qantas travel with baby

Qantas Infants Policy

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Do I need to reserve a seat or bassinet for my infant?

Children up to two years old (24 months), are not required to have their own seat, but you must inform Qantas Airways that you will be traveling with an infant on your lap. If you require a bassinet on board, you must notify Qantas at the time of reservation. Bassinets may be requested for infants up to 6 months of age on domestic flights and 18 months of age on international flights. Bassinets are subject to availability.

Only one lap child is allowed per adult. If one adult is traveling with more than one infant under two years of age, a regular seat must be purchased for each additional infant. You can also choose to purchase a seat for your infant as long as you have the proper child restraint device.

Will I pay for my infant to travel domestically?

A child under two years old (24 months) can travel for free as long as the infant will be on the lap of another passenger for the flight.

Will I pay for my infant to travel internationally?

Yes, for international service, an infant must have his or her own ticket.

What if my child turns two on the trip; will I have to buy a ticket for the return flight?

Yes, a ticket will have to be purchased for any flight on which the infant will be over 2 years old.

What are the baggage allowances for an infant?

If you reserve a seat for your infant at the full fare, he is entitled to the standard baggage allowance .

Infants without a full-fare ticket have the following baggage allowances:

• Australian domestic flights: No allowance
• Travel to and from US territories, Tahiti, South America, and Canada via the Pacific: 1 piece with total dimensions not exceeding 45in/115cm
• New Zealand domestic and all other international routes: 1 piece not exceeding 22lb/10kg

Adults accompanying infants are entitled to check-in one collapsible stroller or a carry basket or bassinet (to be stowed in the aircraft hold) and infant food and diapers for use in flight. This is in addition to the normal free baggage allowance for adults.

What types of child restraint devices are allowed?

Research demonstrates that the safety of your child will be enhanced with the use of a child seat. If you do plan to use a car seat you will need to reserve and purchase a separate seat and receive pre-approval for your device at least 24 hours before departure.

Contact your nearest Qantas Office for assistance with the pre-approval. You can also purchase a Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES) - a pre-approved harness style restraint device suitable for children aged two to four years. Find out more about the CARES system here .

What infant amenities are available on the aircraft I'll be flying (i.e. bassinets)?

Can i sit in the exit row with my infant.

Lap children and infant seats are not allowed in exit rows. In fact, no one under the age of 15 is allowed in the exit rows.

SeatGuru was created to help travelers choose the best seats and in-flight amenities.

Practical Tips for Traveling with Babies, Toddlers & Kids |

Kids On A Plane

Qantas Airways Pregnancy, Infant and Children Travel Policy

Qantas Airways is the flag carrier of Australia. Here’s a summary of Qantas’ pregnancy, infant and children travel policies.

*This is for informational purposes only. For more information on flying with children on Qantas Airways, click here .

Expectant Mothers

Flights 4 hours duration or greater

For routine pregnancies, you can travel up to the end of the 36th week for single pregnancies and the end of the 32nd week for multiple pregnancies (e.g. twins).

Medical clearance is required if you are having complications with your pregnancy (that is, if the pregnancy is not routine).

Flights less than 4 hours duration

For routine pregnancies, you can travel up to the end of the 40th week for single pregnancies and the end of the 36th week for multiple pregnancies.

Medical clearance is required if you are having complications with your pregnancy and it is not a routine pregnancy.

Medical Certification

After 28 weeks, you need to carry a certificate or letter from a registered medical practitioner or registered midwife confirming:

• the estimated date of delivery;
• whether it is a single or multiple pregnancy;
• that the pregnancy is a routine pregnancy and that there are no complications with the pregnancy.

The certificate or letter must be available on request and be carried with you at the airport and during the flight in your cabin baggage.

Medical Clearance

Medical clearance is required if the pregnancy is not routine and you are experiencing any complications with your pregnancy.

After Delivery

Medical clearance is required if you are travelling within 7 days of your delivery date. Infants cannot travel for 48 hours after delivery and need Medical clearance to travel between 3 and 7 days after delivery.

Infant (under 2 years old)

Infants are not required to have their own seat however, you must inform Qantas Airways that you will be traveling with an infant on your lap.

Only one lap child is allowed per adult. A regular seat must be purchased for each additional infant if you are flying with more than one infant.

A seat may be purchased for your infant as long as you have the proper child restraint device.

For domestic flights, infants can travel for free as long as the infant will be on the lap of another passenger for the flight.

For international flights, infants are charged 10% of an adult fare plus taxes to travel on another passenger’s lap or in a Qantas bassinet.

A ticket must be purchased for any flight on which the infant will be over 2 years old.

Baggage Allowance for Infants

Adults accompanying infants are entitled to check in up to three infant items for each travelling infant. Infant items can include; collapsible stroller or push-chair, collapsible cot or bassinet; or car seat or baby capsule. Charges will apply for any baggage carried in addition to the checked baggage allowance and three infant items.

Domestic Flights

• No baggage allowance on Australian domestic and regional flights.

International Flights to/from The Americas

• One piece with total dimensions not exceeding 115cm (45in) – (maximum 10kg (22lb))

International Flights on all other routes (other than The Americas)

• 1 piece (maximum 10kg (22lb)) Exception: 10kg (22lb) on QF337/338/358/359 between Melbourne and Ho Chi Minh

Strollers, Bassinets and Child Restraint Devices

To make your time on the ground easier, most mainline Australian ports have strollers available for you to use once you have checked-in your own personal stroller. Staff will be on hand at the boarding gate ready to collect the stroller and to further assist you with pre-boarding the aircraft.

If you require a bassinet on board, you must notify Qantas at the time of reservation. Bassinets may be requested for infants up to 18 months of age, but the recommended age limit for bassinet use on international flights is 8 months. The weight limit is 25lbs/11kg. The bassinet size is 28in x 12in/71cm x 31cm and the depth is 10.5in/26cm. Infants who are too large for bassinets but do not have a full-fare ticket must site on a passenger’s lap. Bassinets are subject to availability.

Child Restraint Devices:

Child restraint devices must have the labels noted below, or you will not be allowed to use it during take-off, landing, and surface movements. This includes booster seats and other types of harnesses.

Special Services

If your infant is less than 2 years of age and has any special requirements, we ask that you provide their meal for the flight. Qantas provides a limited range of top brand baby food, milk, baby bottles, cereals and rusks but it is a good idea to bring the brand your baby knows and prefers.

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Qantas Airways flying with babies

Does qantas airways impose age restrictions regarding acceptance of children.

Infants (children under 2 years old) may travel on Qantas Airways flights without additional requirements after 7 days of delivery . Infants cannot travel for 48 hours after delivery. Between 3 and 7 days after delivery, infants may travel provided that you obtain Qantas medical clearance at least 5 days before your flight.

When does Qantas Airways require a ticket purchase for my child?

Until they reach their second birthday, infants may travel on their parent’s tickets on domestic flights . Children at least 2 years or older must have their own tickets .

A ticket purchase and reservation of a separate seat is required when the infant will be traveling in a child safety seat .

When one adult travels with more than one infant, each additional infant must occupy a seat, and a ticket must be purchased at the applicable child fare. The infant must be able to sit upright without assistance or travel in an approved child restraint.

For international flights , infants must have their own ticket regardless of age .

Does Qantas Airways offer discounts for infants or children?

Infants under 2 years without a seat reserved , held in the parent’s lap, travel free of charge on domestic flights  and for 10% of the applicable adult fare (plus taxes and surcharges) on international flights .

For both domestic and international flights, Qantas Airways offers special airfares for children and infants . These are available on certain less restrictive fare types, and conditions may apply. Discounts apply for infants under 2 years with a seat and children from 2 to 11 years old . Discounts are based on the fare type and the fare amount (excluding surcharges, fees and taxes) paid by the accompanying adult. Surcharges, fees and taxes that apply are then added.

All check-in options are available to you when traveling with an infant. At the time of booking or when you update your booking, a meal can be requested online for your infant .

Baggage Allowances

Infants are not entitled to a carry-on allowance , but the accompanying adult is allowed , in addition to his/her carry-on allowance, to carry on board food and diapers required during the flight. In addition to checked baggage allowance, the accompanying adult is allowed to check 3 infant items (collapsible stroller or pushchair, collapsible bassinet or cot, car seat or baby capsule).

When traveling on domestic flights , there is no free checked baggage allowance for infants . When traveling on international flights to/from North and South America , infants are allowed to check 1 piece of checked baggage with total dimensions not exceeding 115 cm (45 in) and a maximum weight of 10 kg (22 lbs) . When traveling on all other international flights , infants have a baggage allowance of 10 kg (22 lbs) .

No matter if the infant is entitled to a free checked baggage allowance or not, Additional Baggage Allowance is not available for purchase for infants . The adult traveling with the infant must purchase the Additional Baggage Allowance and check in together with the infant .

Child Safety Seat

When you intend to use a child safety seat (car seat) or a CARES restraint device for your infant, you must reserve and purchase a separate seat and obtain pre-approval for your device at least 24 hours before departure . You must contact your local Qantas Office to get pre-approval for the use of a child seat. Approval cannot be obtained on departure at the airport, but you will also need to show the device to the check-in staff on the day of your travel .

If approved by Qantas, child restraint devices secured to an aircraft seat can be used for carriage of infants, but also children aged up to 5 years. You may use the following information as a guide when planning your baby’s travel on the next Qantas flight:

• Infants weighing under 9 kg (20 lbs) – rear facing child restraint systems.
• Infants and children weighing 9-18 kg (20-40 lbs) – forward facing child restraint systems.
• Children over 4 years of age or over 18 kg (40 lbs) and/or 100 cm tall – a standard passenger seat is recommended .
• Children weighing 10-20 kg (22-44 lbs) – the Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES), a harness style restraint device, is a pre-approved alternative to car seats (suitable for children aged 2 to 4 years).

On international flights , bassinets are available on Boeing B787 , Airbus A380 and Airbus A330 aircraft . Bassinets on Qantas flights have a weight limitation of 11 kg and are approximately 71 cm long, 31 cm wide, 26 cm deep. The number of bassinets is limited so you should select a Seat with Bassinet in advance online (for a charge when traveling in the Economy cabin, complimentary when traveling  in First, Business, or Premium Economy cabins). 

On domestic flights , bassinets are available only on Airbus A330 aircraft and cannot be booked in advance, but only requested at the time of check-in , subject to availability.

On Qantas flights, children receive the same baggage allowance as adults . In addition to the checked baggage allowance children up to 12 years of age are permitted one car seat and one collapsible stroller or pushchair free of charge . Pre-purchased Additional Baggage Allowance is available for children .

At the time of booking or when you update it, a child’s meal can be requested online for children aged 2 to 11 (conditions apply).

To keep your children occupied from the time you arrive at the airport until you land at your destination, Qantas Airways offers a range of facilities and inflight activities :

• Family Zone at selected Qantas Clubs.
• Complimentary kids’ kits (an aircraft window shaped etch-a-sketch and activity booklet) for kids between the ages of 3 and 6 years old .
• Inflight entertainment for kids : movies, radio, audiobooks, and the Joey Club art studio interactive coloring game .

More information here >>

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As featured on

Qantas booked a 13-month-old baby on a different flight to her parents, who then spent 20 hours on the phone trying to rebook. They're still not home.

• Qantas booked an Australian couple's 13-month-old baby on a separate flight from Europe to Thailand.
• The pair spent over 20 hours on the phone with Qantas' help line and had to call them 55 times.
• They have finally managed to book a flight home 12 days after the initial departure flight.

Qantas Airways booked a 13-month-old baby onto a separate flight to her parents, who were trying to get home to Australia.

After nearly four weeks of traveling around Europe, Stephanie and Andrew Braham told Insider they had an amazing time, until they arrived at Rome-Fiumicino International Airport in Italy.

The flight, which Stephanie said she booked nine months in advance, would connect them from to Amsterdam from Rome, then from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Thailand, where the family wanted to spend a night before heading home to Australia.

The couple said KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which partners with Qantas, informed them at the check-in desk that their baby wasn't included in their booking on the flight from Amsterdam to Bangkok.

"She was on a different flight that departed 40 minutes after ours," Stephanie said. The couple sent their flight details to Insider for verification.

"We initially had flights booked through Qantas with British Airways. A couple of months later, I was notified there was an issue in relation to one of the connecting flights and so Qantas rebooked us over the phone with these KLM flights so I think that's where the error arose," Stephanie said.

Over 20 hours on the phone

Though their daughter would sit on their laps during the flight, the parents said KLM couldn't add her because the flight was full. After spending 90 minutes discussing the matter with KLM, the flight departed without them.

Related stories

The pair said they spoke to Qantas at the airport, but the firm told them it hadn't done anything wrong and that the error wasn't the airline's fault. 

Stephanie and Andrew said they left Rome airport six hours after arriving there and headed to a nearby hotel, where they booked a room and immediately contacted Qantas' customer service.

The pair were on the phone to the airline all night trying to rebook their flight home. They said customer service was a nightmare to get through to because the phone line would cut off and they would have to call again and explain the whole situation repeatedly.

Overall, the couple told Insider they phoned Qantas 55 times and collectively spent 20 hours, 47 minutes, and 13 seconds speaking to customer-service representatives.

More flight trouble the next day

The following morning, Qantas told the parents it had booked them onto an afternoon flight for that day. But the family said they found out at the airport that Qantas hadn't properly issued the family's flight tickets. The couple said they got nowhere with Qantas and asked every airline at the airport to find them a flight back to Australia, but every plane was full.

"It was so stressful because we didn't know if we were ever going to get home," Stephanie said.

Eventually, an agent phoned them to say the airline had booked them onto the next available flight home on July 26, which was 12 days after they were initially supposed to depart.

Qantas said in a statement to Insider that they "sincerely apologize" to the family, saying it was a "backend administrative error" and that the airline would reimburse them for accommodation. KLM didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about Stephanie and Andrew's flight disruption. 

Stephanie said Qantas contacted them on Thursday to say it would pay $200 Australian dollars per night.

The couple estimate they spent an additional $15,000 Australian dollars out of pocket because of the extra accommodation, food, travel, and entertainment they've had to pay for, as well as the income they've lost being off work. "[Qantas] haven't confirmed whether they'll compensate us for those financial losses," Stephanie said. 

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Help and Support

Single older women living in converted tiny homes, cabins at caravan parks amid housing crisis

When Lesley Wheeler, 72, noticed rental prices on the rise in her outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston six years ago, she had a stark realisation that the only way she was going to survive retirement was to own her own property.

"Four months prior to turning 65, I'd been told by some job service: 'Don't even bother looking for another job because at your age you won't get one and you're a woman'," she said.

"I kind of realised that I was going to be stuck. I had no superannuation left, as I had to use that previously, and no other resources other than a pension.

"I thought, 'I'm going to have to do something about this' and the tiny house movement interested me."

Refrigerated trailer becomes one-bedroom home

The tertiary-educated, well-travelled university lecturer, who had worked for the federal government in senior roles, set about researching tiny homes, throwing every cent she had from a modest inheritance at designing a customised dwelling.

"I've had to put a lot of thought into how I live. It's purpose built for me," Lesley said.

Lesley worked out it would be more economical for her to convert an insulated truck trailer on wheels into a tiny house, rather than convert a shipping container or build a new dwelling from scratch.

So she purchased a 13-metre decommissioned, refrigerated trailer and set to work.

Lesley spent the next eight months converting the trailer into a compact one-bedroom house, complete with kitchen, dining table, lounge, office space and bathroom.

The next step was to find a location to park up.

After a soggy stint living in the trailer on a friend's flood-prone property, she secured a small plot of land to lease at an over-55s caravan park in West Gippsland in regional Victoria.

Lesley added double-glazed windows, homely trinkets, shelving for her books and DVDs, as well as a washer and dryer and traditional, wooden front door.

For the exterior, she constructed a verandah around the trailer, lined with pot plants, a couch and cat bed, with stairs to her very own private garden.

"I did have to downsize a fair bit, but what I downsized to is everything that means something to me," Lesley said.

"I'm surrounded by things from all my international travel, my study, funny little gifts that people have given me, gifts from my kids."

Living alone, together

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of older women experiencing homelessness in Australia has grown by 40 per cent between 2011 and 2021 to more than 7,000.

In many cases, a marriage breakdown, death of a partner, illness or loss of a job, together with a lack of savings, plunges older women into their first experience of homelessness. 

There are 61 residents at the caravan park where Lesley lives. Some own their own dwellings and lease their tiny plot of land. Others lease a cabin and land, as if they were renting a flat.

They are mostly single women, over the age of 55.

Six Somalian abattoir workers who live in two of the cabins also call the park home and the residents have a buddy system where they check in on each other.

"We have a pretty good little community here that cares for each other, which is pretty good as you get older," Lesley said.

'Not all of us have led the lucky life'

One of Lesley's neighbours is Carol, 72, who lives in a wooden cabin, on the boundary of the park.

Twice-widowed, Carol realised, at age 55, that she needed her own space.

She had been living with her daughter and four grandchildren, and slept on a mattress on the floor next to the new baby for 10 months.

"I tried looking at a few flats and houses. I was working two days a week … and came to the conclusion that maybe a caravan park might be the place to go."

Like many of the park's residents, Carol is living on an extremely tight budget and admits her first experience of living at a caravan park was not great.

She was often fearful of drug and alcohol-affected residents and after 15 years at that caravan park, she had to relocate when it was eventually closed down. 

"Not all of us have led that lucky life where we've met the right person, got established families, nice comfortable homes and money in the bank," Carol said. 

And she said, for that, she often felt judged.

"When you live in a caravan park, people just lump you in with everybody else.

"They don't think that there are everyday people living there. I don't take drugs, I don't smoke, don't drink."

Peaceful and private

Since securing an available rental cabin with an ensuite at the caravan park in eastern Victoria, Carol has enjoyed the peace and quiet of a relatively drama-free life.

With rental cabins ranging from $280-$300 per week, inclusive of water, electricity and heating bills, she has been able to live debt-free, with her phone bill and car insurance her main expenses.

Carol takes great joy in the occasional woodwork, tending to the park's community garden and the weekly happy hour and meal in the community shed.

"I'm happy I don't have any worries," she said.

"Being part of the community garden has been a blessing because it's given me something to do and I'm able to share around the park what is produced."

'My own space'

Carol's neighbour Jane, 57, is a single mother who went to university as a mature-aged student to become a teacher.

But her world fell apart when she entered a violent relationship after her children had left home. 

The residential youth worker and foster mum went from living in a $1 million house in 2018 to bed-hopping between her children's houses after a back injury.

"It’s depressing having ill health, it wasn't just easy to get up and go out and do something," Jane said.

"So I could be in my bedroom for 24 hours a day."

While living at her daughter's house, she felt constrained.

"I couldn't sew, I couldn't do a garden, I couldn't do anything.

"None of my friends would come over because they didn't feel like they could relax and be comfortable."

It was securing a home at the over-55s park in west Gippsland that turned her life around. 

"After applying, applying and applying I managed to get a cabin here, and it's my own space, it's my safe space," she said.

"I can cook what I want, when I want, I've got my own bathroom, I've got my own space.

"I can even work on sewing a quilt on the kitchen table, leave it overnight, and come back to it the next day without having to pack it away.

"Some people might think of me as trailer trash or whatever — but I'm free."

After van life

Gayle Wilson, 70, lives a few doors down from Lesley.

After the death of her daughter, she downsized her life and escaped to the bush, free-camping around Alexandra and Eildon in Victoria.

To keep warm, she would sleep with her dogs.

"I got rid of all my furniture, all my crystal cabinet stuff that I'd carried around with me for the last 30 to 40 years, it all went to the tip or the op shop," Gayle said.

Ironically, having spent her career finding temporary boarding accommodation for children in state care, she joined the growing brigade of Australians living permanently on the road.

"It's a horrible thing to have to deal with being homeless. Women particularly carry this because they are homemakers. It's a sense of failure," she said.

"As women, we can make a home around a fire, in a van, in a caravan park, but we need to have something to ground us."

After five months of van life, suffering from osteoarthritis and requiring knee surgery, Gayle found it difficult to get herself in and out of the van.

Luckily, a friend found an available cabin for her at the caravan park. 

She reflects on how living in the park has helped her reclaim her sense of humour, how she was able to laugh again, and how taking an interest in the comings and goings of "the village" became important.

"It helps me keep living each day as it comes, it helps me look forward to the next day."

Pros and cons of park life 

As people baulk at the upfront cost of residential aged care, more and more older Australians are considering alternative ways to make their money stretch further in retirement. 

Manufactured Home Owners Association of Victoria president Judith Duff said while caravan park living was an affordable option, a lack of regulation could leave tenants vulnerable to unexpected rental increases. 

She said of the 100 or so residential caravan parks on the association's radar, only 10 per cent were registered with local councils.

"There's no accreditation, there's no registration, owner-operators have been able to play their own game for the last 15 to 20 years," she said.

Judith said cabin renters could also be too afraid to speak up about maintenance issues such as mouldy walls or non-functional toilets and showers, in fear of being priced or bullied out, with some park owners taking an "if you don't like it, leave" attitude.

'It's safe and it's mine'

At the east end of the park, a number of recycled cabins inherited from a recently closed caravan park are perched on freshly graded plots awaiting utility connections, and a new intake of residents. 

Lesley Wheeler predicts that tiny home living in residential caravan parks like this one, for the over 55s, will be the way of the future.

With a spectacular view of green pastures towards the mountains, Lesley takes comfort and great relief in what she has managed to achieve in setting up her home. 

"I've got a really comfortable little house that I own," she said. 

"I can just hear the birds and it's still and it's calm and it's safe and it's mine." 

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