While attempting to book a family trip to Paris, France, we were informed (after 45 minutes on hold!) that we would have to pay $437.80 for our infant son to fly! Not for a seat of his own, but to RIDE ON OUR LAP the entire flight both ways. We are no strangers to international travel, and have flown with our older daughter when she was an infant. The rule of thumb then was 10% of the full fare plus taxes and fees. Now on top of that, USAirways has instilled a "fuel surcharge" of $165 EACH WAY for a child that is not even in a seat! We spoke to 4 different "supervisors", and each explained that due to the high cost in fuel prices, they are "forced" to charge this fee to each and every passenger, even if they only weigh 22 lbs (about the weight of a typical carry on bag!). One of the agents even tried to argue that my son's weight contributed as much as a 200 lb man! My argument to her was that, even with mine and my son's weight combined, we didn't even equal a 150 lb adult and that her logic was completely inaccurate. There's no doubt in my mind that this as pure cash money in USAirway's pockets... Ripping off good, loyal customers because they can. I'm sure they'll soon be instilling a baggage fee of $20-$30 per bag, like most airlines are nowadays. My son weighs much less than the typical airline suitcase... You do the math — it just doesn't compute!
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