Traveling with infants is always a challenge,
more so on long international flights. Some parents in order to keep their
infant safe and secure during take off and landing will spend extra money to
purchase a child's fare and therefore a seat for their baby so he or she can be
secured in a car seat on the aircraft. A child's fare typically costs 65 or 75
percent of an adult ticket, whereas an infant ticket costs only 10 percent.
However, not all airlines will allow parents to
use a car seat on board. This depends upon the regulations of the country in
which the airline is registered.
Alitalia is one such airline. Italian
regulations do not allow them to secure infants in a car seat on board their
aircraft. Passengers who purchased a child's fare expecting to use a car seat
will be required to purchase a new infant's ticket at check in and then attempt
to refund the child's ticket through the original agency that issued it. This is
not always successful as ticket rules have changed and most tickets are
non-refundable.
As Alitalia is a member of the Sky Team
Alliance you may purchase a ticket which shows a flight number of one of the
other team members but which is actually operated by Alitalia. If this is the
case the Alitalia regulations take precedence.
Other members of the Sky Team are Air France,
Aero Mexico, Delta Air Lines, Korean Air Lines and Czech Airlines. As Alitalia
only flies across the Atlantic from the USA this potential problem would not
arise to Korean Air Lines or Aero Mexico destinations.
On Alitalia The passenger traveling with an
infant will be allowed to have a stroller or car seat to hold the infant until
actual flight boarding. At that point, the stroller/car seat will be tagged and
checked in at the gate.
On all other Sky Team flights the passenger
traveling with an infant will be allowed to have a stroller for the infant until
actual flight boarding. At that point, the stroller will be tagged and checked
in at the gate. Only a car seat will be allowed on the aircraft if a seat has
been purchased for the infant.
At this time we are not aware of any of the
other Alliances, Star or One World, not permitting a child's fare and a seat to
be purchased for an infant. However, we recommend that you check with the
airline before purchasing in order to avoid problems at check in – after all it
is stressful enough traveling with children without adding to it.