In this day and age, airlines like to grab as much cash off you as possible, with outrageous credit card booking fees, paying for checked luggage, and so on. While booking flights recently for my children it was not clear of each airlines policy for extra items that you would normally take on holiday with children, like strollers, car seats, high chairs, etc. So I went looking for each airline’s policy on this.
Qantas make it easy and clear:
Children
- Children receive the same baggage allowance as adults.
- Children up to 12 years of age are permitted one car seat and one collapsible pram, stroller or push chair in addition to the checked baggage allowance.
Virgin was also easy to find:
Children
Children are entitled to the same baggage allowance as adults. Adults accompanying children are entitled to carry one car seat or booster seat per child as checked baggage free of charge, irrespective of the weight. If the adult does not have a baggage allowance, the car seat or booster seat can still be checked in free of charge.
The second hardest to locate one was Jetstar – where they hide it in the travelling with kids section, and not in the baggage allowance section which would be the first place to look!
From the Jetstar website:
Here’s a list of the bulkier things families can check on Jetstar flights without attracting excess baggage charges:
Strollers or pushers
Porta-cots and bedding
Infant car seats
Portable high-chairs
And finally Tiger, they are the strictest:
If you are travelling with an Infant, Tiger Airways will allow, at no additional charge, 1 piece of Infant equipment, such as a pram or portable cot to be checked, in addition to any Luggage Upsize™ allowance purchased. Infants do not qualify for baggage allowance as they are not fare-paying passengers.
Tiger are the only airline that restrict the number of extra items per infant at 1. They do not mention their policy for children and booster seats. I would assume it is the same as Infants, but it does not seem to be on their website in an obvious location.
I tweeted @tigerairwaysaus for confirmation on this and this is their response:
@mattgillard Hi Matt- if they are child fares you will have to buy checked luggage which you can do online here http://t.co/bz1omVKCNb
So they allow a car seat as a free checked luggage item for infants (aged < 2) but not for children (aged > 2). This requires extra luggage purchase allowance – they call it Luggage Upsize™.
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