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Hi all,
We’re a family of 2 adults and 3 kids. I’m gonna use the 241 voucher to book myself & the missus long haul business class seats.
Is it simply a matter of ringing CC to add 3 children (paying with cash) to our existing 241 booking?
The kids 11-14, will be in economy. While it would be preferable to all be in the same cabin, I simply can’t afford the £ for 3 additional business class seats. Kids are well mannered and will love ICE, whereas I will want to sleep.
Is it possible to have different cabin types for passengers on the same booking? Has anyone done this before and offer any advice?
Thanks in advance
Well you won’t be able to combine cash bookings and Avios bookings under the same PNR – so that’s stumbling block one.
Second you are probably going to have to book on the 241 Adult and youngest child and cash book an Adult with two children to get around this https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/travel-assistance/children-travelling-alone#:~:text=How%20old%20does%20a%20child,booking%20to%20travel%20with%20us.
Is this one of those spoof posts? I can understand putting (older kids) in ET when the parents are in CE, as that’s pretty much the same cabin, but it’s totally different on a long haul. You’ll be quite far away from them in the event of an emergency and going backwards and forwards between cabins isn’t generally permitted.
Also as noted, you can’t make separate bookings for children under 16.
It can’t be that uncommon as BA specifically talks about it online
https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/family-travel/tickets-and-travel-documents
So it’s fine to do at the kids age
What I think may be an issue is an adult sitting in a “child’s seat” in business class. Though they pay full APD so no real reason not to but I can imagine a crew not being happy about that swap. Perhaps BA can book the cash seats by phone and link up the references ? Might be worth a call
The picture for illustration is of a short-haul flight – I would definitely not want to be in CW while my child was in economy with the PE cabin in between (for example). Also I’m not sure how realistic this advice is – it says in the event of any issues the parent is expected to downgrade, but what if the economy cabin is full?
It’s not clear whether all the children could go on a separate booking due to the eldest being 14, or whether the other two would need an adult with them.
Definitely not a spoof post ☺️ if I let my kids walk to school on their own in a city, I don’t see the issue with them being in a different part of the same tin can 40,000 ft in the sky, as long as I’m on the same flight.
YOU might not have an issue but airlines can and do.
BA Flyer IHG Stayer, what SPECIFICALLY are the issues that the airline can and do have?
I think credit to @mclovin for having sensible kids. One thing that frequently strikes me about children is how well behaved and polite they frequently are immediately the parents are out of sight. And three kids of that age in a separate section of a plane is really no biggy. One kid would be a bit off. But three? Totally fine. What are they going to do? Look at screens and probably use please and thank you every time they are offered something by the cabin crew.
One thing totally intrigued me from the link @SamG sent though.
First we have:
“Young adults
We allow children aged 14 or older to travel alone with us on domestic or international British Airways flights.“So the 14 year old is cool.
Then we have:
“Booking a child into a different cabin
You can book your child to travel in a different cabin from yourself. Just make your booking first, then contact us to make a separate booking for your child. Children between 5 and 12 can be booked into a different cabin from you.”So the 11 year old is cool.
Hopefully you have twins but if there is a 13 year old in the mix, then what are you to do with one of them!?
BA Flyer IHG Stayer, what SPECIFICALLY are the issues that the airline can and do have?
In a situation, a parent is more likely to want to move towards their offspring than exit the plane. This could mean moving in the opposite direction to the general flow of passengers, causing at best a delay in passengers exiting.
This would be my worry – no way would I be leaving an aircraft in an emergency without my kids. I’m not doubting for one minute that they’re beautifully behaved, that’s not the issue!
I think credit to @mclovin for having sensible kids. One thing that frequently strikes me about children is how well behaved and polite they frequently are immediately the parents are out of sight. And three kids of that age in a separate section of a plane is really no biggy. One kid would be a bit off. But three? Totally fine. What are they going to do? Look at screens and probably use please and thank you every time they are offered something by the cabin crew.
One thing totally intrigued me from the link @SamG sent though.
First we have:
“Young adults
We allow children aged 14 or older to travel alone with us on domestic or international British Airways flights.“So the 14 year old is cool.
Then we have:
“Booking a child into a different cabin
You can book your child to travel in a different cabin from yourself. Just make your booking first, then contact us to make a separate booking for your child. Children between 5 and 12 can be booked into a different cabin from you.”So the 11 year old is cool.
Hopefully you have twins but if there is a 13 year old in the mix, then what are you to do with one of them!?
Yes the wordings are a bit weird, that presumably should be 16? But I’m also surprised that by my reading you could put a 5 yr old alone in a different cabin !
In my experience this isn’t particularly unusual in Asia or USA with older kids – I have an American collegue that puts her similar aged kids in economy and flies premium econ or biz without a problem. Only once have I noticed an issue on Singapore Airlines when the parents were in biz and the kid wanted to visit them. The cabin manager made it politely clear that it wasn’t going to happen and if he couldn’t sit alone one of them would have to move to economy.
Personally I’m not sure I’d do it but I’m 10+ years away – my OH would have no issue though 😂
My teenager certainly slummed it in J once he turned 16 on the occasions we’ve managed to bag 2 F seats, but in those cases there was only the galley between us.
Of course it’s going to be fine 99% of the time, but we’ve all seen those turbulence pictures 😱
Only the OP can judge about the maturity of their kids. I personally think it’s fine, as long as you check on them often and/or make use of the WiFi to keep in touch. I’m sure the cabin crew will look after them and alert you to any issues.
It will be very frowned upon for your kids to come into the CW cabin more than the odd occasion, but no issues going back to see them. I doubt you will have issue swapping a seat with your eldest for take-off/landing, or in case of an emergency.
BTW I think BA changed the age of unaccompanied traveller from 12 to 14 some years ago. Probably the mix-up on ages above, which probably should read 5-14.
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