We are going to Colorado in August for Stephanie and Isaiah’s wedding so yesterday I was looking to see what airfare would cost and stumbled upon a great deal! Direct flights from National Airport to Denver at great times for $250. So, I decided to go ahead and book them. First question- how many travelers? It will be me, Kerry, Mom and Baby V. Next question- how many travelers are under 15? Oh, just one. Is this traveler under 2? Yep. Will this traveler require a seat or be a lap traveler? I select lap. This is where it gets fun. Next question- name of traveler? Uh, not sure. I mean we have a list of names but we are not 100% firm on anything and since I was the ticket purchaser I could have put in my top pick but not really fair in the grand scheme of things. Then I see the next question- birth date? Well, we have no idea on this one. So, picked up the phone and called the customer service line. Of course, while I am on hold I am talking to my co-workers and the general consensus is that this is NOT going to be an issue. Wrong.
After talking to customer service representative #1, I am transferred to supervisor #1 and explain my ‘I’m still pregnant, we have no name but the tickets are a great price and we are definitely traveling with an infant but no I don’t have a birth certificate’ problem. I can hear her typing and the response is, ‘A name and birth date is required to book travel for an infant.’ Okay, I got that from the first customer service rep but I don’t want to pay the $150 change of ticket fee when she is born to add her and I don’t want to wait until she is born to buy the tickets because what if the price goes back up to $700. No answer. Policy is ‘name and birth date required.’ Now, get transferred to third person and explain problem again. As he starts to give me the standard answer of name and birth date, I interrupted with, ‘Sir, what happens in August when a nice woman calls because she is trying to book tickets to see her parents in Kathmandu for Christmas but her and her husband’s child is not due until October? This can’t be the first time the airline has encountered this problem.’ More typing on his end. Now the policy seems that we need to call back so we can fax her birth certificate within 30 days of her birth and will not have to pay any sort of change fee. After 30 minutes on the phone it was not a problem but right no our infant traveler is listed as ‘Baby V’ with a birth date of April 2nd.
Baby V now has her first plane ride booked. And, we are looking forward to seeing friends and family!
all three of us 