Flying American Airlines with Baby
Is American Airlines good to fly with a baby? If I’m brutally honest with you, no. American Airlines is the least family-friendly airline, but as quite often we have no other choice we have to fly them on occasion.
You will still most likely be fine, but there are certain things that you need to be aware of when flying American Airlines with a baby or toddler.
American Airlines Flying with Infant
American accepts newborns as young as 2 days old but any baby under 7 days old is required to have a doctor’s letter which clears them for plane travel.
Infant seating is also pretty standard with American Airlines, you have the option of having them sit on your lap for the duration of the flight (free of charge), sleeping in a bassinet provided by the airline, or seated in a car seat with own allocated space (paid ticket required).
Note that only one infant is allowed to sit on a parent’s lap at a time, so if you have more than one baby per adult, you will need to book the second child a ticket and bring along a certified car seat.
Infant food on American Airlines
American Airlines offers range of different commercial baby food onboard their flights that can be provided for children under 2 years old. In theory as per their website.
In reality, despite numerous international flights taken we were never offered any baby food for our son.
Nursing mothers can also bring a soft-sided cooler of breast milk and/or breast pump on board in addition to their personal cabin bag. Additionally, you are permitted to bring one diaper bag per child which can include travel necessities like baby food and bottles. So if you prefer to bring along your own supplies, the air hostesses will be happy to help.
American Airlines Lap Infant
Children up to 2 years old can be added to your ticket as an infant in arms on American Airlines during the booking process online when entering your passenger information.
You’ll need to give all their info such as name and date of birth, but in most cases, for domestic flights, they won’t be issued with their own ticket.
For international flights, your lap infant will be issued their own ticket which entitles them to additional checked luggage (more on that below).
Baby Facilities on American
If your child is under 2 years old, make sure to push through for priority boarding at the gate to make sure you can get settled on board easily and comfortably.
American Airlines does NOT offer any priority boarding for families to help them arrange any baby seats etc without the chaos of everyone else trying to board. In fact, three times we asked we were literally laughed at by the staff telling us that we board according to our boarding group and status.
Change tables are available in the lavatories on all wide-bodied planes (generally any planes that are flying long distances), but the toilets are smaller than on other airlines so it’s a bit of a tight squeeze.
American Airlines Car Seat Policy
Any child who is traveling in their own seat under 2 years old must use an FAA-approved safety car seat. This also applies to any children who cannot sit up unassisted during take-off and landing.
There are lots of things you should know before traveling with a car seat