Families receive very little attention from airlines when it comes to reduced fares for children and differences in policy and anomalies mean these are hard to charter. Here goes our best shot at it for you.

An infant fare is generally charged at 10% of the adult fare when the infant does not have his/her own seat, but sits on an adult’s lap. Taxes and/or charges can be added on top of this depending on where you are flying to and your country of departure. In some cases there is a standard fee ranging from €10 upwards for an infant which can throw up an interesting anomaly if the flight is free or €1.00 which can sometimes means that the infant pays more than the parent! On Ryanair at the moment parents can fly for free on some flights but infants are charged €20.00 each way on some flights.

You have to pay for an infant or child under two even though you may have them on your lap for the whole flight. This is not too bad when they are very young and on long-haul flights you can usually request a bassinet so the baby can sleep comfortably. Trying to contain an inquisitive toddler on your lap though on any flight over two hours can be stressful.

Where at all possible you should try to either buy or blag a ticket or a seat for your toddler as the adult seat belts are more secure than the lap belts. They may then need a car seat or a care chair and if so see if there are any available or should you (or can you) bring your own. Those over two will need their own seat and ticket. You should note that if you have not paid for a seat for your toddler or your infant you are expected to seat them on your lap throughout the trip, generally they do not have a baggage allowance and strictly speaking are not entitled to a meal.

On most airlines you won't get any discount at all for children especially if you are travelling on a short-haul flight. Within Europe, Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Easy Jet and most other airlines charge the same fare for two to 12 year old as for an adult. The only difference is that they must be accompanied by an adult.

Airlines such as SAS, Malev and BA (generally better for long haul with reductions of between 60% and 80%) charge reduced fares for children so they are worth looking at even in peak holiday time. Malév offers child discounts with 25% off fares to Budapest and 33% off fares to all beyond Budapest destinations for children from the ages of 2-11 years while still giving children a generous 23kg baggage allowance. Infants pay just 10% of the accompanying adult fare and are unusually entitled to a 10kg baggage allowance on top of the adult's 23kg allowance. Scandinavian Airlines offers children up to 15 years of age (not just 12 as in most cases) a 33% discount on all air fares to Scandinavia and they allow them to collect points as well so extra brownie points for that.

Check carefully when you are booking either long haul or short haul whether children qualify for reduced prices. The age limit on child prices varies depending on your choice of flight, hotel accommodation and package holiday and you may be charged a full adult fare for children as young as twelve. Check also what the rule is and what the age of your child will be at the time of travel.

If you are travelling with an infant who reaches the age of two on a date during their journey (i.e. departs under the age of 2 but returns over the age of 2) a separate seat is required for all sectors on and after their birthday and policies vary so check each airline.

On long-haul flights you will get a slightly better deal. Typically, child fares range from 60% to 80% of the adult fare and they normally apply to children under 12. The discount is on the airline's charges only and taxes and other fees are added on top. Charter airlines usually offer some kind of discount and the age limit is can be higher than scheduled flights.

If you are booking a package be wary of the "free" child places offered by many tour operators. If you are booking a hotel and two adults are travelling with the child you can get true discounts. For self catering holidays though “free place” children will not count towards the "occupancy" of the apartment which means that the adults have to pay an "under-occupancy supplement".

You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday. 

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