Ticket for a baby who's not here yet. :)

[lin]

I am due in the middle of May. DH and I are teachers so we have the summers off and we spend them back in the US. Typically we fly back around the middle of June. I don't want to wait until May to buy our plane tickets because they will probably be more expensive, and would rather buy them now or maybe in February. I know you don't have to buy a ticket for a newborn exactly, but I do know that you do have to get them a ticket, they'll have a boarding pass, etc.  What I'm wondering is if I should just go ahead and buy two adult tickets now, then call the airline later after the baby is born to add him, or if I should call them now and try to explain the situation and get a ticket for him in advance of his even being born. Anyone have any experience in this? Which option is probably going to be easier? Thanks!

[frlcb]

you can't get it in advance because you need info - book yours and then call when the baby is born and add him

[smock]

I was in a similar situation last year. We bought our tickets in advance, and then had to wait until the baby was born to add her to the ticket. We weren't buying her a seat, but the airline still needed to know her name and DOB, so we had to wait until after she was born.

[orriskitten]

It shouldn't be a problem to contact the airline after the baby is born. We had to do something similar with my son. We booked tickets in January, DS was born March and we flew in June.

[potatopie]

And the 10% they charge for a lap infant will be determined by the price you pay now. When we did this, I was worried they'd charge us the rate for a ticket at the time (much closer to the flying date), but this wasn't the case.

[Deleted]

You'll have to wait. Also, if baby is born in May, it will be a pretty big rush to get a passport and the appropriate visas for the baby by mid-June. C was born in early April, we had his passport by end of May, sent it off the next day, and didn't get it back till the beginning of July. We did everything as fast as humanly possible.

[frlcb]

Jan 26, 2015 20:13:38 GMT -5 @villainv said:

You'll have to wait. Also, if baby is born in May, it will be a pretty big rush to get a passport and the appropriate visas for the baby by mid-June. C was born in early April, we had his passport by end of May, sent it off the next day, and didn't get it back till the beginning of July. We did everything as fast as humanly possible.

You didn't have to go to the consulate to get the passport?

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 21:00:55 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jan 26, 2015 20:13:38 GMT -5 @villainv said:

You'll have to wait. Also, if baby is born in May, it will be a pretty big rush to get a passport and the appropriate visas for the baby by mid-June. C was born in early April, we had his passport by end of May, sent it off the next day, and didn't get it back till the beginning of July. We did everything as fast as humanly possible.

You didn't have to go to the consulate to get the passport?

Yes, we did.  We booked an appointment immediately after he was born, and the soonest they had was when he was about 4 weeks old.  Honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted to take LO on the train to London much sooner than that.  From there, the passport came in about 2-3 weeks.  We immediately sent it off with his visa paperwork and photos, and just barely had everything back in time for a mid-July trip to the US.   We had bought the tickets already, and were honestly really sweating not having his passport and visa back in time.  

[frlcb]

Jan 26, 2015 21:04:31 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Jan 26, 2015 21:00:55 GMT -5 frlcb said:

You didn't have to go to the consulate to get the passport?

Yes, we did.  We booked an appointment immediately after he was born, and the soonest they had was when he was about 4 weeks old.  Honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted to take LO on the train to London much sooner than that.  From there, the passport came in about 2-3 weeks.  We immediately sent it off with his visa paperwork and photos, and just barely had everything back in time for a mid-July trip to the US.   We had bought the tickets already, and were honestly really sweating not having his passport and visa back in time.  

Ah, I misunderstood you. I have always heard (although we didn't do this in London) that if you know the sex and name of the baby you can book the appt ahead of time and just put your due date in for their date of birth, and then you can get there quickly. You can also pay to expedite it, although ours came in a week unexpedited, but it was February. 

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 21:10:33 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jan 26, 2015 21:04:31 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Yes, we did.  We booked an appointment immediately after he was born, and the soonest they had was when he was about 4 weeks old.  Honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted to take LO on the train to London much sooner than that.  From there, the passport came in about 2-3 weeks.  We immediately sent it off with his visa paperwork and photos, and just barely had everything back in time for a mid-July trip to the US.   We had bought the tickets already, and were honestly really sweating not having his passport and visa back in time.  

Ah, I misunderstood you. I have always heard (although we didn't do this in London) that if you know the sex and name of the baby you can book the appt ahead of time and just put your due date in for their date of birth, and then you can get there quickly. You can also pay to expedite it, although ours came in a week unexpedited, but it was February. 

We knew the sex but not the name.  I don't think we had an option to expedite any more than we already did, and honestly 2-3 weeks is pretty fast turnaround for a passport.  The slow part was getting his UK visa, which was a giant PITA.  I still think it would be a big rush (and probably super-stressful) to try to get all required documents for a May baby to travel in June.  

[frlcb]

Jan 26, 2015 21:13:18 GMT -5 @villainv said:

Jan 26, 2015 21:10:33 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Ah, I misunderstood you. I have always heard (although we didn't do this in London) that if you know the sex and name of the baby you can book the appt ahead of time and just put your due date in for their date of birth, and then you can get there quickly. You can also pay to expedite it, although ours came in a week unexpedited, but it was February. 

We knew the sex but not the name.  I don't think we had an option to expedite any more than we already did, and honestly 2-3 weeks is pretty fast turnaround for a passport.  The slow part was getting his UK visa, which was a giant PITA.  I still think it would be a big rush (and probably super-stressful) to try to get all required documents for a May baby to travel in June.  

I can't answer about the visas, my kids are US-UK citizens, but I agree. The poster is in Thailand though right? Depending on how long they are in the US they could get the Thai visas in the US. I felt like there was an option to expedite but it has been a while so I can't remember. I am sure if travel is booked they work with you (you can get an emergency passport if you have travel within the next 5 days, for example)

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2015 21:17:39 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Jan 26, 2015 21:13:18 GMT -5 @villainv said:

We knew the sex but not the name.  I don't think we had an option to expedite any more than we already did, and honestly 2-3 weeks is pretty fast turnaround for a passport.  The slow part was getting his UK visa, which was a giant PITA.  I still think it would be a big rush (and probably super-stressful) to try to get all required documents for a May baby to travel in June.  

I can't answer about the visas, my kids are US-UK citizens, but I agree. The poster is in Thailand though right? Depending on how long they are in the US they could get the Thai visas in the US. I felt like there was an option to expedite but it has been a while so I can't remember. I am sure if travel is booked they work with you (you can get an emergency passport if you have travel within the next 5 days, for example)

I hadn't thought about getting Thai visas while in the US.  This could be a possibility.  I think "having travel booked" is what got us the 2-3 week passport. There was no faster option, at least not one they were willing to tell us about :-)