Travelling with a baby on Aer Lingus

IvyTheTerrible

Hi all, just looking for some info from parents who have traveled with a baby on Aer Lingus.

Our flights are booked, I went to select my seats this morning and it said "contact your local aer lingus office so we can service the needs of your child". So I was just wondering do we need to contact Aer lingus before our flight when we bring a baby (I mean for any other reason than booking seats!)

I know I can ring aer lingus but I thought I would ask here BEFORE I'm put on hold for 20 mins!

WetDaddy

Hey,

My wife & I traveled with Aer Lingus (DUB -> JFK) when our son was 7 months old. We booked the bulkhead seats as you can use the "table-top" in front of you as a large bassinet style table. They provide you with blankets, pillows and a "cot" (effectively a cardboard box) to put on this table-top. It's much larger than a normal seat's table, so there's plenty of space for the baby to sleep. Don't be disheartened by the cardboard box comment, it worked perfectly for our son who was very, very tall for his age!

I'm not sure why they might be asking you to call, but it might be related to something such as the bulkhead seats. It could also be buggy-related or etc. We booked through a travel agent, so Aer Lingus didn't ask us to call them directly and we didn't hear anything similar from the travel agent.

The only advice I'd give is that if you *are* interested in the bulkhead seats, ring them sooner rather than later as there are only a few of these such seats available.

Of course aaalll of that is assuming you're travelling on plane with such seats; you might only be going on a 50 minute flight to LHR, in which case, I'm sorry for wasting your time

All the best

Victor

How old is the baby? Do you want to carry baby on you lap the whole time or do you wan tto bring say a car seat? How long is the flight?

One important thing is to give baby a drink during take-off - the sucking action allows internal ear air pressure to be balanced.

pwurple

We travelled with our 14 month old in April with Aer Lingus. We just went to the booking desk on the morning of the flight. It was a pain not being able to pre-print the boarding passes and go to the airport a bit later, but to be fair to them, what they are actually doing is waiting until nearly everyone has picked their seats, and then trying to sit you next to an empty one.

So myself, hubbie and baby had 3 seats together, even though we have paid for the 2. They were great altogether on the flight, we had no problem in cork airport bringing on liquids for the baby either. Didn't have to taste the milk ourselves like you hear people saying.

Did the same flight a month later on Ryanair, and I have to say they did exactly the same, and were also very helpful.

galah

had the same thing when we flew in April, E was 5 months old then. I was confused about the 'contact Aerlingus' bit as well when trying to book the seats, so we just decided to leave it. We just showed up at the airport and got seats allocated then - almost front row. Aerlingus were absolutely fantastic, I must say!

You could always email the special assistance team, too - had a question about our pram, and they got back to me within a day!

IvyTheTerrible

Thanks for the advice!

The baby is 5 months old, so he has to sit on our knees. We have a pushchair with the carseat you click into the pushchair, I already rang Aer Lingus a few months ago about that, and they said the carseat can go underneath the plane as part of the baby's bagage allowance.

I don't mind too much about the bulkhead seats to be honest! Galah, I'm glad to hear you got the same message and it was no problem!

Travelling on Friday and starting to get a wee bit stressed!

uck51js9zml2yt

Wife is travelling AL tomorrow to Krackow with our 22 month old.

We always fly AL and normally get a full row. They are a pleasure to fly with.

Check in goes smoothly and we get priority boarding with a child.

In T2 we tend to get airport genie vouchers which speeds up the security check and xray.

There's no need to get stressed with them. Staff on board are really helpful

How Strange

We booked flights and prebooked seats for our holiday next month. I got the same message when I tried to pick the seats. I rang Aer Lingus, got a very quick answer and it was sorted over the phone.

Aer Lingus have been fantastic any time I've flown with my son. Last August I was flying home from Toulouse and the French lady checking me in said she'd changed our seat which I assumed was a good thing. We got on the plane to find we were in a middle seat beside a distraught woman who was flying home because two members of her family died suddenly. So the French airport staff put her beside a 6 month old baby!!! She was a lovely woman and was very friendly to my son but she needed peace and quiet.

The plane wasn't full so the staff gave me a row of seats to ourselves and moved her too. The Aer Lingus staff just use common sense.

We did a 4.5 hour flight with Ryanair in Feb and they were fantastic too. They really accommodated us with luggage (way over the limit) and hand luggage (also far too much) and applied common sense when they could've stuck to the rules.

It's only when you see how unfriendly and unhelpful airport staff can be (Toulouse and Amsterdam!) that you appreciate Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Dublin Airport.

vanillavanilla

You also need to inform them if you need a baby meal, if applicable.

Travelling to USA, we were told that there was no baby meal provided for us as we were to tell them in advance! So apparently they can't check their computers prior to departure and check how many adult meals and how many child/baby meals they will need!

Also ask for bulkhead seats and when you board, attendants are usually good at seating you where there are spare seats beside you for extra room.

You need to tell them if you need a bassinette too.

IvyTheTerrible

Ah I'm travelling from Toulouse! Hope they will be nice with us!

ariana`

We flew with them when baby was 6mth and again at 12mths. The first flight was short (3hrs) so we didn't contact them but the 2nd time was trans-atlantic so we phoned in advance and got the bulk head seats so baby could sleep in the cot/box.

They were very good to fly with, the first time they let us bring the buggy right onto the plane and put it in the overhead compartment.

Have a great trip.

How Strange

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Ah I'm travelling from Toulouse! Hope they will be nice with us!

I was able to check in online and pick my seat that time. If they say anything about changing your seat just say you don't want a middle one for obvious reasons! I'm sure they'll be fine with you.

The_Conductor

If you're intending to bring a carseat onboard, rather than in the hold- they have a list of approved aircraft compliant carseats. Essentially they are narrower than regular seats (think Britax Prince for example)- the sort of seats that you'd fit three in the rear of a regular saloon car.

Toulouse to Dublin is a short hop- I'd be more inclined to check if they'd let you use the lounge to be honest- its peaceful and as you've a child under 1, they'd come get you to board first- which there is a lot to be said for.

lounakin

I travelled Aerlingus from dublin to Paris on the 16th of july with my 2 month old... I was shocked to see you have to queue for ages to check your luggage even with a baby! Luckily I got a favour from one of the people at the desk and was able to go to the already checked queue (it's faster). Since the flight was far from full and I was on my own, they put my in a row of three on my own and locked the two other seats, which I was very grateful for. Unfortunately after I boarded, sat down and placed my bag next to me with all the baby essentials, waited for everyone to board... these 2 old ladies showed up and had the seats next to me. Because we were about to take off, some guy took my bag and put it in the overhead compartments and I found myself locked in with a baby on my lap without her cardi for the cold flight, without a muslin square for spit-ups or anything of the sort! I immediately had to ask a stuardess to move me somewhere else. It was incredibly stressful. I also had to fight with her for a good 15 minutes because I wasn't willing to take my sleeping infant out of the tight wrap against my chest (she'd been crying the entire flight and finally fell asleep), turn her around, sit her on my lap and put that crappy little belt around her. To me she seemed way more secure in the wrap, with me strapped in and two free hands to hold her on top of the wrap rather than lose in the belt (she can't even sit on her won for god's sake!!). She told me I wasn't protecting my child and asked everyone around me to be a witness to what she was saying!

pwurple

Oh lounakin, that sounds awful. I forgot about that daft baby belt. be sure to put the stupid belt on the baby before they fall alseep on you.

Gumbo

OP, did you pre-book the infant?

We travelled with our 8 week old last june and we simply had to ring up and give the babies name when he was born as we booked while pregnant. But we could pick seats etc online after that.

BUT, and heres the but,

This year we have booked again and we noticed that we cannot select seats online while having the baby book with us.
Maybe AL have changed the policy on infant seat selection but best bet is to call them up and get the bokking confirmed as they issue a revised booking form IIRC.

lounakin

pwurple wrote: »

Oh lounakin, that sounds awful. I forgot about that daft baby belt. be sure to put the stupid belt on the baby before they fall alseep on you.

I actually told the silly stuardess that I could put the belt around her while she was in the sling on me but she said no!! I couldn't put the belt on her and then put her in the sling but I could have slipped the belt in between me and the sling. But no... according to aerlingus, a 2 months-old is much safer sitting (or should I say folded over) on the parent's lap with a belt. Not only can the child slip out but they're uncomfortable and you actually have to hold them up if they're sleeping.

rok

We travelled with our infant travelled to the US this summer, flying with Virgin and Aer Lingus, and found Aer Lingus to be a bit of a pain in the ass.

With Virgin we could call in advance and reserve the Bulk head seats and there was no problem with using their Online check-in in advance of arriving at the airport. Found this helpful to have 1 less thing to worry about before negotiating the Airport queues/Security / trying to feed baby at the same time.
When I tried this with Aer Lingus it seemed like the Online check-in was working but then the website crashed and redirected me to the start of the process. I called their helpline but they were not much help, told me to check at the airport, bit worrying not sure if we were checked in or not. At the airport they allocated us the 2 seats nearest the window, whereas an aisle seat would have been preferable... anyway.

Also Virgin's baggage allowance for Infants was much more generous than Aer Lingus' allowance. (checking their websites Virgin's allowance is nearly 3 times that of Aer Lingus).

Virgin Atlantic allowance (to/from USA): Infants too young for their own seat on the aircraft (travelling on the lap of a parent or carer) can have one piece of hold baggage weighing up to 23kg, and one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 6kg. plus pushchair/car seat

Aer Lingus Checked Baggage Allowance - Shorthaul flights (within Europe) : Infant baggage allowance is ONE collapsible buggy/stroller only, free of charge.
Aer Lingus Longhaul flights (to/from USA): Infant baggage allowance is 10kgs (22lbs) in addition to one collapsible stroller.

So Virgins allowance was 29kg plus pushchair. Handy when you consider all the gear you need when travelling with a baby.

We travelled through Heathrow and the security were helpful when lugging all our gear through, no real limit on the amount of baby food we could bring, but they did ask us to open and taste one of the bottles of water and mini carton of baby milk.

Tip a few people gave us - give the baby a bottle / soother on take off to help prevent their ears from popping, seemed to work for us anyway. Good luck!

pwurple

lounakin wrote: »

I actually told the silly stuardess that I could put the belt around her while she was in the sling on me but she said no!! I couldn't put the belt on her and then put her in the sling but I could have slipped the belt in between me and the sling. But no... according to aerlingus, a 2 months-old is much safer sitting (or should I say folded over) on the parent's lap with a belt. Not only can the child slip out but they're uncomfortable and you actually have to hold them up if they're sleeping.

You had an airhostess on a grouchy day there lounakin. Sure what difference is there between a sling and a babygrow. It's just another layer of clothes to the baby, and the belt surely doesn't know any different. I'd have probably said, oh yeah yeah, it's done there, and done it my own way anyway.

vanillavanilla

lounakin wrote: »

She told me I wasn't protecting my child and asked everyone around me to be a witness to what she was saying!

:eek:
How humiliating! I understand that her job is the safety of the passengers but she sounds like an ignoramus.

cruais

lounakin wrote: »

I actually told the silly stuardess that I could put the belt around her while she was in the sling on me but she said no!! I couldn't put the belt on her and then put her in the sling but I could have slipped the belt in between me and the sling. But no... according to aerlingus, a 2 months-old is much safer sitting (or should I say folded over) on the parent's lap with a belt. Not only can the child slip out but they're uncomfortable and you actually have to hold them up if they're sleeping.

Too be fair, it's not actually an aerlingus rule. It's enforced by the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority). Infact it's enforced by all aviation authorities around the world.

I do agree that you were probably safer holding the child, but god forbid something was to happen, if you didn't have the belt on, you would have zero come back if you were to claim.

So the 'silly air hostess' was really just doing her job and complying with the rules and regulations on aviation.

bstar

cruais wrote: »

Too be fair, it's not actually an aerlingus rule. It's enforced by the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority). Infact it's enforced by all aviation authorities around the world.

I do agree that you were probably safer holding the child, but god forbid something was to happen, if you didn't have the belt on, you would have zero come back if you were to claim.

So the 'silly air hostess' was really just doing her job and complying with the rules and regulations on aviation.

Ive had my baby on 4 flights and only the irish flights had this baby seatbelt that I was made use on the baby. The other flights told us to cradle the baby against our shoulder so its neck and back would be supported during take off and landing. which made sense to me. But they did all make us take her out of the sling :mad: which is a pain when their fast asleep

Have another flight coming up we'll be bringing her on in the carseat this time so no holding necessary.

IvyTheTerrible

Well thanks guys for all your advice, the flight went great. We couldn't check in on line, we had to check in at the airport. When we got to the check-in desk, the guy was great, he let us keep the pushchair and the click-in carseat until the boarding gate, which was a fantastic help. There wasn't too much of a queue at the security so that went smoothly too. We could bring the pushchair etc right down to the door of the plane, and we just folded it up there. (A good tip is to get something to tie around the pushchair cos they have a tendency to unfold). The air hostesses were extremely helpful in explaining how to use the baby belt thing. And then to top it off, the baby did not cry once the whole journey. We gave him his soother on take off and landing so he didn't get distressed (he just rubbed his ear at one point). Then he slept for the rest of the flight! All in all it was grand.

cruais

bstar wrote: »

Ive had my baby on 4 flights and only the irish flights had this baby seatbelt that I was made use on the baby. The other flights told us to cradle the baby against our shoulder so its neck and back would be supported during take off and landing. which made sense to me. But they did all make us take her out of the sling :mad: which is a pain when their fast asleep

Have another flight coming up we'll be bringing her on in the carseat this time so no holding necessary.

You will still have to hold her for take off and landing I'm afraid

bstar

cruais wrote: »

You will still have to hold her for take off and landing I'm afraid

not according to the airline we've booked, she can stay in her car seat for the whole flight. All the US airlines are like this if they are in a approved car seat

The_Conductor

Make sure you get the list of approved carseats- there is an international list- but individual airlines have their own rules. As a general rule- the more narrow ones that have side impact protection, but are still designed for 3 across in a saloon (aka they are a lot more narrow than normal), may- if they have the base restraints, be acceptable. AA are very strict- AirFrance/KLM less so (check with whatever carrier you're proposing to use).

bstar

yep its approved Im in Canada all of the car seats on sale here are approved for air travel. Here and in the US they prefer you to use the car seat than to hold the baby as it is so much safer and there is talk of it becoming law in the next few years.

Thats great Ivy that your flight went so well.

The_Conductor

bstar wrote: »

yep its approved Im in Canada all of the car seats on sale here are approved for air travel. Here and in the US they prefer you to use the car seat than to hold the baby as it is so much safer and there is talk of it becoming law in the next few years.

Thats great Ivy that your flight went so well.

Not accurate unfortunately. Around 10% of car seats sold in Canada (and 8% in the US) are approved for use in aircraft. The FAA have conditions that must be fulfilled before any carseat can be considered aircraft compatible. You need to check the sticker on the side of the seat for a picture of an aircraft, in order to ensure its compliant.

This link here has details on many of the current carseats on the US and Canadian market, and lists those of which can be considered (from their selection) to be aircraft compliant.

Point of note- very often a manufacturer will have several compliant seats- alongside several non-compliant seats- don't rely on a particular manufacturer being compliant, or non-compliant.

bstar

im just going by that the 2 baby shops near me both only sell faa and caa approved car seats so I assumed that, ours def is as was a requirement when we were looking for one.

Scruff

rok wrote: »

W
Aer Lingus Checked Baggage Allowance - Shorthaul flights (within Europe) : Infant baggage allowance is ONE collapsible buggy/stroller only, free of charge.

What do they clasify as a buggy\stroller? We have one of those McLaren type strollers but would much prefer to bring the sturdier "buggy" that the car seat goes on..

uck51js9zml2yt

Scruff wrote: »

What do they clasify as a buggy\stroller? We have one of those McLaren type strollers but would much prefer to bring the sturdier "buggy" that the car seat goes on..

That wont be a problem. they'll just ask you how many pieces so they can label it accordingly.