infant/child fares on Emirates

Keep in mind that if you request a bassinette row, knowing that your LO is too big for it, you might deprive another family of the seat who CAN use the bassinette. Also I would caution on relying on the crew having 'spare meals' often but not always... so you might end up hungry. Kids meals range from good to average, it really depends on the flight catering and where it's coming from. Some have loads of 'junk', some have a mix and others are really good, healthy food-wise. They do seem to be getting lots better though. Out of Dubai I mostly see: chicken nuggets & veg, spaghetti, sausage & mash, from other airports it's a real variation.

Several years ago I ended up on a flight from Heathrow to Kuala lumpur (13 hours, I think)with my 17month old and there wasn't a single spare seat on the plane. They insisted I go in a window seat with her. I survived...........just!

When we went to Germany on Emirates the child's meal was yummy. Hummous, veggies, yoghurt, fruit salad and bread. We ignored the hot food as it was mush (couldn't identify it) but the snacks were more than enough. There was a snack box with raisins, oat bar, small bag of hula hoops, small pack of sweeties & a tooth brush but we took out the sweeties before she saw them and all the snack were more than adequate to keep her going. We knew we were going to get a main meal when we got to our destination. <em>edited by MirdifIngrid on 27/06/2012</em>

I didn't read all the posts, but I always knew that child ticket is 50% of adult ticket. infant was sort of 10 - 20 % of the adult ticket. on a long haul flight, seriously you won't survive it if you had your 13 months old on infant seat, the bassinet is too small, tried it myself, in that time DS2 was 7 months old and 9 kgs in weight, the bassinet just fit him, in that time he was able to sit by himself, so it was a disaster flight, with DS1 was 3 years old.... you can always but the child ticket for your infant, and bring along the carseat in the aircraft, been there done that. HTH

If you can afford it buy the child's seat, especially if you are taking a night flight. We were lucky enough that there were spare seats on most of our recent flights which they could block for us and the difference when they are strapped in a carseat is huge, instead of wriggling and jumping, DS sat nicely, ate off his tray, watched baby tv etc and slept well for most of a 14 hour flight. The one sector that we couldn't block a seat was awful. make sure your carseat is approved though, the extra seat on its own is helpful but having the carseat is what really makes the difference. They are used to not being able to move when in a carseat so just go along with it and don't try and get out. Its also obviously much safer than them on your lap. As pointed out below though, a child's seat is not cheap at all compared with an infant, but I guess at least the extra luggage allowance allows you to do more shopping! I'd check out what a child's meal on emirates consists of too, I know the child's meal on Qatar airways is horrendous, chocolate, flavoured milk, chips, pastry etc, not food you'd want to be giving a toddler at all! Even with an infants seat you can wangle a meal by ordering something like a low sodium for yourself, giving it to your baby and asking if they have any spare regular meals that you can have, they always do.

Before their 2nd birthday they are classed as infants and can sit on your lap. With Emirates they have to pay 10% of the fare in this case, have a 10kg baggage allowance and you are allowed an extra hang luggage bag through with them. They will not be given a meal on flight but will be offered a jar of baby food depending on their age. Please note that the amount they pay on Emirates is a percentage of the full adult fare on that journey and not a set amount. From their 2nd birthday onwards they are classed as children and have to have their own seats and pay 80% (if I recall correctly) of the fare. But they do get the full luggage allowance, which to the UK is 30kg, and hand luggage allowance. Children get a child's meal on the plane - if you order one, if not, then they just get what everyone else does! You can still request a bassinet seat with an older child but won't be given the bassinet as at 13mths old they're too big for it. You do have a little more leg room for the child to play in though. However, if the flight is not busy the cabin crew will move you (if you want) with your child to a row where you have more room so that the child can spread out when they go to sleep. The disadvantage with the bassinet row is that the arms do not move so you're stuck with a toddler in your lap and quite restricted if they fall asleep, whereas on another row you can move the arm and the toddler can still lie down. All the above is from experience of travelling a lot to and from the UK on my own when DS1 was an infant and I hope it's right and still stands correct. Obviously when he wasn't mobile it was easier but as he got older we would still have the bassinet seat and he would be occupied with the comings and going of the cabin crew. He had a lot of space to play in on the floor by the seat and on occasion I could move to another row when he was sleeping to put him down and give my arms a rest, only to come back to my original seat when he woke. Hope this helps! Hope this helps.

whenever i travelled with my LO at that age with qatar airways,we sat just behind the business class where you can place a bassinet,(make sure you choose ur seat before boarding as the bassinet seat will be full, if ur gonna do it at the time of ur flight)the allowed weight for bassinets are atleast until 11kg,if i remember it right we paid atleast 600dhs for it,but when my LO turned 2 we have no choice but to get her,her own seat that cost 2000++ :(

August is high season for airlines. Rates are higher,flights full. The rate you pay for an infant on your lap consists of airport taxes and fuel surcharge of the destination your going to as well as that of your departing airport. Technically seat on lap 'free' as they are not charged for a 'seat'. Since your going to UK it will be high as they have high airport tax and fuel charges. If you want a child seat you need to book it over the phone or at their office. Cant be done online.

An infant fare is about 20% of the cost of an adult fare - I'm not entirely sure what the calculation is. If your child is below a certain height/weight then u can utilise the bassinet as well. If you're taking your child in their own car seat then you need to book a child's seat. Child's fares are calculated as 75% of the adults fare price + the same amount of tax, so the difference is literally a couple of hundred dirhams. If ur booking to travel at a time that isn't busy then chances are there will be empty seats in which case the airline staff always try to give u an additional seat for your child so it's worth ringing Emirates to check. Also just to confirm that u can book an infant seat for children under 24 months on the date of travel.

Also, taken from the website: [i'>Customers in any class of service who are travelling with an infant are permitted one extra piece of checked-in baggage up to 10 kg (22 lb) that does not exceed 55 x 38 x 20 cm (22” x 15” x 8”) in size where the weight concept applies, or 23 kg (50 lbs) with total dimensions (length + width + height) not exceeding 115 cm (45”) where the piece concept applies.[/i'>

PJ - really, for free? When we travelled to Oz (at 4 mths) I'm sure we paid something for him, travelling on our laps/in bassinet... Sanddy - sorry to be dense, is the diff between infant and adult the diff between on lap and in seat/carseat? No, infants do not have their own seat. They are on your lap so cannot be put in a carseat (unless you have a free seat next to you by chance). You still get (I believe) a baggage allowance with an infant so I guess the cost covers that. To be guaranteed a seat for the infant on which you can put their carseat you must buy a child fare. I think you may have to do this over the phone - not sure if the system allows a "child" under 2 when booking online. Not sure if that's very clear lol! You must pay for an infant (AED 420 return in the example I took from their website), even though they do not get a seat. <em>edited by Sanddy_Dogg on 26/06/2012</em>

I posted numbers on here, I wonder where it's gone. Anyway...I plugged in 8th to 29th Aug DXB-LHR-DXB onto Emirates wesite (incidentally the dates didn't matter, the table showed the same fare for all dates in Aug). 1 adult - AED 2810 1 adult+ 1 infant AED 3220 1 adult + 1 child AED 5140 Hopefully this post will stay...

for an infant they do charge. its not free but its a percentage of the fair and when my son was a baby they charged I think 40 % from memory but no luggage allowance ! with airlines infants are usually under 2 but I could be wrong ..

Just checked - must have changed since DS was a bub. Not free anymore - looks like 450aed for a one way to aust for an infant on lap. ETA - I'm seeing 580aed charge for a infant (on lap) return to london from dubai. Just type your dates into the emirates website and toggle options between an adult + infant and an adult + child with own seat. It gives you the exact fare breakdown <em>edited by Plain-Jane on 26/06/2012</em>

On your lap is for free. Booking a child seat is 75% of the adult fare.