child entrance fee

JBsplit

This maybe a strange question but one im going to ask anyway,
is there a legal lower limit for children under a certian age to be allowed free entry into anything like theme parks,country fares,etc my son is seven months old and i was wondering how i stand if im asked to pay for him to enter a place like that.

elona

I accidentally had baby in sling and never thought about payment so I do not know if this would help.

JBsplit

i wondered about this today because my local country fair says £5 adults £3 children does this mean even at 7 months old he will pay.????
that cant be right.

Spendless

Hi

Most places I went to didn't charge admission for a small baby -in a pram or sling.

Our soft play centre charges "when they are old enough to play" so paid when she was coming up 2.

Most other places 2 is the youngest you have to pay and varies upto 5. I've always manipulated the entrance fees and made sure we visited that place before the entrance fee kicked in.

Can't do it anymore for eldest as he's 5 and never seen anywhere free for above this age.

bonnie_2

it depends i bought pantomime tickets for me,hubby and 2 kids didnt even think about baby got to the door and she wouldnt let me in ended up having a row in front of all the other customers i thought it ridiculous having to pay £9 for a babe in arms so demanded my money back well she decided that rather than lose £40 over £9 that she would let me through, is a five month old baby going to sit in its own seat and join in i ask you.most places normally say under 3 or under 5.but being as jess is so small i can normally get her in free anyway.shes now 6 by the way.

JBsplit

do you know if there is LEGAL age at which they cant be charged.

Prudent

You could always suggest you leave baby (and changing bag of course) at the entrance and collect on the way out again. I am sure they would be only too happy to let baby go with you free of charge.

VickyA_2

Not sure if there's a legal aspect to it, but it does seem unfair to pay if the baby is not going to gain any benefit from the visit! However, most of the time you will be visiting an area/place which is privately owned and therefore people can charge what they like to anyone entering their premises.

Becles

In the case of the baby at the theatre, it's something to do with fire regulations.

My friend had to pay for her baby to go to a football match as they need to know exactly how many people are in the ground for fire and safety reasons. Therefore baby had his own seat, even though he didn't actually sit in it.

I would think theatres are covered by the same fire and safety regulations as a football ground, so that's probably why there is a charge for babies.

If you are planning a visit anywhere, have a quick Google for "attraction name, discount voucher". You can sometimes find things like free kids admission vouchers to print off.

Queenie

JBsplit wrote:

do you know if there is LEGAL age at which they cant be charged.

My understanding is ... No!

Simply because, theme parks etc are private businesses open to the public and they are the one's who decide their policy on entry/charging. We all hope they use common sense though - and most do.

On the one hand, you could go and if asked to pay then you have a choice, pay or leave

On the other hand, you could always contact the venue you plan on visiting to ask *their* pricing policy so that you know for sure and make your decision before going.

Bossyboots

Queenie wrote:

My understanding is ... No!

Simply because, theme parks etc are private businesses open to the public and they are the one's who decide their policy on entry/charging. We all hope they use common sense though - and most do.

On the one hand, you could go and if asked to pay then you have a choice, pay or leave

On the other hand, you could always contact the venue you plan on visiting to ask *their* pricing policy so that you know for sure and make your decision before going.

I would agree with this. A legal limit cannot be set because it would be classed as a restrictive practice and the government cannot legislate in this way. If they tried to, the companies involved would soon start suing for their lost revenue or they would simply not allow children under a certain age in.