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We are trying to figure out how to manage a trip between USA and Europe where my husband and I will do different parts with different combinations of children (both aged under 4).

  1. Mother flies USA->UK with child 1 and child 2
  2. Father flies USA->UK alone
  3. Mother flies UK->USA with child 1 only
  4. Father flies UK->USA with child 2 only

If this was an equivalent trip with 4 adults we would obviously buy four separate return flights matching the times with each other. However, I don't think I can do this for infants as they will assume they are travelling alone.

Has anybody figured out how to do this?

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  • Are both children aged 2 or over?
    – Berwyn
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 13:31
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    Hello! Just in case anyone else is interested I solved this by calling the airline directly (BA in this case) and it was no problem. It was impossible to do it online as the system won't allow bookings for what looks like an unaccompanied 3 year old. Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments!
    – guestpost
    Commented Aug 11, 2016 at 21:12

1 Answer 1

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Problem is clearly child 2 since he/she is paired with different parents on each leg. This may not be much of a problem if child 2 is under two and doesn't need his/her own ticket. How old ?

Option 1): Buy everything as one-ways.

Option 2): Call the airline and see if they can find a creative to ticket this. Perhaps you can book 3 round trips (parents + Child 1)and two one ways for child 2. Ask the airline to attach each one ways to the matching itinerary of parent for that leg. This may have a better chance if you have status with the airline.

EDIT: one more thought: I would recommend against having the kid on a separate itinerary. If anything goes wrong (delay, cancellation, re-booking) your are at the mercy of the airline to do the same changes in sync on two different itineraries. This can be very messy and there is a risk that you get separated which is totally unacceptable. Many airlines won't allow this anyway.

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  • Option two is probably the cheapest option, one-ways are almost always more expensive.
    – Summer
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 13:02
  • If the children are both over 2, you could still buy four round-trip fares; you would just need three separate reservations: One for mother and child one, another for child 2, and a third for the father.
    – phoog
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 13:09
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    I would definitely do this on the phone. It has the potential to come completely unstuck otherwise.
    – Berwyn
    Commented Jul 28, 2016 at 13:39

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