Neena Gupta recently shared an experience on Instagram where she faced some travel challenges while accompanying her family, including her 2.5-month-old granddaughter and her daughter, fashion designer Masaba's daughter, Matara.
In a candid video, she described the situation in detail, explaining the inconveniences she encountered during the journey. She captioned the video with "Janhit mein jaari," which loosely translates to "For the greater good," hinting that she was sharing her experience to inform others.
In the video, Neena Gupta said, "We were travelling to Goa along with my granddaughter, Masaba’s daughter, who is 2.5 months old. Nowadays, you need to book a ticket for little kids below two years. You don’t get a seat but are charged a little with a proper ticket. You have to show documents like birth certificates, etc. On our way back, we flew a different airline — Air India. When we went to the counter, they told us, ‘Sorry ma’am, aapki choti bacchi nahi ja sakti‘ (Your granddaughter can’t travel). They said children below two years are called infants as per the system,”
Neena Gupta also shared that despite having a ticket that clearly mentioned "child, age," along with the birth certificate, her family was initially denied check-in. They were made to wait for a while before being informed that the ticket needed to be canceled and rebooked, this time with the term "infant" included.
“What is the problem? Who the hell knows infant in India? We say baccha na– chota ya bada (we say baccha, whether the kid is an infant or older). How many people would know this differentiation?” she asked.
“They made us wait for 15-20 minutes. We had to cancel the ticket and buy a new ticket with infant mentioned. That is when we could check in. This video is to just warn young mothers to be careful when travelling with a small kid which could be a problem,” she added.
Dhairyashil Vandekar, an aviation expert and analyst, quoted to Indian Express that as per rules, children below two years of age are treated as infants for air travel.
“They are normally carried in the lap by the parents, and no separate seat is allotted to them as they need constant care and attention from the parent. The infants are charged a fixed amount – less than the adult fare or some discount, as a fee for travel,” he said.
“They can be requested at the time of booking or when checking in at the airport,” Vandekar added.
Children above two and below 12 are given child tickets for air travel. “A separate seat is also allotted to children travelling on a child ticket. In some airlines, child tickets are discounted by 20-35 per cent of the adult fare while some do not offer any discount,” said Vandekar.
Vandekar explained that a child ticket isn't valid for infants, as infants are considered babies under the age of two who usually travel on an adult’s lap rather than having their own seat saying, “Child ticket is for a young person above two years of age and needs their seat on the flight. Hence, booking a child ticket for an infant would be incorrect and could lead to issues at check-in due to age etc and verification requirements. It is important for passengers to follow the rules in their interest,”
Vandekar stressed the importance of passengers traveling with infants or children being fully aware of the regulations and ensuring their travel documents are in order. He also advised that they make any necessary advance requests ahead of time to avoid complications.
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