Flying with a baby under Southwest Airlines rules
Many parents often take airline flights with young children. Traveling around the world by plane is very convenient and quite fast. Within hours you can be anywhere in the world. Southwest Airlines creates special conditions on board for small passengers.
Infants must be carried by someone over 18 years of age or under the age of two. Children under two years old do not need a boarding pass. They can travel free if they are traveling alone. Parents must provide a boarding document for children over 14 days old.
If you are planning an airplane flight for the first time with a baby or preschooler, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with some of the rules of the American air carrier that allow families with young children to have comfortable flights and safe over any distance.
Rules for Carrying Children on Southwest Airlines Planes
The planes of the American company meet all the conditions for traveling with a child, from birth to adulthood. On board modern liners, the necessary equipment is installed for the safe flight of babies in the first year of life.
Book your baby’s flight in advance
Passengers planning to travel with a baby should inform the customer service of the American company in advance, for which a special crib will be installed that provides additional security, as well as a compact table for changing and changing clothes. The flight reservation for a baby is always made by telephone, and forty eight hours in advance. Call 1.80.043.597.92.
Children of all ages can travel on Southwest Airlines aircraft when accompanied by an adult. An escort can be not only parents, but also close relatives of the baby, as well as trusted people, but provided that these people have all the necessary documents confirming permission to fly blood relatives or guardians of the baby.
In addition, the set of documents must contain an original birth certificate, visa and passport for a child if the flight is to a foreign country.
What can you take food for your baby on a Southwest plane?
First of all, it must be determined whether it is allowed to take baby food in hand luggage. It will be necessary to prepare food for the child if you have transfers and a long trip from the airport to your destination, as well as if you are traveling on a flight of low-cost airline Southwest. So, for a child, you can take: jars of baby food, drinks, infant formula; snack foods: fresh and dried fruits, nuts, crackers, corn sticks; main food necessary while waiting for a transfer or when flying with the low-cost airline: it is advisable to take food that the child is used to and that is convenient to eat in conditions walking, without cutlery; beverages or products made from fermented milk.
When planning to take food with you, calculate the amount of food. Perishable products must be transported in an insulated bag. Remember, however, that for the safety of air transport, most foodstuffs are checked in before boarding the plane.
What if you have to take baby food not only for the duration of the flight, but also for the entire duration of the vacation? If the food is in cardboard or metal packaging, it will not be damaged in luggage, but if you have to carry mashed potatoes in glass jars or sour-milk products that need to be stored in the refrigerator, it is clear that they cannot be checked in luggage, fragile packaging can simply break.
You will probably be asked to wrap the jars separately and hand them over to reception. They will not be transported in the hold, but directly in the cabin, and will be given to you before leaving the plane.
Take home a food stash on the plane?
The need to carry a large amount of jars with you for the entire holiday period, may arise if the baby is allergic and other foods simply do not suit him, or if you go, for example, to resorts whose hotels are often far from supermarkets and it will quickly become difficult to obtain baby food.