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Infant turns 2 while on vacation

gachunt
Explorer C

I booked a round trip for my 2 week family vacation over the Christmas break. Booked a few months ago. 

On our first flight, my eldest daughter was 1 year old and was a lap child.

 

She turned 2 yesterday while we are on vacation. We were told at the originating airport that we would need to book a ticket for our daughter for the trip back, now that she is 2. 

An oversight on our part, I guess, since she was 1 on the originating flight, we never gave the return flight any thought. 

 

The current rate for the flight back is almost 4 times what we paid! Ouch. 

Can we get the fare for the same price as what we paid? If we show up at the airport for our return flight, what amount will we be charged at check-in?

 

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Infant turns 2 while on vacation

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

You need to pay the current fare, there is no way to go back to what a fare was. If you just show up you'll be in the same situation. 

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Infant turns 2 while on vacation

CupCrusher40
Frequent Flyer B

id card?

Re: Infant turns 2 while on vacation

floridaguy
Aviator C

Southwest can fix this issue with 30 minutes of software coding.  If you capture the date of birth of passengers, it will prompt you to buy a ticket if the flight date makes the child 2 on the day of the flight.  Then, you can buy at the anticipated travel rate rather than day of.

 

When I read these boards, I see opportunities for Southwest to improve their technology for a better customer experience.  Whether it is realtime baggage tracking or this situation, it is time for operations to step up and get this fixed.

 

My suggestion is to write to the CEO of Southwest at their Dallas TX office and ask for an adjustment to the fare pricing.  I see this as a Southwest deficiency.

Re: Infant turns 2 while on vacation

dfwskier
Aviator A

@floridaguy wrote:

Southwest can fix this issue with 30 minutes of software coding.   

 

Said they guy who apparently is a triple threat - a lawyer, statistics expert and now an IT expert, too.

 

Wow!