My wife and I celebrated our baby’s two month birthday by flying Southwest from Nashville to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We heard from other parents that babies are really easy to travel with when they are young. We also knew that we could fly her as a lap infant for free. Still, we were not sure what to expect when flying with a baby.
Booking the Ticket
The first step was to book the flight. We began by getting our adult tickets and then calling Southwest to add baby E to my wife’s ticket as a lap infant. Within the US, parents are able to add a child under two years old to their reservation for free as a lap infant. One of you has to hold the kid, but you don’t have to pay extra to fly with your child domestically. Every airline seems to have a different system for adding a lap infant to a reservation, but with Southwest you just need to call in advance of your flight and they’ll issue the ticket. Easy.
Traveling to the Airport
Because we live less than 15 minutes from the airport, it almost always works out to be easier and more economical to grab a ride share instead of dealing with airport parking. Even with a baby it seemed like the best option. We purchased a travel car seat a few days before the trip and I did a couple trial installations in my car. It seemed easy enough.
Fast forward to 5:15 AM on the day of the flight. I ordered up an Uber and then ran outside to install the car seat as soon as it arrived. That went smoothly thanks to my previous rehearsals. Unfortunately, I had not practiced installing the baby in the seat. Our much nicer everyday model has straps that can be easily adjusted on the spot. This car seat is not so forgiving. The result was a frustrating 7 minute scramble as Sarah and I tried to extend to straps to make room for baby E. The Uber driver waited on. Finally we sorted it out and were on our way, just a pinch later than planned.
The Airport Experience
Back in the pre-baby days Sarah and I would bring only carryon luggage, bypass the check-in counter, and head right through the TSA Pre-Check line and onward to the lounge. Things have changed a little.
First we had to check the car seat. The plan was to use the expedited baggage drop. Nope. Wrong. Because we had a lap infant we were told to join the full service line so that the birth certificate could be examined. We had not planned on this and the line was really long. Luckily, a third party service right outside of the airport entrance was also authorized to check the birth certificate, issue paper tickets, and collect baggage. They expect tips but they did not have a line so we went that route. In the end, we only lost a few minutes.
Next we were off to the TSA Pre-Check line. Sarah and I have Pre-Check clearance through our Global Entry cards. Pre-Check is generally a much faster way to get through security since you don’t have to remove laptops from your bag, can leave your shoes on, and can walk through a metal detector instead of the body scanner. Children who are 12 or under can accompany an authorized adult through Pre-Check even if they don’t have the status themselves. In case you’re wondering, they let Sarah pass through the metal detector while still wearing baby E.
Now that we were through security, we headed directly for the American Airlines Admirals Club. It is a great place to grab a free breakfast, espresso and/or adult beverage. I can access it for free thanks to a benefit from one of my credit cards. Between the car seat and check-in surprises we had less time in the lounge than expected but we were still able to eat a decent breakfast and pound a few espressos. Then we were off to the gate.
The First Flight Experience
Southwest does not dole out seat assignments. Instead, you grab any open seat when you enter the plane. Everyone is assigned a boarding order depending on when you check in for the flight. The earlier you are in the order, the more seat options. Families with young children are offered a special boarding time, though, so that they can sit together.
We dallied a bit too long in the lounge and missed the family boarding for our flight. As a result, there were not two seats together when we boarded, so I sat directly in front of Sarah and the baby. Interestingly enough, the couple beside me were also first time fliers, only of the midlife variety. They were definitely more nervous than baby E.
In preparation for her first big trip, a friend had given us a Southwest branded onesie for baby E. It was way too big for her at this point, but we put her in it anyways and it was a hit with all the flight attendants. With all of the good will coming our way we asked to go up and visit the pilot once we landed. At the end of the flight we were escorted into the cockpit for a meet-n-greet and some photos. I suspect anyone can get an invite if they ask nicely and say that it’s their child’s first flight. You don’t really need the onesie…but its fun.
Baby E slept through the entire 2 hour flight.
The Second Flight Experience
After a short layover in Fort Lauderdale, we made sure to get to our next flight in time for family boarding and scored seats together. Better yet, the flight was not fully booked so we had an empty middle seat. Sarah was wearing the baby when we boarded this time around so we were not able to catch anyone’s eye with the Southwest onesie, but baby E still got plenty of attention.
Once again, she slept through most of the flight and only made a few cooing noises. No screaming, thank god. Sarah orchestrated a lavatory diaper change near the end of the flight. Planes have a fold down diaper changing station inside the lavatory. Who knew? Sometimes it’s in the front lavatory, sometimes in the back, sometimes both. The flight attendants will know for sure. On the first flight, the only changing station was in the front lavatory, and the chief flight attendant offered to hold the lavatory for us whenever we needed. It pays to make friends with the flight attendants!
As we got ready to disembark, we decided to invite our way into this plane’s cockpit as well. Sarah had been wearing glasses on the previous photos and didn’t like the look of them. So it was off to another cockpit for a reshoot. This pilot was even cooler than the previous one. He took some great pictures and then chased us down the gangway to give the baby a Southwest pin off of his uniform.
Final Thoughts
Everything went surprisingly well for our first round of flights with baby E. No crying, no exploding diapers. Before we knew it we were in Puerto Rico. The return flight was a bit trickier. Not because of our baby but because Southwest had a scheduling error and forced us to overnight unexpectedly in Orlando, but that’s a story for another day.
I had expected to get some evil stares and griping from the other passengers over our decision to travel with our baby, but it was just the opposite. Everyone seemed oddly happy to have her near them. I still can’t wrap my head around how excited random women and old men got around her. It was weird, and I don’t understand it.
In the end, flying with a two month old was cheap and easy. She even got us into two 737 cockpits which was pretty cool. If you’re preparing to travel for the first time with a wee one, let the flight crew know that there is a first time flyer on board. You might get some special treatment.
We’ll see how things go with E when she becomes a bit more aware of her surroundings. The next trip is only a few weeks away. If you’re curious how things went on the ground in Puerto Rico, please read my trip report.
She gets attention because she is adorable!