Delta Fares

What are the chances of having to purchase her air ticket?

Calling all parents who have traveled with little ones: My daughter is a lap child on our flight to Orlando (Disney). She will have a birthday during the vacation and will be two on the flight home. Do I need to buy her a seat even if she is only two days into her second year? Wouldn't they let her go? We are traveling on Delta. Please answer from experience. I don't need to hear about safety issues (I know them already). Thank you in advance for those who offer sincere advice.

Public Comments

1. i would ask the airlines, they are there with all the info you need. but from my experience, they dont care how many days old...if the birth certificate says 2, then you will have to pay for a seat.
2. That happened with my niece and my sister said she had to buy her a return ticket.
3. unless they specifically require you to provide proof of identification for your daughter when ordering the tickets, which nobody did when I flew with a baby, they just ask for the child's age. And they won't ask for identification for her at the gate (most 2 year olds don't have any). Just tell them that she's under two, they'll never know the difference. There's no way I would pay all that money for an extra ticket when she's two days over the limit. It's like using the ten items or less lane when you have 12 items. It's not a big deal and they'll never notice.
4. See if the fine print says anything on it. Also dont breastfeed on delta, they kicked a family off for it!
5. Check with the airline... many say age 2 needs their own seat... they'll probably be pricks about her being two days past her 2nd B-day.
6. I recently traveled to Orlando myself in November, with 4 children - 3 were old enough for seats and one was not. We also flew with Delta. They do not take a birth certificate, they go on your word. If she is a bigger child for her age you may have an argument on your hands. The thing you need to remember is that ALL passengers MUST have a ticket, so when you book your flight you need to give her name and info as well so she will be issued a boarding pass, even though she is flying "free". When we approached the gate, they person checking tickets called off each of our names and checked us against the boarding pass. I was holding the baby and they simply checked her off and kept going. If you are bringing a stroller you can take it right through the checkpoint and up to the plane; they will hold it for you and have it waiting when you land instead of having to collect it at baggage. That made things a LOT easier for us! We ended up using the stroller for all of our carry-ons and I held the baby most of the time anyway.
7. If you want to be honest about it, just buy her a plane ticket...I know it seems like a waste money, but the rules are the rules.
8. If you think she'll sit and stay on your lap I wouldn't worry about it.
9. Children 2 years and older need a seat. I think it's unethical to try to lie.
10. When we took our 20 month old on a plane (airtran) in our lap, never once did anyone ask for proof of her age...I would think you would be safe in not buying a seat for your daughter.
11. If she will be 2 you will have to buy her a ticket....period. My daughter had just turned 2 3 days before we went to texas and we had to buy her a seat.