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When I booked our group flight, I forgot one passenger had a 7 month old baby that would be sitting on her lap and therefore flying free of charge. I have contacted my booking agent and made the necessary changes of including the infant but it’s taking them, together with the airline, awhile to confirm my new amended booking.

I was thinking, in case of worst case scenario that they were unable to do it on time, can I just present the baby on check in so she could fly with us?

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    Domestic or international? What country? The airline may help too...
    – Doc
    Feb 14 at 19:25
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    Infants usually don’t travel for free even if they sit on a parent’s lap. Steeply discounted fare (usually 10% of an adult fare), but generally not free. If you have to pay extra then you need to go through ticketing, which takes more time, and depending on the airline, may cost a lot more.
    – jcaron
    Feb 14 at 20:45
  • I think taxes may be due even if the airline doesn't charge for a seat.
    – paul
    Feb 16 at 12:41

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That will depend a lot on the airline and the type of ticket.

You will have to contact the airlines upfront. Some airlines do allow it (Southwest for example) but other will view it as a name change (see How to add an Infant name to an already ticketed PNR (Cryptic) — Amadeus)

On international trips, infant tickets are not always free but may still have to pay taxes and fees.

Just showing up at the airport ad trying to sort it out during check in feels extremely risky. Confirm the process with the airline upfront.

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    @manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact any link to the news article? sounds like the parent trying to pressure the airline to allowing them to carry the baby
    – justhalf
    Feb 15 at 2:46
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    Here is a report of the people who tried to leave their baby behind at the airport: jpost.com/israel-news/article-730165
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Feb 15 at 2:48
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    There's also a limit to the number of lap children that can sit in a single row, constrained by the number of oxygen masks, I believe. I think only one lap child per row of 3 seats, so if the third person in their row has already booked a lap child, they will not be able to have their lap child in the same row.
    – shoover
    Feb 15 at 3:01

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