5 ways to save money on airline tickets for kids

10.02.2024 - 00:17 / thepointsguy.com

There's a lot to consider when you travel with your family, like where to stay, what to do and how to find chicken fingers around the globe if you have a little in the 'pickiest eater phase' that some kids just can't seem to avoid to matter how many foods you expose them to when they're young. Another top concern: how to budget and save money when you're flying with the whole family.

But while we can't help that much with the picky eaters, we do have good news when it comes to ways to save on airfare for kids. Multiple airlines offer discounts and even free seats (really) for kids flying with adults — and no, we're not just talking about lap infants.

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We even found discounts for young adults flying on their own, too. Here's how to make your family's trips a bit lighter on your wallet in the U.S., Europe and farther abroad with these discounts for kid's airfare.

Before we get too far into discount child fares, let's talk about the best price of all — free.

While it's pretty much standard that those under two years old don't have to purchase a seat to fly if they will fly as a lap infant (though beware of some high fees if flying in international premium seats with a lap infant), some airlines let kids fly for free even after they are turn two years old.

Some of these deals are time-sensitive and come and go; however, it's still worth checking with the airlines that offer deals since they often have other discounts or will offer these free tickets at another time. Note that there are generally caveats and terms to all of these, but the deals do exist.

Act fast for this first one: Aegean currently has a Kids Fly Free deal that is bookable through Feb. 12 for travel March 1 through Oct. 31. This means tickets are 100% free for all kids and infants traveling with just one adult. (So yes, if you have two or three kids, they'd all travel with just one parent for free.)

There are some caveats, one of which is that the deal doesn't work with codeshare flights, which is what is offered if flying from North America. However, we've seen this work from many destinations in Europe if you are hopping over from there to Greece.

Another deal to book now: Free children's tickets for kids 2 to 11 on Scandinavian Airlines, which currently has a Europe-only kids-fly-free promotion where you only pay taxes and fees for children (not a fuel charge or base fare).

This deal is currently good for "winter and spring" travel, according to the SAS website. However, there are no hard dates provided, and travel must be to/from Scandinavia to SAS destinations in Europe or within Scandinavia. If you miss this one, note the Scandinavian gives a 25% discount for children on an