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FrUnder what conditions does Lufthansa accept infants?
No age restriction regarding the acceptance of infants applies on Lufthansa flights. When booking your flight, you should inform Lufthansa or your travel agent that you will be travelling with a baby. Special services are offered to cater fully to your needs when flying with your baby:
- Lufthansa carries healthy baby food on all its flights, but you shouldn’t forget your baby’s bottle and favorite food.
- Adequate water for the bottle is available onboard, which saves you from having to buy water after you have passed through the security.
- Lufthansa flight attendants will also warm the baby’s bottle, and glasses, too.
- There are baby changing tables in the washrooms and also spare nappies on board for emergencies.
When is my child required to have a seat for travel on Lufthansa flights?
For safety reasons, only one infant under 2 years is permitted to be seated on an adult’s lap in flight. Passengers traveling with a second child under 2 years old have the option of booking a seat and taking an appropriate child restraint system on board for the second infant. The second infant can be booked as a child.
Children who turn 2 years of age during the trip require their own seat, and the child fare will be charged for the entire trip. The deciding factor for the age limits is the date of the return flight.
Does Lufthansa offer discounts for infants or children?
Lufthansa offers two types of children’s fares:
- Infant fare – babies up to 2 years of age not occupying a seat travel free of charge on domestic German routes or for 10% of the regular fare on all other routes.
- Child fare – children aged between 2 and 12 years require their own seat and can travel for 75% of the regular price of the flight on the majority of routes and almost all fares.
The child fare will be charged for babies up to 2 years of age, for whom a seat was reserved, and children who turn 2 years of age before the return flight.
Children need their own travel documents with a photo as required by an EU directive. Therefore, irrespective of the child’s age, entries on your passport as the parent are invalid.
What other services does Lufthansa offer for families with children?
With Lufthansa’s Online or Mobile Check-in, the whole family can check in conveniently from home, as early as 23 hours before departure. You can print out your boarding passes or have them sent to your mobile phone and, once you arrive at the airport, you only have to check your baggage at the designated baggage drop-off counters at the airport or, to avoid waiting, at the Lufthansa self-service baggage kiosks in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Geneva and Vienna airports.
On a long-haul flight, it is especially important that the whole family sits together and that your children can sit on their favorite seats, such as next to the window. Lufthansa recommends that you reserve your seats when booking your flight. Standard Economy seats can be reserved in advance for a fee (EUR 12-35, depending on the route). If you don’t reserve your seats in advance, you can choose your seats at no additional cost with Online or Mobile Check-in.
At some airports, you can even check in and check your baggage in the evening before your flight. Late Night Check-in via one member of the family is possible if this person carries all ID documents of the family members. Also, check-in machines available at the airport are ideal when you are traveling with your family if you haven’t already checked in for your flight.
As a family with children, you can use the new family counters at the airports in Frankfurt and Munich to check in, or just to check your baggage. Visible from a distance thanks to a great archway, the Family Check-in Area is open to families with children under 12 years. The two Lufthansa mascots, Lu and Cosmo, invite children to take part in check-in. Lufthansa staff will take your baggage and hand you your boarding passes and The Family Pilot brochure, which contains valuable tips on the location of children’s play areas, family-friendly restaurants, the nearest viewing terrace, pharmacies, etc.
Families with children board the aircraft among the first passengers (before passengers with priority boarding), so you can take your seats on board comfortably and calmly. Flight attendants are happy to assist with stowing your hand luggage and fastening children’s seatbelts.
One baby carrier per child or a child car seat or a foldable pushchair/buggy may be taken in the cabin free of charge (may have to be transported in the cargo hold). At most airports, Lufthansa offers you the opportunity of taking your baby’s pushchair, pram, or buggy right up to the aircraft door; a flight attendant will take it from you and hand it back to you immediately after landing. For smaller children up to the age of 7, you may take a child restraint system with you to use on board.
Infant on Lap
When traveling with infants, bookings can be made online. The number of babies must not exceed the number of adults accompanying them because only one infant is permitted on an adult’s lap in flight. If one adult is traveling with two infants (up to 2 years), the second baby can be booked as a child (2-11 years). Bookings cannot be made for babies not yet born. The age limits are not calculated from the date the booking is made, but from the return date of the booked flight. Babies receive their own tickets, except flights within Germany where an infant is carried, free of charge, on the ticket of the accompanying adult.
Special baby cots are available on Lufthansa long-haul flights. The bassinets are suitable for babies up to 11 kg and up to 67 cm in length. Although bassinets are provided free of charge, there is a limited number of seats with cots, and a seat reservation fee may apply. If you would like to have a cot on board, you should call Lufthansa Reservations Office immediately after booking, but no later than 52 hours before flight departure.
With Lufthansa, children under the age of 2 years are entitled to a free baggage allowance of one piece of baggage up to 23 kg and 158 cm (except with the Economy Light fare).
Infants with Reserved Seats
Infants may also travel in their own car-type safety seat on a seat in the cabin. The use of child restraint systems is, of course, free of charge, but an additional seat must be booked, and the child fare must be paid for children under the age of 2 years. Lufthansa does not provide child restraint systems, but as a parent, you are welcome to bring your own child car seat or baby seat on board with you for your child. The child restraint system must be one approved by Lufthansa, which you can check in the list of suitable child restraint systems, and in perfect working order.
The child’s safety seat must be secured with the aircraft seat belt during the entire flight. You must be familiar with the manufacturer’s instructions for the system’s use and fitting in an aircraft and able to attach the safety seat to the passenger seat on your own (flight attendants will not be able to help you fix the child restraint system in place). The child restraint system must be checked if it cannot be fitted properly to the passenger seat or is not suitable for use in the aircraft cabin.
The use of the child’s safety seat must not inconvenience other passengers or impede them in the event of a possible emergency evacuation. For this purpose, you should take into consideration the following rules when checking in and choosing your seat:
- Lufthansa recommends selecting a window seat for your child in the child restraint system and the adjacent seat for you, as an accompanying adult.
- For large aircraft, the reservation of a seat in the middle block is possible.
- Avoid selecting seats in exit rows.
Toddlers
No special safety measures are necessary for children who are over 7 years of age and/or weigh more than 18 kg, you simply need to fasten their seat belt securely in an ordinary seat. If you are traveling with children up to about 7 years of age, you may take a child restraint system with you. A child car seat can be used to increase the passive safety of children on board the aircraft, but their use is entirely voluntary. You will have time to get to your seat and attach the child seat without rushing because families enjoy priority boarding on Lufthansa flights. Children aged 2 years and over are entitled to the same free baggage allowance as adults.
On long-haul flights, you can select special programmes for your child from the varied entertainment programme. Lufthansa’s in-flight programme offers children everything from Hollywood films and funny cartoons, sports magazines, and thrilling animal documentaries right through to chart hits on Lufthansa Radio. On long-haul flights from Germany, Lufthansa amenity kits for children await young passengers traveling in First and Business Class, a kit in which they will find all kinds of items specially adapted for them (child’s toothbrush, toys, etc.).
Special children’s menus are served on flights of more than 185 minutes duration in Economy Class and more than 75 minutes duration in Business Class. Alexander Herrmann creates children’s menus for Lufthansa which can be ordered directly when you book your flight, at no extra cost, on all Lufthansa long-haul flights and various European flights. Also, you can order these delicious children’s menus, online or by calling Lufthansa Service Centre, at any time after booking up to 24 hours before departure.
