over Thanksgiving. Only 2 hrs 45 min in the air, easy direct flight on US Air. Taking the 18 month old with us and you might assume a lap child is free. Not so. Pay international departure taxes, arrival fees, security fees, taxes, etc. Cost is $48 one way, $51 the other ... plus the cost of a passport.

 

[allison443]

Washington DC to Nassau over Thanksgiving. Only 2 hrs 45 min in the air, easy direct flight on US Air. Taking the 18 month old with us and you might assume a lap child is free. Not so. Pay international departure taxes, arrival fees, security fees, taxes, etc. Cost is $48 one way, $51 the other ... plus the cost of a passport.

Do you think your child should get a free passport?

 

[madcat]

I'm sure that she didnt think that her child should get a "free" passport, but I think that the price for them is pretty steep as well. I think (and I could be wrong here) that she was merely saying that these things add up.

 

[james'mommy]

It's better than paying for a seat for the child.

 

[wmharley]

if it was domestic, then you wouldn't pay anything... international you ahve to pay those fees...

should have come to Orlando..

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Washington DC to Nassau over Thanksgiving. Only 2 hrs 45 min in the air, easy direct flight on US Air. Taking the 18 month old with us and you might assume a lap child is free. Not so. Pay international departure taxes, arrival fees, security fees, taxes, etc. Cost is $48 one way, $51 the other ... plus the cost of a passport.

I can understand being surprised by the airline fees but were you unaware that the little one would need a passport for international travel?

 

[katied]

Only in the US are infants free to travel. Within Europe and really the rest of the world, you always pay something for an infant to travel, even if they do not have a seat. On the plus side though, there are often "child" fares for kids age 2 - 11 on the non-U.S. airlines, so you don't have to pay full adult price for them - some would say that that's not fair, since they take up the same amount of space on the airplane.

 

[andrews_dad]

Didn't mean to imply that I was surprised by the passport fee ... just another cost I tossed onto the original post. You can see how I made the point on the airfare fees and then put an additional thought, "... plus the cost of the passport."

Just saying it adds up fast. I was indeed surprised how quickly the fees and charges added up for the flight for the baby, though. $100 for a lap child with no seat round trip... pretty bad when the adult fare (not including said taxes and fees) is barely $100 per way.

 

[andrews_dad]

Do you think your child should get a free passport?

Of course that is what I meant. Of course it should be free! Um, no. I don't expect a free passport for a child. It was just an additional thought on the costs that add up when traveling with a baby. The charges for the taxes and fees did shock me a bit, though.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Didn't mean to imply that I was surprised by the passport fee ... just another cost I tossed onto the original post. You can see how I made the point on the airfare fees and then put an additional thought, "... plus the cost of the passport."

Just saying it adds up fast. I was indeed surprised how quickly the fees and charges added up for the flight for the baby, though. $100 for a lap child with no seat round trip... pretty bad when the adult fare (not including said taxes and fees) is barely $100 per way.

Welcome to the world of travelling "en famille"! Just wait...it gets better!

 

[Green Tea]

If you become andrew & Emily & Ethan's_dad, things only get exponentially worse. The travel world is based on 2 kids, not 3.

 

[LisaNJ25]

If you become andrew & Emily & Ethan's_dad, things only get exponentially worse. The travel world is based on 2 kids, not 3.

Wait till you add a 4th... than your really screwed

 

[mjkacmom]

Wait till you add a 4th... than your really screwed

And then comes #5, and you're not going anywhere!

 

[Green Tea]

And then comes #5, and you're not going anywhere!

I'd be going somewhere------crazy!

 

[Green Tea]

Oddly though, I booked a cruise and the third kid in the cabin was free. Have no idea why. The cabin for 2 costs more than the cabin for 3.