We are flying next week and our 23 month old is ticketed as a lap child. I was just looking at the seating chart for our flights and see that both planes are currently about 1/3 empty. I know that can change between now and next week, but if we carry on a car seat, will the airline let you use an empty seat for someone who is supposed to be a "lap child"? We're flying United if that matters - certainly don't want to do anything to get on their bad side these days 
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I'd just call and ask what their policy is.
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When I flew they did. It wasn't United though. I was in an aisle seat next to two people with my 12 mos lap child. They moved me to an empty row all to ourselves when I asked. I just asked is hey there were any empty seats. They were really nice
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Yes. They always have for us.
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Seeing that people always take over empty seats on planes I wouldn't think it's a problem... I mean once the plane is in air it's not like people will appear out of nowhere!
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I think you have to ask first if they will even allow you to carry on your car seat (meaning, if you do, it has to fit in the overhead or under the seat in front of you). Even if they do allow you to bring the seat on board, they might not allow you to buckle it in next to you, I am not sure it's worth it to bank on it.
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Would you be asking to take the car seat on board or just wanting to use the seat for extra space and a place for him to sit after takeoff?
In the past, when checking in, I've always asked if there were extra seats could they seat us there. Once I was able to bring the bucket seat on, but the rest of the time, it was good enough just to have him in our lap during take-off and landing and then sit him in the empty seat during the flight. While you can call and check on their policy, it is usually at the discretion of the check-in and gate agents how it is applied.
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@looch: @Astro Bee: We've been planning to check the car seat since we need it to get to the hotel once we land, but if there's a chance of getting her a seat on the plane, it would be nice to have the car seat to increase the chances of her sleeping. Maybe it's not worth the hassle.
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@SeptMomma12: I would just ask at the check in desk if there's open seats and see if they would accommodate you. Another option would be to carry it to the gate and gate check it if they won't let it on.
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@SeptMomma12: yes I always had great luck doing this. Just take the car seat with you to the gate - ask if there are any empty seats - if so they will let you take the car seat and use it - if not just gate check it
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We've always been able to.
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We've done it on Southwest and United.
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Yes, I always bring the car seat with me and ask the gate agent if there are extra seats. They are usually super nice if there are lots of seats and will "hold" the blank seat in your row for a lap infant. If it ends up being full, we just gate check the car seat.
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Off topic to what you asked, but you might also want to bring your LO's birth certificate. That close to the cut-off age the agents might question you.
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Thanks everyone! This is super helpful.
@yoursilverlining: Thanks! It's international (Bahamas), so she has a passport.
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I have used carseats in empty seats on planes or just been given an empty seat next to me. It's SO MUCH better for everyone to give space to babies so they try.
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I've never brought a car seat on board, but I definitely got to use an extra seat several times when we were traveling with lo1 as a lap infant. One trick when you're booking tix if you're traveling with a partner or someone and the plane has 3 seats across is to choose the aisle and window seats--it's less likely they will put anyone in the middle unless the flight is full. And if they do, the middle person will definitely be willing to switch with you
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Check the policy. We flew on either US airways or United 3 years ago and the "lap baby" sat in her car seat one-way. We also had our "lap baby" with a CARES harness in a seat one-way on an American Airlines flight 6 months ago.
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Just a heads up that the rule for a lot of airlines is that the carseat must go in the window seat. In case of an emergency people can't be climbing over it. If you haven't already picked your seats, something to keep in mind.
That being said, ask at the gate and they will probably try to accommodate you if they can!
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We've done the same as @psw27:
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Yep but just remember there is a standby list that they will fill first. There were 10 empty seats when we checked in yesterday on united but they were all filled by standbys.
We had purchased a seat for our toddler so it wasn't an issue for us, just be prepared to gate check the car seat if it doesn't work out. -
I fly a lot but I've rarely seen an empty seat by the time the standby list was done, so honestly unless you know this route has a lot of empty seats lately, I wouldn't get my hopes up (and if it works out it'll be a lucky surprise.) I don't think it honestly makes a difference if it's United. I think if they have space they'll try to accommodate you if they can!
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Maybe i'm lucky, but I've been on 9 flights with my 13mo old and I've been given an empty seat for her 8 out of the 9 flights. We just ask the gate agent when we get to the airport and ask if there are any empty seats to take a carseat on for a lap infant.
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It depends on the gate agent/airline. I had no trouble doing this on multiple flights (Alaska/jet blue) but then I tried once on a flight (united); the agent was horrible rude and forbid me from doing it. What made it worse was that we got on board and there was an empty window seat right next to my aisle seat! (It was a 2-seater plane). To say the least I was livid with the airline. I tried to point out how much safer it would have been to have my daughter in her car seat, to which they replied "too late, the gate agent had us put below the below immediately after you boarded. Next time buy your child a seat". My daughter was 12 months old and I was also flying with my (then) 3 year old.
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We've been on 4 flights with 6 month old DS. On 2 of the 4, they told us there was an empty seat and we were able
to bring the car seat on. On 1 of the 4, they told us it was full so we gate checked the car seat but then there ended up actually being an empty seat so we used it to spread our stuff/baby out (too late to get the car seat back, it was already gone.) And on 1 of the 4, we didn't have en empty seat at all and had to hold him the entire time. All flights have been Virgin. Flying cross country again tomorrow and hoping for good luck! -
Thanks everyone! It's a pretty big plane (6 seats across) and about 10 of the 45 rows are still empty, so I'm hopeful it won't fill up between now and next week but who knows. DH would prefer not to carry the car seat through the airport with two kids and all our other carry-on stuff so we're just going to wing it and hope there's at least an empty seat for us to spread out
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Southwest let us to this when we flew with our car seat.
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