Infant Ticketing

Lap infant Not Occupying a Seat - Domestic flights

Lap infant Not Occupying a Seat - International flights

Booking procedures

Is a ticket required for a Lap Infant?

Infant Reaches Second Birthday Mid-Trip

Infants Occupying a Seat

American Airlines accepts infant electronic tickets issued by other airlines, GDSs, and all system providers that have an Interline Ticket Agreement with American allowing Infant e-ticketing on American-operated flights.

·         Infants are children between 2 days and under 2 years.

o   An infant born on August 25, 2024, can travel as a Lap infant until August 24, 2026.

                            
Lap infant Not Occupying a Seat - Domestic flights

·         Infants under two years of age can travel at no charge for the entire trip as a lap-infant

·         Infants not occupying a seat, traveling on domestic flights within the continental United States (48 US) or between the continental United States (48 US) and, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are not required to purchase a ticket. However, the SFPD (DOCS) for an infant is required in the PNR/Order and must be associated with the parent/guardian traveling.

o    Add DOCS/DB or DOCS/P for the Infant

o    INF SFPD - indicates FI or MI for Gender and associate to one of the adults

Example: DOCS/DB/01JAN12/FI/SMITH/JANE ANN-1.1

·          For domestic travel, the infant's name is not required in the name field.

o    If you wish to include the infant's name, you must add INFT SSR when creating the PNR/Order and issue the infant’s ticket at $0.00. 

o    An SSR can be used to automatically include the infant's name in the name field, see the following examples to add the INFT SSRs

o    INFT SSR for entire itinerary and name associated to the adult   when there is more than one adult in the PNR/Order 

Example: INFT/SMITH/JAMES/02APR24-2.1

Last name, first name, birth date of the infant, and an adult name association

o    INFT SSR by segment and only one adult in the PNR/Order

Example: INFT1/SMITH/JAMES/03APR24-2.1

Segment 1, only one adult in PNR/Order and lap infant

·         A Domestic Infant ticket may be issued at $0.00

·         Due to FAA safety requirements, only one infant is allowed per adult

o    If an adult passenger is traveling with two infants, a seat must be purchased for the additional infant

·         Infants occupying a seat on domestic flights require a ticket; and pay the applicable child or adult fare. See Infants Occupying a Seat

Note: For specific GDS entries, please contact your help desk.

Lap infant Not Occupying a Seat - International flights

·         All international travel requires the lap infant to have a ticket issued.

·         Infants traveling internationally not occupying a seat will pay 10% of the applicable adult fare

·         Regardless of infant fare type, all applicable taxes and surcharges must be collected

·         Adding the infant’s name by using an INFT SSR automatically creates the I/ (Infant name) in the name field

Example: INFT/SMITH/JAMES/02APR24-2.1 (INF traveling the entire itinerary with the associated adult)

Example: INFT2/SMITH/JAMES/02APR24 (INF is only traveling on segment 4 with the adult, as there's just one adult in the PNR/Order, they don't need to be associated)

·         For specific GDS entries, please contact your help desk.

·         Due to FAA safety requirements, only one infant is allowed per adult

o    If an adult passenger is traveling with two infants, a seat must be purchased for the additional infant at the applicable child/adult fare

·         If the infant was ticketed before the adult was upgraded, the infant's ticket does not need to be reissued

·         When an adult is upgraded before an infant is added to the PNR/Order, the infant's ticket will be issued in the upgraded cabin class at the current applicable fare to the original cabin booked before the upgrade, (you may call AA Reservations for assistance)

·         IU (Instant Upsell) upgrade will not be offered to PNRs/Orders with an infant

Booking procedures

Sabre GDS

·         Travel Agent must book the Adult(s) in the PNR /Order

o    Do not include the infant name or information yet

·         Update the DOCS/DB or DOCS/P

·         Issue the Adult(s) ticket

·         Add INFT SSRs and associate them with the adult to identify lap child. This will automatically create the I/ (Infant name) in the name field

Example: INFT/SMITH/JAMES/02APR24-2.1 (INFT traveling the entire itinerary with the associated adult) 

Example by segment format: INFT1/SMITH/JAMES/02APR24 or INFT4/GONZALEZ LOPEZ/JUAN CARLOS/07JUL24 (INFT is only traveling on specific Segment with the adult, as there is just one adult in the PNR/Order, they don’t need to be associated)

Note: Do not add the I/ name field and then add the INFT as the system will compare the name input in the SSR INFT field with the data in the I/ field and if the name is not EXACT then the system automatically adds another I/. This will create problems ending the PNR/Order

·         Add DOCS/DB or DOCS/P for the Infant

o   INF SFPD - indicate FI or MI for Gender and associate to one of the adults

Example: DOCS/DB/01JAN12/FI/SMITH/JANE ANN-1.1

Note: If after the infant SFPD is added and ticket is issued, a system notification advises to "ADD SECURE FLIGHT DATA" add the infant passport information to the PNR/Order with the TSA required docs.

Other GDS

·         Travel Agent must book the Adult(s) in the PNR/Order (do not include the infant name or information)

·         Update the DOCS/DB or DOCS/P

·         Issue the Adult(s) ticket

·         Add the I/ -- (Infant Name) in the name field

·         Add INFT SSRs and associate them with the adult to identify as lap child

·         Other GDS Subscribers should contact their respective GDS help desk for correct formats

·         Add DOCS/DB or DOCS/P for the Infant

·         INF SFPD - indicate FI or MI for Gender and associate to one of the adults

·         Other GDS Subscribers should contact their respective GDS help desk for correct formats

Note: If after the infant SFPD is added and ticket is issued, a system notification advises to "ADD SECURE FLIGHT DATA" add the infant passport information to the PNR/Order with the TSA required docs.

Is a ticket required for a Lap Infant?

The following chart identifies if a ticket is required for an infant not occupying a seat.

·         Children aged 2 years and older must have a ticket and will be charged the applicable Child or adult fare.

Note: If the infant discount information is not contained in the fare rules, contact Tariff for the general rule for infant discounts to determine the correct infant charges

·         If a passenger is traveling with an infant, the infant must pay 10% of the same fare purchased by the adult passenger, regardless of the advance purchase time.

·         For non-fare-paying passengers (e.g., earned tickets, promotions, bulk, consolidator, or contract fares), the infant pays 10% of the applicable through fare.

·         To determine the infant's fare, check the applicable fare for ticketing on the day of purchase, not the date the adult ticket was issued.

Infant Reaches Second Birthday Mid-Trip

·         If an infant turns two years old during a trip, a seat must be purchased for all flights scheduled on or after their second birthday.

·         This policy applies to both domestic and international travel.

·         If a child's fare is available for the itinerary requiring a seat, customers can purchase the child's fare. Otherwise, the regular adult fare applies.

Child ticket purchased for the entire itinerary

For infants traveling on the same itinerary as the adult, customers can include them in the adult's PNR/Order to book/ticket the infant as a child for the entire journey (child or adult fare applies).

Child ticket purchased for Continuing/Return Travel Only

If the customer chooses to book/ticket the child on the continuing or return flight only, a separate PNR/Order must be created since the child will not be traveling on the exact same itinerary as the adult.

Both, adult and Child PNRs/Orders must be cross referenced to prevent the two-year old’s ticket from being identified as an Unaccompanied Minor.

Sabre format by segment: OSI TCP1/ABCDEF ADT PNR/Order and OSI TCP3 XYZLMN CHILD PNR/Order

Note: Contact your help desk for other GDS format information.

Infants Occupying a Seat

·         Infants occupying a seat on domestic or international flights require a ticket and must pay the applicable child/adult fare and surcharges.

·         Infants occupying a seat must pay an adult fare, or child fare if available on their route.

·         If an adult passenger is traveling with two infants, a seat must be purchased for the additional infant (only 1 lap infant allowed per adult)

·         If the infant occupying a seat is not included in the original PNR/Order, the agency must create a new PNR/Order at the applicable Child or Adult fare.

o    Both PNRs/Orders should be cross-referenced to prevent the infant from being considered an Unaccompanied Minor.

Sabre format: Cross reference TCP (to complete party) for each PNR/Order respectively:

OSI TCP ABCDEF ADT PNR/Order and OSI TCP XYZLMN CHILD PNR/Order

Note: Contact your help desk for other GDS format information.

Updated:  December 2024