Booked a flight for 3 of us inc an infant, now being told no bassinet

[GamezBond]

My first post, so first of all, hello to every one, and thanks for taking time to read. I have eben a reader for a long time, and the forum has helped me alot especialy dealing with Paypal and the likes.

 

Please let me know if some info is missing from the description below

 

I booked my flight with Etihad airways on 20th August to travel on 26th November 2009.

The booking is for myself, my wife, and our baby daughter who will be 11 months old on the day of travel. So far we have tried to get the front row seats (first seats of the isle but have been told that we can not have them. I have made several calls to the customer services and get through to CSR's in India. I have spoken to a few CSR's including these (this is not the complete list). All times are GMT.

 

1. Nuri (14th September 2009 at 12:32 pm)

2. Mumta Singh (29th September 2009 at 10:15 am)

3. Kaizad (29th September 2009 at 10:19 am)

4. Viren (29th September 2009 at 12:25 am)

 

The result so far is distressing. So far we have been told that it is Etihad airlines policy that we can have a bassinet because the infant will be over 10 month. But strangely at the same time, we have been told that a bassinet and front row seats can be allocated if they are available and if we ask for it at the time of check-in at the air port.

 

Please note:

1. Up until today, we have NOT seen this policy written down anywhere while purchasing the flights on Etihad airways website.

2. as we travel with other airlines too, no other airline has so far mentioned any age limit for our daughter to have the bassinet. They have however mentioned the weight limit of 15 KGs which has never been a problem as the weight of our daughter is currently 8.2Kgs precisely. I do NOT expect this it to even reach 10Kgs by the time we fly.

3. We have been told by Etihad CSR’s to TRY at the airport to see IF the check-in staff will give us the bassinet and the front seats, the question arises, why the policy of Etihad airways will be broken IF there was such policy.

4. IF there was such policy in place then why the rules can be bent, as this would be providing false information on the policies, not to mention the safety on board.

6. The lady on the phone who has confirmed this in writing by email (Mumta Singh) has also informed me that apparently this is an IATA rule, but when I asked her, she failed to provide me a reference to IATA policies, where it state that a baby who is either older than 10 months or over 10Kgs can not have the bassinet AND the parents can not have the front row seats. This is misleading the customers actively by quoting information that either doesn’t exist or the person quoting it has no idea about the source of their information.

 

 

I basically wanted to get front row seats confirmed, so that if the weight of our daughter is within the limits, we at least have a chance to have the bassinet. The situation currently is that we dont have the front row seats, which means that even if our daughter is within the weight limit set by Etihad, it is still 0% chance of having the bassinet.

We were not told this rule when we bought the tickets. When I questioned the CSR about this, they simply said "not all the info is on the website" and thats why we have a "toll free" number to contact the CS !!!

 

So far they have told me to write to "feedback@etihad.ae" which I did but absolutely no reply yet, not even a confirmation or a tracking number of my complaint.

 

As I have some time before I travel, I would like to sort this out.

 

All you clever, legal minded people, your help is very much appreciated.

 

Many thanks.

GB

Edited October 1, 2009 by GamezBond
adding some intro

[Conniff]

I thought a bassinet was for infants up to 4 months.

[Red Rebel]

Hi GamezBond

 

Here are a couple of links that may help.

 

Etihad Airways Infant Policy - Infant Fares, Bassinets, Baby Changing Tables, Baby Food

 

Guest charter

 

regards

 

Red Rebel

[GamezBond]

I thought a bassinet was for infants up to 4 months.

hmm, so far have travelled with Emirates and Amman airline too, both didnt mention 4 months..actually they didnt mention 10 months either. May be some airlines are putting a 4 months limit :?

[GamezBond]

Red Rebel,

Many thanks for the links. I saw the link from Etihad you posted before but as far as I could see it didnt give an age or even weight limit on this page. According to a CSR, "not everything is on their website"