Posted by
kilwinning
18 yrs ago
Hi there,
Are there any Moms/ Dads out there with ties to Cathay Pacific? I have a few questions regarding staff travel with a 3 month old baby... My husband and I would like to take baby overseas to visit her grandparents next month and it will be our first trip by plane...
My questions are:
Will the baby receive the same treatment as regular passengers (access to formula, bassinets, etc.)?
Are the flight attendants a bit more helpful b/c of baby or are you often still an afterthought, compared to regular passengers- the reason I ask is that I've had varying levels of customer service by flight crew when traveling standby...)
How do you do standby travel if needing a bassinet? Are there a limited number of seats where a bassinet can be placed? Any idea how many bassinets per plane in general? Until what age are the bassinets useful?
Feel free to private message me with any advice/ comments...Thanks!!
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cd
18 yrs ago
Yes bassinet seats are limited, and yes the chances of getting one on staff standby are really low. If you have a nice checkin staff member (sorry, but not common in HK airport, but more likely in the outports( and if passenger numbers will allow they will try and block the seat next to you so you have more room. I didn't know flights did formula, most people take their own stuff. The flight attendants should be a bit more helpful because of the baby, but no guarantees, it depends on the crew.
You could buy her a child staff standby ticket to ensure the xtra seat, but that still won't guarantee a seat, if theres only 2 seats available, you'll have to travel with the baby on your lap. Even full fare paying passengers aren't guaranteed a bassinet seat, sometimes there just aren't enough for the number of babies on board.
I take it your husband works for Cathay, get him to check on the computer the load factors for the flights, then you will know before you leave home which is the best flight to go for and which one's you'll get turned away from.
Staff travel is pretty stressful anyway but with kids its even more so, but at least nowadays you can precheck to some degree.
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I travelled with my 3 month baby with CX.
Baby gets bassinet. In the Economy class, there are TWO rows, that allow bassinets. It's the first row of each section. (Depending on the equipment/model of plane, I am referring to Boeing 747s, or Airbus..., the big ones.)
If you are travelling with a baby, you have priority to those seats. Meaning, if someone booked those seats already, but they are NOT travelling with an infant, then CX actually must move those passengers to let you take those seats that allow the bassinets.
I did that once on the way to Australia. My baby was 1, she's tiny, so I still can use the bassinet. There were no seats left when we checked in, they removed two passengers to the back to allow us to have those seats with bassinet at the end.
Flight attendants are NOT to help you babysit. In fact, some airlines' policy is the attendants cannot handle/touch your baby. They are protecting their company/safety, and in case of any injuries to the baby, you cannot sue the airline. It's logical.
You DO get priority to board the plane first.
You get a package of diaper, baby food, mustela cream/diaper rash cream, if you ordered baby meal when booking with your agent. Just tell them the Size of diaper (pampers ) you need. No formulas. They provide Heinz baby food to you, with a spoon.
That's about the privleges for a baby.
Good luck.
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Saikunga, yes I understood the question was about Standby travel with a baby. I just offered my experience to kilwinning about the general questions she had about how many bassinets there are, and what kind of privileges a baby gets... etc
I figure even on standby travel, baby wouldn't and shouldn't be treated any LESS than any other baby travelling on that flight...just trying to help....
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cd
18 yrs ago
To Katetam, staff travel has no priviliges over anyone even with a baby, most of the time you are at the bottom of the pile. As saikunga says, we've had many instances where we've been separated from sitting with the kids, with under 5's being put on their own. Luckily the cabin crew in each occassion were able to get people to move so the youngest at least had a parent with them. Even travelling with a carry on wheelchair passenger we are given no extra help.
We even once were asked if we wanted to leave our 2 year old behind as there wasn't a seat for him.
By the way saikunga, unless you are a certain grade or above children under 15 are not allowed to travel business on staff travel.
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Thanks for all your replies. Yes, staff travel has it perks and drawbacks, but to be honest, I think the drawbacks almost outweigh the cheaper tickets. I'd still rather buy a ticket when travelling, if it weren't for my husband being "economical"! I miss a guaranteed seat and normal service. I'm almost inclined to buy a seat in order to get a bulkhead/ guaranteed seat- it was bad enough being offloaded before I got pregnant, but don't want to do it with a baby in tow. I've also heard that babies + young children on staff travel are not allowed in Business Class.
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cd
18 yrs ago
To Kilwinning,
if its London you're looking to go to, you should look at Oasis, its only about $500 more to go confirmed full fare on them than standby on CX staff travel.
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I have many friends and relatives in the travel industry, and esp as airline steward and stewardess, so I hear many stories. My point was as a STANDBY traveller, you always have the option of saying yes or no because you can or cannot accept the conditions. It's only logical, standby means "you accept what is available". SO if there IS a bassinet available, even on standyby staff travel, they will give it to you IF it's available.... if there isn't, only 1 seat left, they would ask whether you want to go, but you would have to hold the baby all the way.
Sorry, I wasn't more clear.
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1x
18 yrs ago
I work for CX, and do use ID tickets when travelling. Your child can travel business class on ID50 ticket. Ask your spouse to check with staff travel rgdg the fare. When travelling on ID if the flight is not full, you can always tell them your seat preference during check in. Most of the time, they will try to accomodate your need. When we brought our then baby, I was offered bassinet seat normally, but most of the time I declined as I don't like those seats, because I can not lift up the arm rest. Rgdg the crew attitude, it is really a personal thing. From my experience, the senior crew are more helpful and accomodating. Be humble and appreciative, they will take good care of you. When the flight is full, asked the check in staff, in case there is no more bassinet seat left, try to ask if they can get you an aisle seat(tell them when you submit the tkt to the counter). The reason, it is a lot easier to swap aisle seat than other seat. And then once onboard, try to ask the passenger at the bassinet seat (if he or she is travelling alone) to swap with you. CX don't provide formula. So, bring your own.
Ask your spouse to check the loading 1-2 weeks before the flight, and travel on the least heavy load. Hope these helps.
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cd
18 yrs ago
Checking the loading 1-2 weeks ahead doesn't help. You need to check the day before or even the same day. The last 2 times I've travelled to LHR on staff travel, we've checked the flights that morning, around 15-20 seats showing available in economy, got to the airport both times to find the flight full or weight restricted. Even coming out of AKL once with over 100 seats available they kept us waiting until the last minute because of weight restrictions, and that was a priority 9 ticket.
An ID50 ticket is more expensive than getting a full fare ticket on most airlines, as its 50% of the full listed price, which to the UK is at least $12,000. If you know you're going to travel a couple of months ahead its worth booking full fare when an airline has a special offer on.
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The best advice I would give you about standby travel with a baby is don't even go there!! We accepted when we had our child that that particular perk (?!) was well and truly over. It is stressful enough long-haul flying with a child let alone adding on the ridiculous faff the HK airport standby check in staff impose on staff travellers and the potential hassle of hauling all your stuff back home after not getting on. We just bite the bullet and pay for our seats, there are deals to be had which aren't that much more expensive than CX standby travel and at least then you have some say over your flight experience.
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